"Preserving the steam locomotive legacy..and more..on film"
FEBRUARY 2011
FRONT PAGE PHOTOGRAPH
Climbing away from LittleMill Junction (Fred Lewis)
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Contents:
Welcome editorial and site news
Video Highlights
Photographic Highlights
Around The World in 80 Railways: No. 9: Berlin to Warsaw
LIRR ride to Ronkonkoma
On This Day
Tornado- A1 Locomotive Trust Press Release
HENGIST -A BRITISH RAILWAYS CLAN CLASS 6MT 4-6-2 PACIFIC STEAM LOCOMOTIVE
Along The Trans Siberian Railway
For The Modellers
Half a century ago - West Coast Main Line spotting in 1961- Dick Bodily
Christian Wolmar Comment ========================================================================
A warm welcome to our 486 members (on 18th January 2011 compared with 453 at 18/12/10) and 1,466 friends on Steamtube's Facebook page, plus 444 followers on Twitter. We can now enjoy 2,030 videos and 8,663 photos on Steamtube, and share in the group pages too. A total of 50,000 page views were noted for November 2010.
We have been especially pleased to have Morrie Greenberg join us...the nostalgic steam compilations of 40s, 50s,60s steam have been a big hit with our members and visitors to the site.
You will likely have noticed that our home banner and page has been further refined and amended to help all our members and visitors to quickly see what is on offer.
The "762" Club, "Flying Scotsman" and Steamtube's DVD Productions can be easily accessed from the front page links.And we have included a link to UK Heritage Railways and UK Steam Tours.
The Railway Children charity can also be accessed from the front page..please consider making a purchase of our (and TRFF)'s "Steam Trains in the West Country" DVD...£3-25 from the sale of each DVD goes to the Railway Children to help them with their important work. We would encourage all to consider how Steamtube wants to be able to put something back to rail related causes.
In this connection, perhaps we might consider how to support the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway. The Gotherington landslip is currently under repair, and will cost £1 million.....Now the G&WSR finds it has to deal with another significant landslip at Chicken Curve, on the Toddington side of Winchcombe station. This is estimated to take several months to repair , and another £500,000. Your suggestions would be most welcome. Visit the G&WSR website at http://www.gwsr.com/.
Two steam locomotives are featured in this edition of "On Shed", but not for the same reason!
Firstly, Tornado's status and return to the mainline is explained in a press release from the A1 Locomotive Trust.
Secondly, we introduce Hengist........more later!
And misfortune strikes at Newport Docks......
May we remind everyone about POTM (Photographer of the Month), free listings on Steambay (where you can advertise your unwanted railwayania), Steam Tube Productions DVDs, and the Links page where they can list their own links to their own railway related sites - all the benefits of being a Steamtube member
Now lets take a look at what's on offer in "On Shed" this month....
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Video Highlights
Morrie Greenberg's nostalic videos have been well received. Here is an example of life as it was...
The BFI collection has come up with some evocative films from the end of the 19th century.
This view from an engine front through Barnstaple in 1898 has attracted over 300 views...
And this 1932 film of the "Michelin auto-trein" from Marc Bostyn,will remind SMJ afficianados of the short lived Ro-Railer which ran from Stratford SMJ station to the LMS owned Welcombe Hotel on the Warwick Road a couple of miles out of the town.
And Roni's two uploads were well worth the waiting!!
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Photographic Highlights
35028 Clan Line (Keith Lancaster)
SNCF: 141 R 420 (Marc Petit)
Isle of Wight Railway (Gary Miele)
45690 Jubilee Leander at Sheffield Midland in 1962 (Gordon Crapper)
Two Kings at Paddington..(Fred Lewis)
Hard Uphill Work (Marc Bostyn)
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Around The World in 80 Railways
No. 9: Berlin to Warsaw
This leg of our journey will take us due east from Berlin..to Warsaw.
The Euro-City trains operate three times a day from Berlin to Warsaw. The journey takes approximately 6 hours
Think Berlin, and you probably think of the Berlin Wall...and if you think that, then you probably recall the fall of the Wall......
Since then, travel has opened up across former seemingly impenetrable borders....
Now a five hour trip on the Berlin- Warsaw Express can take you to the heart of Poland.
The Berlin-Warsaw Express is arriving at Berlin Mainstation
TSM1593 on YouTube
Train Travel In Poland
Gliwice Station Poland PKP TRAINS 110908
A day spent filming trains in Poland ,,a very busy station with freight and passenger services in and out constantly a mixture of coal, steel,departmental trains and intercity passenger services ,arriving from Poznan in the west and from Krakow Gliwice Station Poland.(XxBec3509 on YouTube)
Steam enthusiasts can always enjoy the Wolsztyn Experience.
