Heritage Railway – August 01, 2019

Ahand-colouredpostcardoftheCliftonRocksRailwayinoperation.

ROBINJONESCOLLECTION

Newmuseumplanfor

CliftonRocks funicular

PLANStocreate anew museum
highlighting the historyofBristol ’s Clifton
Rocks Railway have been announced.
Thetop section of the 3ft2in gauge
funicularrailway whichwas hewn
through the limestone cliffsoft he Avon
Gorgemorethan 125years ago,has
been purchasedby Ian Johnson, the
businessman who alsoowns nearby
CliftonObservatory.
He is seekingto openamuseumat
the line’s station seven days aweek and
graduallyrestor ethe historicrailway to
its originalVictorian glory.
Therailwaylinke dthe suburbofClifton
at the toptothe paddle steamer landing
ferries at Hotwells and Bristol Harbourat
the bottom.
The450ft parallel-trackedgravity-
operated railway withagradientof1-in-
2.2 wasfundedby thepublisherGeorge
Newnes,alsoproprietor of theLynton
&Lynmouth CliffRailway,and opened
on March11, 1893.While it carried 6220
passengers on the opening day, and
427,492 in the firstyear of operation, it
wasnever agreat success.Sold to Bristol
Tramways in 1912, itcontinuedto make
losses andwasclosed onOctober 1,
1934.
Duringthe Second WorldWar,blast

walls werefitted inside the tunnel and

the BBC used it asarelay station, also

building an emergencystudio there. It

doubled uptooasanair-raid shelter,

and the BBCcontinuedto usepartoft he

tunnel until 1960.

In 2008,avoluntarygroup became

acharitable body,the CliftonRocks

Railway Trust, with the aim of preserving

the railway andthe wartime structures.

However, it is notconsidered possible

to restor ethe railway torunning

order because of those structures

subsequently built on the trackbed.

Ian said:“Both therailway and

the observatoryare both incredibly

uniquevenues and iconic parts of

Bristol’s history. We areexcited forour

next challenge.

“Wehope we can make theareaproud,

and assist bringing therich historyback

to lifeand building on the amazing

work doneby the trust so far will be

incrediblyrewarding.”

Thetrust’s Maggie Shapland said:“This

is very early days andweknowIan’s

ideas arebroadly in line with ours,which

pleases us no end.Weare ve ry privileged

to be askedto advise andhelp with the

projectand take itto its next level as a

museumexperience.”

Estate railways to be celebrated at

bumper Kirklees LightRailwaybash

ESTATErailways will be thecore theme of
the Friends of theKirklees LightRailway’s
September 14/15 14thannua lsteam
anddiesel gala.
Theguests will beRiverIrt,currently
celebrating its 125thyear,andKatie,
both visiting from theRavenglass &
EskdaleRailway;Cagney No.44 from
the Rhyl MiniatureRailway; andKatie
from the EatonHallRailway. Another
visitor will be privately-ownedCount
Louis,the final miniaturelocomotive
to be builtby BassettLowke and
long associatedwith theFairbourne
Railway,which previouslyowned it.
Thehome fleet ofBadger,Hawk,

Owl,Jay,TramNo.7and sisters,Sian

andKatiewill be in action.Kirklees’

ownKatienearly ended up operating

on an estate ra ilway when itwas

purchased from theDudley Zoo

Railway by CaptainVivian Hewitt,

who intendedto run it onabanana

plantation in the Bahamas fuelledby

coco nut husks.However ,itm ade it

only as far asAnglesey,befor eitwas

boughtbythe FairbourneRailway

following the death of the captain.

Therewill be an intensivetimetable

with departures every30minutes

from ClaytonWest and Shelley

–and an hourly shuttle service

operating between ClaytonWest and

Skelmanthorpe,plus adriverfor a

donationexperienceatShelley.The

redeveloped miniaturerailwaywill

be in operation and therewill be a

displayofvintagevehicles,models

and aphotographic exhibition.

Therewill be an 8pm departure

on theSaturdayevening with the

‘Shelley or Bust’final train of the

gala departingat 5pm on the

Sunday, hauledby as manyavailable

locomotives as possible.

Alimited timetable will also run

on Friday, September 13, with trains

departingat 11am, 1pm and 3pm.

Remembering

Britain’snavvies

OTLEY’SGrade II listed Navvies

Memorial–amodel of the crenellated

north portalofB ramhopeTunnel

andthought to be the only national

memorialto those who helped buildthe

UK railwaynetwork –was rededicated

in aservic eattendedbyaround 200

peopleint he grounds ofOtleyParish

Church on June 15.

Thousands of menworked on the

tunnel between 1845-49 and 49 died

in the process.

Therededicationfollowedby

ascreening in the church of a

speciallycommissioned anniversary

documentary, TheNavvies WhoBuilt

TheBramhopeTunnel.

THE second StaffordRailwayana

Auction of 2019took placeonJuly 6,

with thetop priceachievedgoing to

the‘Western’nameplate and cabside

set fromD1001WesternPathfinder–

settinganew recordforthe classat

£15,500.

Modern traction nameplates

continue to shin e, with Class 47

No.47593GallowayPrincess

at £3,5 00 andClass 86 electric

nameplate from No.86242James

KennedyG.C.made £3,000.

Regarding steam, the brassoval

LNER engraved worksplate from

A4SeaEagle/WalterK. Wigham,

No.1852 Doncaster 1937, soaredto

reach £6000 while the smokebox

numberplate from LMS Jubilee

No.45560PrinceEdwardIsland

fetched £2400.

Atotal of62 tote mstati on signs

were offeredhere, possibly an

auctionrecordentr yfor th eclass.

TheBR(M) pairing of

NorthamptonCastle and

Northampton BridgeStreet

saw£6100 and £4000respectively,

whilst first time out BR(W)St Cl ears

made £3300.

Afully-flanged BR(E)Mablethorpe

took £2800 while fromScotland,

DundeeTayBridge saw£2400 and

anicepairing of Newport-on-Tay

West and Eastexampleswere not

far behindat £2300 each.

Filmingtook placeduring the

auction inconnection withanew

Channel4serie snow in p roduction,

‘Scotland’s WonderfulRailways’,to

be aired laterint he year.

➜Forall enquiriesregarding future

Staffor dorMid-Hants auctions

telephone NeilBooth on 01242

620020 or 07836 225711.

Writetous:Heritage Railway,MortonsMediaLtd,POBox43,Horncastle, LincsLN 96 LZ. eritagerailway.co.uk 43

Modern platesand tote ms shineat Staffordsale