Heritage Railway – August 01, 2019

Above:One side oftherestored2HAPvehicle carriesBRblue andgreylivery.
SCOTTWIGGLESWORTH

Right: Theother side ofthecompleted2HAPcarriagecarries Network SouthEast
livery.SCOTTWIGGLESWORTH

‘Britain’s busiest’ EMUcar

restored afterfive years

ByRobin Jones

FOLLOWINGafive-year cosmetic
restor ation, whatisbelievedto be Britain’s
busiest survivingrail vehicle–2HAPtwo-
car EMU No.4308–has been unveiled at
the LocomotionMuseuminShildon,to
markits 60thbirthday.
Nicknamed‘ProjectCommuter’,
the restor ation began in 2014
and,led by Chris Osmanfromthe
Network South EastRailway
Society, involved staff andvolunteers
at the NationalRailway Museum

and itsLocomotion outstation.

Duringits main line career in the

south of England,No. 4308 travelled

arecor d-breaking 2,700,000 miles

and carried an estimated5.3 million

passengers during itsworking life.

Extensiverepairs

Projec tCommuter began inYork where

the interior of the carwasstripped,and

seatcushions and backswerecleaned.

Metalworkwas cleaned andrepainted,

aisleends were varnished andseat

basesretrimmed.

At this point, corrosion in the

bodyshellwasfoundtobeworse

than first thoughtand the unit

wastransfer redtoShildon, where

the workshopteam began the

painstaking task of stripping the

carriage backto baremetal and

replacing damaged metal and timber.

Onceall repairswerecomplete, the

bodywasrepainted, withNetwork

South East liveryonone side and BR

blue andgrey on the other–both of

whichwould have been carried at

differentpoints in the unit’s history.

Indeed,No. 4308 has become the

first and onlyvehicle in the National

Collectionto featureadual livery. The

repaintalsoincluded details such as

the black triangle usedto indicate the

position of the guard’svan.

Anniversary

By October 2018, the new floor

hadbeen laid and seatsreinstalled,

featuringaspecially-manufactured

authentic moquette.

To markthe unit’s 60th birthday, and

the 15th anniversaryofLocomotion

‘Starving’wartime schoolboyreunited with hispotato railway train at LCLR

ByRobin Jones

AN 88-year-old pensioner whorode

on one of Lincolnshire’slegendary

potato farmrailwaysasa12-year-old

schoolboyhas beenreunitedwith

one of‘his’trains.

In theschool holidays in 1942/43,

PeterJarvis of Nottinghamwas

draf tedinto the LincolnshireFens

to pick potatoes forthe wartime

food campaign–but the cloud held

abig silver liningfor him.

Peterwas alreadyakeen railway

enthusiast,and wasdelightedwhen

he and his classmatesfromthe High

PavementGrammarSchool travelled

to and from NoctonFen on the 2ft

gauge lineto harvest potatoes.The

trai ns comprised Simplexdiesels

haulingwagons salvaged fromFirst

WorldWartrenchlines by the Nocton

EstatesRailway.

Hisclasswas billeted in

Metheringham Hall nearSleaford

and each daytheytravelledto

Nocton&Dunstonstati on on the

LNER Doncaster-Spalding-March

line ,befor etransferringto the

23-mile estate network.

Theestates linewasmostly

supersededby road transportin

1959.Meanwhile,Peter hadacareer

as asurveyo rand he and his wife

Mary eventuallyretiredto liveat

Winthorpe,nearSkegness–around

amile from wherethe Li ncolnshire

Coast LightRailway (LCLR) was

rebuiltint he SkegnessWater

Leisur eParkatI ngoldmells.

Impressed

TheLCLR, thefirst UK heritagerailway

to be laid onagreenfield site,was

built in 1958 usingequipment from

the potato esta te railway and was

originally locatedatHumberston,

near Cleethorpes,whereito perated

until 1985.

Petermaintains astron ginterest

in railwaysand rece ntly introduced

himself onavisit to the LCLR –

where he wasreunitedwith his old

potato train.

TheClass Dbogie wagons ,the

smal lerfour-wheel‘ration wagons’

and the onlysurvivingFirstWorld

Warbattlefield ambulancevan –

whichwere all usedforcarrying

pota toes at Nocton–are preserved

by registeredchari ty,the LCLR

HistoricVehiclesTrust.Apairof

theNoctondiesels,now named

NoctonandPaul,are in th eheritage

line’s fleet.

Peterand his wifeweregiven a

tour of thelineand sawthe only

passenger carriagebuilt forthe

Noctonrailway –nicknamedthe

QueenMarybyestate worker s,

because of the‘haughty manner’

of the shootingpartiesitconveyed

around theestate,and which is

awaitingrestor ation.

They were shown oneof the

Noctonwagons, No.2572,believed

to be the only surviving onebuilt

by the Lincoln firmofClayton &

Shuttleworth, and whichisnow a

disabled access passenger carriage

–its till bears the shrapnelholes it

rece ived from theGerman artillery

in theFirst WorldWar.

Petersaid hewasveryimpressed

with all thathad been achieved

in restoring‘his’old potatotrains,

whichtook thecroponthe first leg

of their journeytoLincoln’s Smith’s

Potato Crispsfactory.Her ecalled:

“The crisps were an essential part

of the troops’diet.Food wasinv ery

shortsupply.Wewereall‘smallkids’

–probably becausewe didn’t get

muchfood inwartime –our food

wasmostly dripping sandwiches.

Memoriesrekindled

“Wewould go round the farm,

puttingspuds in sacks and loading

themontothe narrow gauge

wagons andthen they’dgointhe

standardgauge trainsto the crisp

factoryinL incol n.

“The farm alsogrewsugar beet.

We were starving and usedto take

lumpsoff thetops of thesugar beet

to have somethingto eat.”

Peterremembered howhe

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