Current services are 2 round trips a day from Wolsztyn to Poznan funded by Wielkopolska Regional Government and operated by PKP Cargo, some 200 miles of steam train operation per day. During the next two years there is a proposed rebuilding of the track bed from Wolsztyn to Poznan When firm dates are known and the effect on the steam service is known details will be posted here at http://www.thewolsztynexperience.org/
Here is an example of what you might expect on this excellent steam train experience:
Steam at Wolsztyn, March 13-15 2007..Slow night train through Poland at Katowice.(Ronik24 on YouTube)
Now, we can move on to Around the World in 80 Railways..Part 10.
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LIRR ride to Ronkonkoma
The recent winter weather has given Steam Tube's army of photographers opportunity to get that classic winter steam shot.....
But here is a winter scene with a difference, found on YouTube, uploaded by PinePowerLI under the title: LIRR ride to Ronkonkoma after the snow .....Enjoy...
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ON THIS DAY
06/02/1964 1964: Green light for Channel Tunnel
The British and French Governments have announced their commitment to build a tunnel under the English Channel.
Both countries now have the capital and technical skills to bring the project - first mooted 162 years ago - to life but their official statements do not give a definite timetable.
British Transport Minister Ernest Marples told the House of Commons: "It remains to be decided when and how best the expense involved can be sustained."
The scheme - first proposed by Napoleon as an invasion strategy - has the keen support of French President Charles de Gaulle.
Precise details of design, engineering and financing still need to be confirmed, but the Channel Tunnel is most likely to be a twin-tunnelled rail link, costing at least £160m and taking five years to build.
The Channel Tunnel finally opened, a year late, in 1994, leaving Eurotunnel with debts of £925m a year later.
By 1999 Eurotunnel declared its first net profit.
It was voted the best construction achievement of the 20th century in a survey of 400engineers in March 1999.
13/02/1952
Bristol Castle (7013) substitutes for 4082 Windsor Castle on King George VI ‘s funeral train..bearing 4082’s nameplates etc, which were never returned to the actual locomotive.
26/02/1977
The final members of Class 52 diesel hydraulic locomotives (Westerns) ran on BR bringing to an end the independence of the Western Region and the GWR and the end of Swindon rule . From: John Stone
Westerns Galore - A John Edkins film.
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28/02/1975
A London Underground train has crashed at Moorgate, killing the driver and at least 29 passengers and injuring more than 70 in the worst-ever Tube disaster.
The 0837 train from Drayton Park to Moorgate was packed with commuters going to work when it overshot the platform and ploughed into a dead-end tunnel at 0846.
Passengers on platform nine said the train appeared to shudder and accelerate as it arrived at the station.
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Tornado- A1 Locomotive Trust Press Release
(Wednesday, 12 January 2011 16:24)The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust today announced that Tornado’s boiler would be returning to its manufacturer, DB Meiningen, in Germany, following the discovery that more extensive repairs to Tornado’s firebox were needed than originally anticipated when the winter maintenance was planned. Although the full extent of the repairs has yet to be agreed with DB Meiningen, they will include the replacement of several hundred fixed stays and a number of flexible stays as well as repairs to cracks in the two back and two front corners of the foundation ring. Only a very small number of weeping stays were identified out of the more that 2,000 in the firebox and therefore the overwhelming majority of the firebox stay replacements are precautionary to prevent further unplanned work during periods in traffic. The boiler will be lifted from Tornado’s frames later this week at the NRM, York, and sent by road and ferry to Germany where a full assessment of the required work will be made and a rectification plan agreed with Trust engineers. The Trust decided to return the boiler to its manufacturers due to their intimate knowledge of the construction of this type of firebox and the resources they have available to rapidly effect the agreed repairs. The firebox has already been inspected by the Trust’s boiler inspector and representatives from its VAB, insurance company and operators.
Mark Allatt, chairman, The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, commented:
"Although these problems with Tornado’s firebox are part of learning about the locomotive in today’s operational environment, they are a source of great disappointment to all of Tornado's supporters and customers and our customers' passengers. As a part of our commitment to get Tornado back on the main line as soon as possible the Trust decided that the most appropriate course of action was to return the boiler to its manufacturers. We are working as hard as we can to bring Tornado back to full health and onto the main line at the end of April."
Tornado's boiler is now en-route to DB Meiningen, Germany. Upon arrival early next week it will be inspected and a plan of repair work to the firebox agreed with A1SLT engineers.
Source: A1 Locomotive Trust.
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HENGIST -A BRITISH RAILWAYS CLAN CLASS 6MT 4-6-2 PACIFIC STEAM LOCOMOTIVE
This is a project that will see a British Railways Standard Class 6 Mixed Traffic engine built for service on preserved heritage lines.
