The Friends of the National Railway Museum FOR CURRENT LIST OF FORTHCOMING LECTURES Briefing 79 South of England Group September 2015 Vice Presidents – Sir William McAlpine Bt., FRSE, FCIT, FRSA; Richard Hardy See the Diary section of the web page at: SCIENCE MUSEUM WROUGHTON http://www.nrmfriends-south.org.uk/Diary.html A select party of 8 members visited the examples of many of these which, of Science Museum Group store at course, begs the question of which ones Wroughton on 9th September. We had a should be retained. The rest of the hanger fascinating tour of the site. We started at has items from the Museum of the library and archives, where we were Photography, and the BBC historical treated to a sample of the rare books and collection. Some of the other hangers, manuscripts. These included a collection which hold Science Museum items, are in of early Bradshaw guides and timetables, a poor condition, with holes in the side a collection of Bourne paintings, and cladding, although the roofs appear technical drawings. Other items displayed water-tight. Inside are aircraft, including for us were a copy of Charles Darwin's a De Havilland Rapide in Railway Air manuscript, and a portfolio of superb Services Livery, steam traction engines, hand-coloured prints of Egyptian bicycles, cars, buses, trams, missiles, and monuments commissioned by Napoleon the world's first hovercraft. The hangers during his Egyptian campaign. will need re-cladding or replacing in due We then moved on to visit four of the course, possibly with a view to providing storage hangers, including the one a (chargeable) storage service to other FOR CONTACTS IN FNRM SOUTH OF ENGLAND housing the reserves from the NRM. The museums. A substantial portion of the site GROUP: hanger for the latter has been re-clad with is to be used for a solar energy farm, and See Contacts at main index: modern insulated material, is water-tight the old runways, which are no longer and the internal area is in excellent used for aircraft movements, are hired for http://www.nrmfriends-south.org.uk/index.html condition. About half of the hanger is testing work; Balfour-Beatty were dedicated to NRM items, housed on conducting tests for road-tunnel fare gates multi-layer industrial racking. These at the time we visited. We were made included many signalling items, wheel- very welcome by the site team and could sets, valve-gear, station roof stanchions, have easily spent many more hours stone pillars, signs, and other studying items on the site. memorabilia. There are multiple CONTENTS SCIENCE MUSEUM WROUGHTON.......................................................................1 THE STATFOLD BARN RAILWAY..........................................................................2 OUTREACH...............................................................................................................3 NRM COLLECTIONS AND RESEARCH: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES......................................................................................................6 FORTHCOMING EVENTS........................................................................................8 Briefing No 79 8 September 2015 Briefing No 79 1 September 2015 THE STATFOLD BARN RAILWAY They will stop over at Tysley at the end of the new Inter-city trains). The 2HAP is Over the past decade, the existence, and Africa, Mozambique, the French West of October. To enable this, King George now at Shildon for restoration; the first expansion, of the Statfold Barn Railway Indies, Fiji and India, as well as V needs to have part of its cab removed in job was for specialist contractors to has been reported upon in various railway Indonesia. Other sources have been slate order to fit within the loading gauge as it remove the asbestos. Chris Green, ex magazines. It is not open to the general and cement works, the aluminium is moved across Network Rail track. NSE, is involved in the project and the public but, on a few “Enthusiasts’ Days” industry, civil engineering and military The proposed museum at Leicester North NSE Society is raising funds. Once the each year, entry by invitation is possible. railways. This brought forth a number of presents good opportunities for the NRM asbestos is removed, volunteers and This year, The Railway Magazine gauges, but re-gauging has rationalised to put more of its collection on public apprentices will commence work. [Note organised such a day, on August 8th, for the situation to 2’0” and 2’6” gauges for show. The proposal is now at stage 2 of there was some discussion about whether its readers. Having read about the Statfold’s running lines. Although the the Heritage Lottery Fund assessment. the FNRM South of England Group railway, I decided that this was an majority of the locomotives are of British While the NRM is not providing any cash should help the project – let us know opportunity not to miss, and hence