WHH No. 50 Supplement

December Supplement 2010 WELSH HIGHLAND HERITAGE Supplement December Web : www.welshhighlandheritage.co.uk 2010 A Diverse Offering to Tantalise the Tastebuds t 57 ‘not out’ ‘Upnor Castle’ is the great Aunsung hero (or should it be ‘heroine’) of the Welsh Highland Railway. Its story is charted by Richard Watson on pages 1 - 9. The loco was delivered to Dinas on the 15th August 1997 The photo (left) of ‘Upnor’ was taken by Peter Johnson at Dinas on 22nd August 1997. Below is a photograph taken in September this year at Agnita in Transylvania to celebrate 100 years of the Sibiu to Agnita narrow gauge railway. Full story on pages 10 - 12. ur various researchers, reporters and scribes are both industrious and Oenthusiastic - a combination of factors which often leads them to stray outside the reasonably elastic definitions of Welsh Highland Heritage. We thought that our supplement this Christmas might contain some of these offerings that might otherwise be difficult to properly include in our main publication, which will always focus on the original W.H.R. ‘Modern’ heritage is becoming all the rage. The company’s General Manager (Paul Lewin) has recently been stressing that his heritage are the FR’s Formica-panelled coaches of the 1960s, rather than the exquisitely lined coaches of the late 19th century. So in deference to that more modern definition of ‘heritage’ Richard Watson has delved into the history of ‘Upnor Castle’, which played such a pivotal role in the reconstruction of the Welsh Highland and has come up with its quite fascinating history. In September this year members of the Group and others were invited to attend the centenary of a line in a country not previously associated with narrow gauge preservation. We report on what we found in Romania on the recently closed 2ft 6 inch gauge line that connected the lovely city of Sibiu with the Transylvanian town of Agnita 1 December Supplement 2010 The ‘ ’ Story speed of 16 m.p.h. F.R. Magazine stated in 1968 that it weighed 13 tons. The origin of the "Planet" petrol (and later diesel) locomotive can be traced back to the Kent Construction and Engineering Company of Ashford, Kent. After World War I, Kent Construction purchased a large number of Government-surplus petrol locomotives which were reconditioned and offered for sale. These included both Motor Rail "Simplex" and Baldwin Locomotive Works products, thereby forging an historical connection between ‘Upnor’ and the F.R.’s ‘Mary Ann’ and ‘Moelwyn’. Hibberd acquired the goodwill of James and Frederick Howard Ltd. in 1932, following which the company moved its factory to Park Royal in West London. In the 1950s the Navy began to replace the fleet of locomotives employed to ‘Upnor Castle’ preparing to leave Rhyd Ddu with shunt its depots and dockyards. The firm the first of the Sponsors’ special trains on 24th 57 Years Not Out........! March 2007. Photo - Richard Watson of F.C. Hibberd was awarded the The Planet Diesel ‘Upnor Castle’ has contract, and the Navy specified the been a familiar sight on the Welsh Foden FD6 engine instead of the Dorman Highland Railway for many years, and branch from Sharnal Street on the S.E.& units normally offered for this type of represents, I think, one of the best C.R. Hundred of Hoo branch. locomotive. The Foden was a 2-stroke investments made by the post-1954 design with an alloy crankcase, and at the Festiniog Railway Company. Not only The locomotive stock was a mix of types time a standard engine used in naval was the engine used on front line FR from different builders, and the final vessels as it had a low magnetic passenger trains for nearly two decades, steam engine was not scrapped until signature. As the engine ran at over 1,800 but it also went on to handle most of the 1956. Today the only steam survivor is r.p.m., and the epicyclic gearbox at 1,200 construction trains on Rheilffordd Eryri the Manning Wardle 0-6-2T ‘Chevallier’ r.p.m. it was necessary to employ a step- between 1997 and its completion. which was sold out of service to down box between the two. Bowaters Paper Mill in 1950. The L.H. & The locomotive we know today as Upnor U.R. was dieselised in stages after 1943 The radiator originally fitted had a Castle was supplied new to the 2 ft 6 in and our engine was the last to be built for sloping front and was similar to those gauge Lodge Hill & Upnor Railway the line, being known at Lodge Hill by fitted to Foden DG lorries of the period. belonging to the Admiralty. Originally the romantic-sounding name Yard No.44. Additional weights were