Ffestiniog Railway Magazine
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Haf/Summer 2007 No 197 CYFNODOLYN RHEILFFORDD FFESTINIOG RAILWAY MAGAZINE The Journal of the Ffestiniog Railway Society Cylchgrawn Cymdeithas Rheilffordd Ffestiniog £3.00 CYMDEITHAS RHEILFFORDD FFESTINIOG RAILWAY SOCIETY Registered Charity No. 1064178 Company limited by guarantee, No 542449 VAT Registration No. 810 890 727 Full Member of the Heritage Railways Association Affiliated to the Railway Correspondence and Travel Society Chairman: R.G Stibbs Deputy Chairman: H.R.L Wilson Financial Secretary: G Bond Accountant: A.J. Price Other Directors: RA.C Buchanan, G Cole, Dr. R Buxton, D.J Charlton, C.G Jones, AA Pye, A.F Norton, R.J Wilson President: Alan Pegler OBE Vice-Presidents: G.G Caddy, B.W.O Chicken, A.G.W Garraway MBE, R.H.N Hardy, A Heywood, W.R Holton, A.L1 Lambert, T.N Oulton, PJ.G Ransom, A.J Savage, PR Wollan Secretary: R.J.H Schofield, Ffestiniog Railway Society, PO Be-x 1832, Warrington WA4 2FR; E-mail: secretary(a ffestiniograilway.org.uk Fax: 08707-063351 Assistant Secretary: RL Harris, 2 Tippett’s Close, Enfield EN2 OQR Registrar: M Cowgill, 4 Penny Meadow, Capel St. Mary, Ipswich IP9 2UU E-mail: registrar(affestiniograilway.org.uk Fax: 08708-362122 Assistant Membership Secretaries (for renewals by cheque): R.K Leeks, Fayreways, Cross Street, Elmswell, Bury St. Edmunds IP30 9DR (surname initials A-D) F Bentley, 45 Windermere Avenue, Burnley BB10 2AB (E-K) Mrs S Price, 50 Thistle Downs, Northway, Tewkesbury GL20 8RE (L-R) A.J Ward FRICS, 39 Whittington Road, Benhall, Cheltenham GL51 6DB (S-Z). The Registrar deals with all other renewals, membership records, Magazine distribution and the FR Directory. Subscription Rates: Life, £600; Associate Life (spouse of a life member), £400; Full, £22.00; Associate (spouse of full member), £15.00; Family 40.00; Regular Volunteer - Full-time Student (full membership), £10.00; Junior (under 18 on 1st January), £10.00; Senior Citizen (full membership), £15.00. Hostel Bookings: M Buxton, 1 Peel Street, Runcorn, Cheshire. WA7 1JP; Phone 01928-576185 E-mail: hostelbookings(« ffestiniogvolunteer.org.uk Members’ Letters: all correspondence concerning membership should be addressed to the Registrar. THE FESTINIOG RAILWAY COMPANY - RHEILFFORDD FFESTINIOG Affiliated to the Transport Trust Chairman: Dr. J.D.C.A Prideaux CBE Other Directors: N Burbidge, Dr R Buxton, M.C Hart, C.M Whitehouse Non-executive Directors: Dr. D Gwyn, C Leah President: Alan Pegler OBE Patrons: J Arrivetz (France), The Hon Sir William McAlpine Bt., Dr R Nicholls (Canada), Robert C Black III (USA) Financial Director: N Burbidge, 71, Durlston Road, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey KT2 5RS Clerk: S Murfitt, 57 Woodbury Avenue, Petersfield GU23 2ED General Manager: PA Lewin Office: Harbour Station, Porthmadog LL49 9NF (Phone: 01766-516000 (Enquiries), 01766-516024 (Booking Office), Fax: 01766-516006) Volunteering: Contact the Volunteer Resources Manager: Tricia Doyle; E-mail: tricia.doyle(« festrail.co.uk tel: 01766-516035) or see www.ffestiniogvolunteer.org.uk . FESTINIOG RAILWAY TRUST - YMDDIRIEDOLAETH RHEIFFORDD FFESTINIOG Registered Charity No 239904 Trustees: The Hon. Sir William McAlpine Bt., Dr J.D.C.A Prideaux CBE, R.J.G. Riddick, M.A. Schumann, G.H. Williams JP Chairman: Dr J.D.C.A Prideaux CBE Secretary: J.L Alexander, Valldemosa, Cherry Garden Lane, Danbury, Essex CM3 4QP Treasurer: RK Jordan, Lime Tree Lodge, Thorpe Road, Mattersley, Doncaster, South Yorkshire DN 10 5ED CYFNODOLYN RHEILFFORDD FFESTINIOG RAILWAY MAGAZINE Editor: John L DobsonAssistant Editor: Richard Wilson Advertising Manager: Tom Bowen FR Diary Editor: Tony Smare Proof Readers: Paul Davies, Phil Hawkins JR Arthur Lambert, Geoffrey Layzell Ward Editorial Office: John L Dobson, c/o Festiniog Railway Co., Harbour Station, Porthmadog LL49 9NF E-mail: [email protected] Missing or faulty copies of the Magazine: contact the Registrar, 4 Penny Meadow, Capel St. Mary, Ipswich IP9 2UU Contributions: The Editor will be pleased to consider contributions of articles or letters - preferably in Word or Rich Text Format as an attachment to an e-mail or as typescript. Photographs are best submitted digitally by e-mail, or on a CD or DVD, in DNG, TIFF or high-quality JPEG format. Colour slides, negatives or good quality prints (preferably 5”x7” minimum size) can also be accepted, at owner’s risk. Opinions expressed are the contributors’ own and do not represent official views unless so identified. They are not necessarily shared by the Editor. Publication Dates are 1st January, April, July, October. Press Dates are 10th November, February, May and August - unless specifically advised otherwise. ISSN 0015-0355 Published by the Ffestiniog Railway Society Printed by W.O.Jones (Printers) Ltd, Llangefni 01248 750253 FFESTINIOG RAILWAY MAGAZINE Vol 17/5 No 197 Summer 2007 IN THIS ISSUE Editorial 269 What Else Do You Do? 314 Rebecca Kitchin News from the Line 270 FR Four-Wheeled Carriages Part 1: 316 John Andrews 1922-2007 284 The Brown, Marshalls ‘Bug Boxes’ Martyn Knight John Nicholson Gibbons 285 FR 175 319 The Society Chairman’s Piece 285 John Dobson Richard Stibbs Over the Fence 321 Noticeboard 287 Min y Trac Correspondence 292 Rheilffordd Eryri Report 326 Y Fforestwr Eryri Publications Received 296 Carriage Interiors 330 Early Days At Boston Lodge Part 2 304 Improving Standards of Comfort Fred Boughey Dave Charlton International Interactive: 307 Lili 331 FR & WHR staff visit the HSB John Dobson John Bell Diary of Meetings, Events & Activities 333 Gardening On The FR 311 Eileen Clayton Members’ Advertisements 334 FRONT COVER: The collected volume of paintings by Edward Paget-Tomlinson should be on sale at FR shops by the time this issue of the Magazine is delivered. This view of Taliesin at Duffws in 1887 is by way of a taster. (Edward Paget-Tomlinson) FRONTISPIECE: Refurbished Bowsider No. 19 and replica Ashbury No.10 entered service on 22 May as part of the FR175 celebrations. The renovation ofNo.19 was funded by a grant from the FR Trust. (John Dobson) Editorial FR Magazine No.200 Alternatively, what memories does anyone The issue of the FR Magazine that drops onto have of the splendid FRS Special pictured on your doormat on or about 1 April 2008 will be page 13, hauled by not one but two Dukedogs? Is No.200, marking 50 years of continuous, regular, Mr Lambe still with us, perhaps, to look back on publication. This is a considerable landmark in the journey he so ably described in that first the history of the revived FR, and is something issue, or is there someone else with their own for which we need to plan. memories? Comparing FRM No.l of summer 1958 with However, what we would really like to do is recent issues, one is struck by both the something that would have been beyond the difference in size (No.l was a thin 26 pages wildest dreams of editors Trevor Bailey, Fred compared with today’s normal 64) and the vast Gilbert and ‘Blanco’ White in 1958 - we would improvement in printing quality. The paper used like to illustrate the FR of 1958 in colour. Colour for No.l was only slightly better than newsprint film wasn’t very widely used until the late 1950s and the quality of the photographs was as it was expensive and, in the earlier years, downright poor by modern standards. When, rather slow. Nevertheless, by 1958, ‘fast’ colour however, as a junior member, I received that first transparency film with an ISO speed equivalent issue, I was mightily impressed by the of 32 or even 50 was becoming available, as were sophistication of the production and the wealth relatively cheap cameras capable of exposing it of information it contained, compared with the correctly. duplicated newsletter that had preceded it. It is therefore quite likely that there are Production standards may have risen over the members of the Society whose parents, parents’ intervening years, but the standard of the friends - or even they themselves - took colour reporting and writing in issue No.l still stands photographs of the FR in 1958 or thereabouts. If comparison with much of what we publish today. you know of the whereabouts of such photos we We will, of course, be marking the 50th would very much like to borrow them so that we anniversary with a suitably special issue. It will, can scan them for use in the Magazine. The naturally, consist of a ‘bumper’ 72 pages and originals will, of course, be returned in good will, equally naturally, contain articles condition after we have copied them, and the comparing the 7.5-mile FR of 1958 with the scans will be put into the Railway’s archives for impending 40-mile FR/WHR of today. However, the benefit of future generations. we will also be looking for reminiscences from If you think that you may have access to people who were volunteers or staff members in suitable photographs or would like to contribute 1958 - especially anything that has a period an article, please contact us on flavour to it. What was it like, for instance, to [email protected], A response travel from London, on pre-motorway roads, on before the end of November would be greatly a Friday evening after work, in the bubble car appreciated. shown as LAG transport on page 8 of issue No.l John Dobson - and then to do a weekend of hard work on the track before driving back again on the Sunday afternoon? There aren’t many places on the FR where a Fairlie can be seen working hard on the way down from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog. However, the cutting leading up to the summit by the power station at Tanygrisiau is one of the exceptions.