First trip out since New Year - Leeds and the Middleton Railway. Just when I needed her (the new junction of the ‘A1’ and the ‘M62’) she disappeared ( Malcolm had turned the radio off!) but came back once we had read the handbook. It was the weekend before Easter and the magnificent new premises at Moor Road were open to members for a preview of the facilities following a twelve month spell of intense activity as volunteers and contractors prepared the huge two-road shed/exhibition hall and ancillary offices.
After lunch we were shown round the ‘not-quite-completed’ buildings by Ian Smith, a big man in the HRA and former Chairman of the MRHT of which I am a member. A pleasant surprise was when we were joined by Ron Redman, Chairman and founder member of the Narrow Gauge Society, and his wife. For those who have been before, the old station building has been demolished, a large insulated building has been erected, behind the impressive new brick building, based on the architecture of the hundred year-old offices of the Hunslet engineering company a mile down the road.
The two stories house an entrance hall with reception window for the sale of tickets, a large ‘canteen’ and kitchen, a shop counter for the sale of ‘DVDS etc. And the necessary facilities for the public. Upstairs (there is a lift for the disabled) are a conference and training room plus offices committee rooms and bags of storage cupboards.
Passing through the reception rooms we came to the exhibition hall which house several locomotives, leaving room in the workshops for other locos from outside.
There was still quite a bit to do, and my visit on Easter Sunday showed quite a change. The yard had been filled in and tarmacked, the entrance hall etc. had been carpetted, the wiring and lighting and plumbing was done, furniture had been added and some bookshelves with a lot of second hand, donated books and videos were on sale for ridiculous prices. Even I spent £15 on this and that, including a bacon sandwich and a mug of tea.
Passing through I inspected the new station which had been surfaced and improved ready for the passengers. Arriving early about 9.00 am I had time to chat with the footplate crew who were preparing the Manning Wardle, Matthew Murray. Beautiful blue livery and the grimy smoke-box was rubbed down with an oily rag giving the loco a bright, new look. Just before eleven o’clock the loco was taken out from between the sheds, round the platform, picking up two coaches and running into the new station where crowds of punters had arrived and during the day The trains were far better filled than last Easter’s final trains
After a footplate ride to Middleton Park, to see the vast changes that had taken place over the last year, such as the new over-bridge, the new school on the left, contractors’ fences everywhere - very much changed from the old days as seen on the videos taken over the last thirty years!
Then I walked the line as far as the new bridge in order to take the photo I had planned for the last twelve months. That is, the one using a telephoto lens to bring the distant view of the City Hall, University and church spire close behind the loco as it passed beneath the bridge. However, other building work had taken place and a huge multi storey block of offices/flats had risen up, right in the line of sight!
Also, you know those builders’ fences, about eight foot high which sit in concrete blocks for feet? Three of these panels were laid over, sticking unphotogenically into my shot. I spent a few minutes struggling with them and managed to get them more or less vertical. Then a bunch of teenagers came down the embankment and tried to climb over. Of course they collapsed again. I asked the lads, two small and two older ‘hoodies’ - “could you please give me a hand to stand them up again?”. The biggest of the group retaliated “I didn’t do it!” “OK Bart” I said, “but could you and your gang please give me hand to put them up again - they’re in my shot” They obliged and then went away down the track down the hill towards the oncoming train. I got my video shot and after the train, hauled by blue Manning Wardle, Matthew Murray, had passed by, I walked the rest of the way to catch the train on its way back, still full of passengers.
If you are ever up north, or perhaps passing Leeds on the new ‘A1M’ why not drop off for an hour and see what a potentially superb Heritage Centre it is becoming. It’s just an easy hour from Lincoln via the ‘A15’, ‘M180’, ‘M18’, ‘M62’, ‘M1’, and ‘M621’ (Jc. 5 - Hunslet).
I spent the last month working intensively on a new DVD ‘Built In Leeds’. This will be played continuously at an ‘interpretation point’ half way down the loco hall of the Middleton Heritage Centre. I just burned the final master copy tonight, after ruling out the inevitable glitches. The job entailed Researching the facts about the manufacturers :- Kitson, Manning Wardle, Hudswell Clarke, Hunslet, Fowler and Greenwood & Batley; searching my database for instances of these locos on video over the years from 1983 to 2006, physically finding the correct record i.e.. VHS, SVHS, 8 mm, Hi 8 or D8; capturing the chosen sequences to the PC; editing down to a reasonable amount (this time 68 mins.); adding transitions, titles, voiceover etc.; rendering to an .avi file, re-editing to remove any glitches and adding DVD menu and chapters; then the final burning of the master copy. With the new PC this is down to less than two hours compared with five with the previous technology. The more you take on, the more problems you get, but as my dear old mum used to say “these thing were sent to try us”.
“Pride comes before a fall” - Reading Norman’s informative article about the ‘Jinties’ (by the way 10 preserved ain’t bad - I wish there were 10 ‘K3’!) I realised that several of these 0-6-0Ts were also built in Leeds. e.g. 47298 built by Hunslet in 1924. This is still running at the Llangollen Railway and has been captured in steam on video several times over the last twenty years.
A satisfied customer - from Kidderminster was delighted with his copy of Lincolnshire’s Railways - Vol. 4 - the one with the Winterton and Keadby branches we saw at a meeting. He used to work at Normanby Park steelworks in 1982 so it had been pure nostalgia for him. He sent me some photographs of the scene in those days, some of which I shall send to the Editor for publication. He also sent me a copy of the latest Severn Valley Railway guidebook.
