The Darlaston Family Web Pages

This page is Railways 3, last revised 23/7/2008

 

N.B. Photographs may take some time to download

All photographs © Robert Darlaston

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to my Railway Pages

 

Page 3:

The Scottish Highlands in 1959 and 1961

A Day in the Isle of Man in 1965

 

 

My other railway pages can be accessed by clicking on the links below:

Railways.htm    (Photographs taken in 1957 (Fifty years ago!), train spotting at Birmingham Snow Hill in 1953, and scenes in the West Midlands and South Wales 1953 – 1962)

Railways50yr.htm  (A selection of photos from the 1950s:  West Midlands, Wales, and a few Southern scenes;  the last Slip Coach)

Railways2.htm  (Brecon and -Mid-Wales;  the Somerset & Dorset line,  GWR and LSWR lines in Somerset, Devon and Cornwall:  all 1957-1962)

Railways4.htm  (Birmingham area LMR;  glimpses of Boston, Peterborough, and Lincoln;  GWR lines in North Wales;  a few shots on the Southern:  all 1961-1963)

Railways5.htm  (the decline of steam, including the Southampton line, Birmingham GW, North Wales, Stroud Valley and Manchester Victoria:  1964 -1968)

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the Scottish Highlands

1959 and 1961

 

I made two visits to Scotland when steam dominated the railway scene.   The first was a family tour by car in 1959, staying successively at Connel Ferry, Fort William, Inverness and Callander.   I ensured that good opportunity was taken to observe happenings on the railway lines we encountered!  

 

Two years later, in June 1961, we took one of British Railways’ long weekend rail tours to Oban which were popular in the 1950s and early ‘60s.   The train ran in two portions, starting early on Friday evening from London St Pancras and from Birmingham New Street, combining at Leicester, with the Jubilee from New Street taking over the train.   Thence we ran via Trent (stopping to pick up passengers from Derby), then non-stop via Chesterfield and Rotherham to Leeds where engines were again changed outside the station.   Next came a night time trip over the Settle & Carlisle line, with a further change of engines at Carlisle.   An early dawn was breaking when we paused at Beattock for banking assistance.      Next stop was at Stirling where two LMS class 5 4-6-0s took over for the scenic journey over the Callander and Oban line.   At Oban passengers joined the MacBrayne steamer King George V for a tour around Mull, calling at Tobermory, Staffa and Iona:  luckily the weather was glorious!   In addition to the passengers from our train, there was a further train load from Bristol and Cardiff who had travelled via Hereford and Crewe.   After a free evening in Oban, both trains headed south returning their passengers home by mid-morning on Sunday.   Sadly, our privatised railways seem to have no interest in offering such excursions to the general public.

 

          Photographs from these two visits to Scotland have been combined to make a single circular tour around the Highlands.

 

 

EXTRACTS FROM THE BRITISH RAILWAYS LEAFLET ADVERTISING THE OBAN EXCURSION

 

    

 

 

 

 

Some of the terminology employed suggests that the leaflet was first drafted in the 1930s!

 

 

Rail Scotland\index.html

 

              We start at Crianlarich:

 

 

44970 at Crianlarich Upper with the 4.35 pm Glasgow Queen Street to Mallaig on 29th August 1959.

The 2.45 pm Mallaig – Glasgow is discernible at the left.

44926 (assisted by a similar loco) heads east from Crianlarich Lower with the 5.15 pm

Oban – Glasgow Buchanan Street train on the same day.

 

 

View in Glen Orchy from St Pancras and Birmingham New Street to Oban excursion train on 10th June 1961

Caledonian Railway signals in the Pass of Brander:  they were linked to wires which would sever in the event of a landslip, thus returning the signals to danger.

 

David MacBrayne’s RMS King George V at anchor off Iona on 10th June 1961

 

 

Train from Ballachulish to Oban crossing Connel Ferry viaduct.

Former Caledonian Railway Pullman Restaurant Car at Oban.

(Both pictures on 30th August 1959)

 

Caledonian Railway 0-4-4T 55260 at Oban with the 9.20 pm to Ballachulish. (10/6/61)

 

Oban station on 10th June 1961 with Cardiff return excursion waiting to leave

behind two class ‘5’ 4-6-0s

 

Cardiff excursion leaving Oban on 10th June 1961, 9.30 pm

 

 

Freight locomotive survivors seen on 31st August 1959:

North British Railway 0-6-0 65313 at Fort William loco shed

Caledonian Railway0-6-0 57667 at Ballachulish with alumina wagons

 

LNER 2-6-0s entering Fort William with the 10.48 Glasgow Queen Street to Mallaig train

on 31st August 1959

 

 

Views on the West Highland line Mallaig extension on 31st August 1959:

Inside the LNER ‘Beaver-tail’ Observation Car as the sun sets near Loch Eil

Approaching Glen Finnan behind 61997

 

61997 at Mallaig with the 6.10 pm to Fort William.  Notice all the vans and containers for fish traffic!