The following material, taken from The Standard Steam Locomotive Company's website, introduces us to this class...(http://72010-hengist.org/index.html)
The first British Railways Standard Class 6, 4-6-2 Mixed Traffic engine was turned out at Crewe Works in 1952 at a cost of £20,426 and carried the number 72000.
It was designed and built under the direction of Mr R. A. Riddles, Member for Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Railway Executive. The parent design office was Derby, but, as in the case of other B.R. standard locomotives, all the Regional drawing offices contributed to various sections of the design.
No. 72000 had two cylinders, 19.5in. dia., by 28in. stroke, coupled wheels 6ft. 2in. diameter and 225 lbs/sq in boiler pressure, giving a starting tractive effort of 27,520 lbs. This made the design suitable for passenger and fast freight working of the type handled by the L.M.R. Class 6 engines and the harder turns worked by the regional Class 5 locomotives.
The chassis was identical to the larger Britannia Class engine, except for minor details, but the boiler was smaller, and this enabled the maximum axle load to be kept down to 19 tons, giving the engine a route availability at least as good as the various regional Class 5, 4-6-0 engines.
Ten of these engines were built as part of the 1951 Locomotive Renewal Programme, numbered 72000 - 72009, and all were allocated to the Scottish Region. They were named after Scottish Clans.
Historical Notes
British Railways planned to build a total of 118 Class 6 Clans to work alongside 91 Class 7 Britannias. The first 5 of the next batch of 15, lot 242 were destined for the Southern Region, the remaining 10 for the Scottish Region which was scheduled to receive a total allocation of 40. The Southern Region had one hundred and forty modern Bullied Pacifics and extensive electrification, the need for a further 5 small Pacifics is odd, however there is evidence that the cost of re-building the remaining West Country Class Bullieds* was being weighed up against the cost of turning out new machines, also the rebuilding increased the weight which reduced the Bullied route availability.
The S. and D. route at the time under Southern Region control was in need of about five class 6 locomotives. Borrowing engines and having to resort to a lot of double heading over this steep and twisty route, not disimilar to the steep and twisty line to Stranraer over which the Clans excelled. A Crewe built loco for a line traditionally supplied by the LMS seems appropriate and such traditions are engrained in railways, and this is borne out by Ivo Peters memoirs who recalls a rumour that Bath Green Park shed was being allocated five Clans.
In 1954 there was an international steel shortage which all but halted locomotive production. During this lull the government decided to bring dieselisation forward, cancelling orders for new steam railway locomotives, starting with express passenger types, i.e. the Clans and Britannias. There is evidence that the next batch of Clans and Britannias had been started and were in fact cut up before completion.
*Bullied Pacifics were extensively re-built by British Railways, to replace the novel chain drive valve gear and oil bath with standard valve motion and remove the air smooth casing. A running plate was added and the engines re-styled to look like a B.R. Standard Britannia Class. The alterations reduced maintenance costs and improved reliability but added 6 tons to the overall weight.
Clans in Service
In August 1952 Mr K.R.M. Cameron, Running and Maintenance Officer on the Scottish Region, wrote a report on the Clans in service. The official runs were taken on all Clans in both directions between Glasgow and Carlisle, when they were first put to work in the Region. In essence the report is a glowing one, just a few minor niggles such as draughtiness, position of the chain on the firing flap and the cylinder overload valves required adjustment. The records of the runs do however draw attention to the difference between what a professional locomotive inspector considers a good run, and what an enthusiastic lay train timer considers a good run, a difference in viewpoint which probably accounts for why the enthusiasts thought less of the locos than did the Regional Motive Power Department.
Mr. Cameron's assessment of the boiler and firebox;'Few repairs have been necessary where the boilers of the class 6 engines are concerned, and no real difficulties have been experienced'. He confidently states that,'the firebox arrangement with its short wide firegrate is most efficient, and an ample supply of steam is assured for a minimum of fuel consumed', which is just about all that could be hoped for from any boiler. He also observes that to the crews, who were so used to long narrow boxes,'the performance obtained from the new type of boiler comes as a revelation'. The only problem he noted was,'the tendency with most Fireman until they become accustomed to the excellent steam producing qualities of the boiler, is to over-fire the engine,' all these observations must have pleased E. S. Cox who lead the design team.