origin, there are examples from French, to the project, it will provide access the what you think]. Finally, Deltic KOYLI headed for the Staffordshire/ Belgian, German, South African and the collection and the NRM's curatorial needs attention to one engine and a Warwickshire boundary, to the north east American builders. advice. The loan agreements still need to repaint into 2-tone green to prepare it for the “Flying Scotsman” train display. of Tamworth, on what turned out to be a The locomotives were really too large for be finalised, but Green Arrow should be a gloriously hot day. the garden railway, so development of the core element of the items to be moved Future of Railways and the NRM The founder of the railway is Graham railway towards what we see today there. With a 2019/20 target opening, the When the NRM first opened, the HST Lee, and it started out around 16 years commenced. Acquisition of these wider plan is to target a similar date to and APT were the future of railways; both ago as an oval of 2’0” track around a lake locomotives over the years required restructure the displays at York and set the foundations for modern high speed in the garden of his house, on a 1,000 stations, sheds, engineering facilities and, Shildon, to make them, also, more rail. This positive story of the British acre farm that he bought in 1985. of course, track on which to run. With the relevant to their locations. contribution to the technology needs to be Salvaged components for an engine shed advent of the “Enthusiast Days”, rolling Flying Scotsman told to redress the negative press stories. give the impression of far greater age. stock was also required. The main Running in on the East Lancs Railway The NRM needs to do more work to tell The engineering company owned by concentration of turntable, shed and will precede a return to the mainline next the story of modern railways and the Graham acquired the Hunslet Engine works buildings is close to the site year. An inaugural run from King Cross future. For example, it could put into Company, so preservation of the entrance, and Statfold Junction station. to York is provisionally scheduled for 27th context the building of HS2 with those of company’s last industrial steam Today, the main station, Statfold Junction February. It will be in BR livery as at the earlier main-line railways (NIMBY's are locomotive, built in 1971, became a goal. has three platforms, two having dual time of withdrawal from service, i.e. lined nothing new!). Such an independent An 0-4-2 ST, with works number 3902, it gauge track, and the newest only 2’0” green, double-chimney, smoke deflectors. interpretation could useful balance press had been working on the Trangkil Sugar gauge track. The canopy above the dual At York it will form part of the “Flying hyperbole. With the Hitachi assembly Mill estate on the Indonesian island of gauge island platform is supported by Scotsman” train service display in the plant using part of the original Stockton Java, under the local identity of Trangkil stanchions from Yarmouth South Beach Great Hall. This will also include the and Darlington line, and Virgin East No. 4. station, and their ironwork bear the Stirling Single, Ivatt Atlantic and Deltic, Coast taking over the “Route of the Whilst in Java, Graham visited a number initials “E&MR”, the Eastern and with a collection of carriages, showing Flying Scotsman”, there are clear links of other sugar mills, and found examples Midland Railway, predecessor of the the facilities offered on the service in between the modern railway and its past. of locomotives of many other Midlands and Great Northern Railway. 1890, 1930, 1950s. The display will move By the time of the 2025 celebrations (200 manufacturers. From this, plans for The dual-gauge track is known as the to Shildon later in the year. years of the S&D and 50 years of the repatriation and restoration formed, “Lower Line”, whilst the 2’0” track, NRM), Andrew looks forward to a Vehicle Restorations although it was necessary to prove to the which is set into a concrete farm road, is reinvigorated NRM, re-establishing it as Indonesian authorities that the known as the “Upper Line”, for reasons Class 47, Prince William, will be the best railway museum in the world. locomotives could steam, the export of obvious after a couple of hundred yards repainted at York, but much of the There followed an extended discussion scrap metal being prohibited. of travel. restoration work now takes place at period with plenty of audience Shildon. Andrew wants to do more to Former sugar industry railways seem to A round trip from Statfold Junction, down participation - evidence of the stimulating emphasise that site's key role in the have been a fruitful source of narrow to the “balloon loop” in the country, and presentation which Andrew had historical and modern railway (it is the gauge locomotives, the Statfold Barn back gives a run of about 3 miles.