 

Inverness station:  Caledonian Railway 4-4-0 54493  and a Caledonian 060T in the distance

1st September 1959

 

 

44254 at Glenoglehead with an up empty stock train from Oban on 2nd September 1959

 

44254 and its train crossing Glen Ogle viaduct.  

Sadly this section of the Oban line was closed when trains were diverted onto the West Highland line

 

Dunblane station at 6.15 pm, with 45465 leaving on the 3.30 pm Aberdeen to Glasgow,

as a similar loco arrives with the 5.15 Glasgow Buchanan Street – Oban.  2/9/59

 

 

45367 approaches Dunblane at 6.40 pm with the 5.35 from Glasgow Buchanan Street.  2/9/59

 

 

Dunblane at 6.25 pm as 73006 hurries through with the St Mungo, 5.30 Buchanan Street to Aberdeen.

44727 approaches Callander with the 6.22 from Buchanan Street on 2nd September 1959

 

 

Perth station on 3rd September 1959:

A4 4-6-2 60025 with corridor tender At the south end of the station

V2 2-6-2 60851 at the north end of the station

 

The 2.48 pm to Edinburgh Waverley sets out from Dundee,

starting its journey across the Tay Bridge behind a B! 4-6-0

 

The Tay Bridge with the train shown above approaching the high girders.  3rd September 1959

The steam of a train on the Tayport line can be seen to the left of the picture

 

 

Modern traction:  a brand new railbus at Comrie, terminus of the line from Gleneagles.

 

44786 with the 6 pm from Oban to Glasgow Buchanan Street near Balquhidder

on 3rd September 1959.

 

As we head south for England and home, we get a glimpse of a northbound

freight train on the climb to Beattock summit.  4th September 1959.

 

Finally, a glimpse of my father’s Wolseley 1500

which provided transport for the 1959 tour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Day in the Isle of Man in 1965

 

In 1965 the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company still operated regular sailings from Llandudno to Douglas throughout the summer,

so on 5th August 1965 I sailed to Douglas whence I caught the train to Peel.  

 

The IoMSPCo still operated real ships in those days:

Here, King Orry lies off Douglas

 

At that time the Isle of Man Railway Company still operated as a commercial concern and seemed less tolerant of railway enthusiasts than B.R.   As soon as a train arrived at its destination, the loco would be uncoupled from its train and whisked away to the shed (definitely out of bounds!) long before any camera-toting enthusiast could get to the front of the train for a photograph!   In 1965 services still operated over all three of the company’s lines:  to Port Erin, Peel and Ramsey, but were limited to one or two workings each way as the company ran ’buses at other times.   I thought there might be a chance that the short Peel line might survive as a tourist operation and so elected for a ride to Port Erin:  I was, of course, wrong and the lines to Peel and Ramsey both closed, leaving the Port Erin line which continues to operate as a tourist attraction.   Here are the photos taken on the occasion of my brief visit.

 

On arrival at Douglas there was time for a glimpse of the famous horse trams.

But now, the ’bus looks even more old-fashioned!

 

In 1965 Douglas station was still an impressive terminus with four platforms and an engine release road.

Here the diesel railcars bought from the County Donegal Railway in 1960 wait to depart for Ramsey

 

10 G.H. Wood shunts empty stock at Douglas.   Note the signal box at the left.

The carriage is one rebuilt from two four-wheeled bodies placed on a bogie underframe:  the narrow strip marking the ‘join’ between the two bodies is evident.

 

Another view of number 10 shunting stock at Douglas

 

 

Port Soderick station, seen from a train to Port Erin, and Port Erin terminus seen from the buffer stops.

The loco has already retreated to the shed at the right.

 

Ballasalla station seen from the train.   A Douglas – Port Erin train is arriving behind 12 Hutchinson

 

Then it was time for the voyage back to Llandudno:  a fine evening but the Irish Sea was not going to lose an opportunity of hinting at its capabilities!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My other railway pages can be accessed by clicking on the links below:

Railways.htm    (Photographs taken in 1957 (Fifty years ago!), train spotting at Birmingham Snow Hill in 1953, and scenes in the West Midlands and South Wales 1953 – 1962)

Railways2.htm  (Brecon and -Mid-Wales;  the Somerset & Dorset line,  GWR and LSWR lines in Somerset, Devon and Cornwall:  all 1957-1962)

Railways4.htm  (Birmingham area LMR;  glimpses of Boston, Peterborough, and Lincoln;  GWR lines in North Wales;  a few shots on the Southern:  all 1961-1963)

Railways5.htm  (the decline of steam, including the Southampton line, Birmingham GW, North Wales, Stroud Valley and Manchester Victoria:  1964 -1968)

 

If our Home Page is not listed to the left of this page, it may be accessed here:  www.robertdarlaston.co.uk

 

 

All photographs on this page © Robert Darlaston.