added to the called the Chattenden and Upnor front and rear of the locomotive, no doubt Railway, the line was laid in 1873 to 18 to improve its stability. in gauge as a training exercise for the Richard Watson tells Royal School of Military Engineering in In its original state, Yard No. 44 was Kent, and ran from Pontoon Hard, by the the Story of a Welsh unlikely to win any beauty contests as it River Medway with a steep gradient had a tall cab out of proportion with the rising towards Chattenden. There was a Highland Work-horse rest of the locomotive. When the loco spur from Church Crossing to the Royal was being rebuilt at Boston Lodge, clues Engineers’ Upnor Depot, and a short- were found suggesting that the cab had lived branch between Chattenden and The loco was built in 1954 by the firm of been raised before delivery so perhaps the Hoo. The railway was rebuilt to 2 ft 6 in F.C. Hibberd as a 126hp Model SCN Royal Navy drivers were taller than gauge in 1885 by the Engineers who then "Planet" 4wheel diesel mechanical, with usual. became responsible for its management, the builder's number 3687. It was fitted and in 1906 the railway was taken over with a Foden FD6 6-cylinder 2-stroke The Lodge Hill Railway featured again, this time by the Navy. It was then engine developing full power at 1,800 - gradients as steep as 1 in 28, so Yard No. renamed the Lodge Hill and Upnor 2,000 r.p.m. The final drive was by roller 44 would have worked hard on its mixed Railway, and an extension built to chains and the loco had an original top traffic duties. The railway was connect with the private standard gauge exceptionally busy throughout both 2 December Supplement 2010 World Wars, and even after the Second War nine trains ran in each direction carrying munitions and personnel. However, the railway fell into decline in the fifties and the last train ran on 29th May 1961 following its replacement by a private road. The remaining locomotives were disposed of, and it appears that Yard No. 44 was the last to leave. The Welshpool & Llanfair Preservation Company was just beginning its operations in the early sixties, and set its sights on purchasing Yard No. 85 (a Drewry 0-6-0) from Upnor to supplement its steam motive power. However, No. 85 had been transferred to a Naval Depot near Plymouth so they settled for Yard No. 44 instead. The Planet was delivered to Welshpool, arriving by road in February 1962 and to begin with it ran Yard No 44 heading an early W&L revival train across the with its original number. It was later to its short wheelbase and the roundabout at at Raven Square, circa 1962. renumbered No. 4 in the W&L series, and heavy balance weights at each end Photo - Ralph Cartwright still later given the name ‘Upnor Castle’ of the chassis. at the request of its previous owners after pay for the engine, the Festiniog Railway the structure of the same name built in The Drewry diesel became available for Society set up an “Upnor Castle Fund”. 1589 on the orders of Elizabeth I. The purchase in late 1967, so the W&L Castle was intended as a way to defend decided to sell ‘Upnor’ partly to finance ‘Upnor’ arrived by road from the Chatham Dockyard and warships the new acquisition. The F.R. was Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway on anchored in the Medway. Upnor served looking for a powerful diesel, and saw in 12 February 1968 and was taken to the W&L faithfully for the next six years, ‘Upnor’ a unit roughly equivalent to Boston Lodge for re-gauging. The work but had a reputation for rough riding due Prince in haulage capacity. The total cost included a reduction in height of the cab to the Festiniog including transport and roof, and the cab itself was rebuilt in a Now numbered W&L No. 4, but still unnamed, the Planet locomotive rests in the siding at Sylfaen, re-gauging was £600, equivalent to just more attractive manner. As the Welshpool & Llanfair Rly circa 1962. over £8,000 at today’s prices, and to help locomotive would be required to work Photo - Ralph Cartwright vacuum-fitted trains, a rotary exhauster 3 December Supplement 2010 was located and re-commissioned, together with vacuum equipment obtained from a withdrawn B.R. diesel shunter. The engine entered trial service on the F.R. in mid-August 1968, at first without vacuum brakes, and was introduced into passenger service in mid-1969 principally on relief services. The Foden FD6 engine was replaced by a more powerful Gardner 6LW in 1970. To address problems with poor riding the wheelbase was increased, with ballast weights placed between the wheels.

Load more