In conclusion Mr. Cameron the Running and Maintenance Officer for the Scottish Region rounds off his overall impression of the engines, 'it is correct to say that the British Standard Class 6, 4-6-2 locomotive, is capable of producing excellent results.' He was pleased by the average coal consumption figures derived from the test runs (including one odd run which he draws attention to where the engine was obviously over fired) which returned an impressive 31.8lbs per mile*. He noted that the engines were light on water giving the crew considerable freedom between watering points, and goes on to conclude, 'The figures obtained for evaporation ratio are in consequence fairly high and there is no question that its free steaming capabilities are the outstanding feature of the new engines and over a long period, as Firemen become thoroughly accustomed to the working of the engines, considerable economics in fuel consumption will be realised.' It is difficult to see how the report could have been any more glowing.
E.S.Cox in his book (British Railways Standard Steam Locomotives pub. Ian Allen) with respect to the same report, wrote the following; 'Such runs encountered by our timing enthusiast would be rated pedestrian to a degree, and if regularly repeated would earn the class an indifferent reputation. On the other hand the same running, consistently repeated, would be the Motive Power Officers ideal of how a railway should be properly run.' He sums up by saying, 'The Clans earned full marks from their owning region; the same performances would probably contain hardly anything worth tabulating to interest the readers of the Railway Magazines.'
If you want to be involved in this project - and Steam Tube has been able to help a project member (Tony Dance)obtain some technical details - then contact the project team on the above named website.
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ALONG THE TRANS SIBERIAN RAILWAY
Our journey along the Trans Siberian railway continues, bringing us nearer to the eastern end at Vladivostock.......
In this sequence, we travel near to and alongside Lake Baikal, the world's deepest fresh water lake. Located near to the Mongolian border, Lake Baikal holds approximately 20% of all the liquid freshwater reserves on earth.....
More next month....
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For The Modellers
Another episode from this Simon Martin series..
"Hand of the Fair Maid" - Original Air Date, 10th September 2007.
This is the fifth episode of "The British Railway Series", in one part, with partially restored soundtrack. There are annotations showing the many problems with the filming and various character/face mixups and similar!
You can find more information on the original Episode Five here: http://www.britishrailwayseries.com/e...
Music composed by Kevin Macloed.
The contents of these videos, including all text and photos (except where credited otherwise) are ©Simon Martin 2010
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Disaster at Newport Dock.
Freightliner has been taking delivery of new GE locomotives...the Class 70s....
A recent mishap whilst unloading at Newport Dock, Wales (early January 2011), resulted in considerable damage to 70012...leaving it looking a little banana like..
The following clip shows the loading process...
The photograph shows the engine after the mishap....
Visit http://piermaster.blogspot.com/2011/01/mv-beluga-endurance.html for some photos of the good ones!
Read more "Railway Matters" at "Steam Tube News and Railway Matters channel"
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Half a century ago - West Coast Main Line spotting in 1961
By 1961 nearly all the principal expresses on the old LNWR main line were booked for the ubiquitous EE Type 4 diesels, later to become Class 40s. How I hated their two tone horns which reminded me just how rapidly these underpowered monsters had monopolised the slowed easy pre – electrification schedules on the West Coast route since 1958. But there was still much steam to be seen and no spotter then believed that they would start scrapping the ‘Coros’ the following year.
A visit to Northampton Castle early in January produced two EE Type 4 diesels (Class 40) on expresses a few of which took the Northampton loop at the time. Outer suburban trains seen were headed by Sulzer Type 2s (Class 24) but steam reigned supreme on freight including Aston (3D) Jubilee 45709 ‘Implacable’on an up working. March (31B) B1 61096 appeared on a Peterborough – Northampton three coach local. March’s ‘Bongos’ alternated workings with anything Northampton cared to use on these trains in 1961. Wellingborough’s (15A) Standard 2 tank 84006 worked the push and pull from the next bay.
Later in the same month an afternoon visit to Castlethorpe produced a Scot (46120) on a London bound fitted freight , plus unrebuilt and unnamed Patriot (45551) on an unidentified down express. But the highlight was to see B1 61313 hurtle through southwards light engine. What was it doing on the West Coast main line? I believe it was allocated to Darnall (41A) then. Ex SR diesels 10202 and the 2000hp 10203 appeared on Northampton – Euston trains.
B1 at Annesley 1962 (C)Dick Bodily
The next visit I have records for was on Easter Saturday afternoon. This time to Banbury Lane Level crossing as were most of my visits, where the disadvantage of not seeing the trains that passed around the Northampton loop including most freight was outweighed by the spectacle of seeing the southbound engines burst out of the cutting beyond the Bugbrooke road bridge and pitch around the tightish bend leading up to the crossing. Some locomotives particularly the Scots swayed sideways in the opposite direction to the movement of their tenders, the Pacifics seemed to glide more serenely. There was the added attraction of watching working Willow Wren, Blue Line and British Waterways narrowboat pairs at the canal bridge just a few steps away if there were no trains due. We were redirected back to the railway fence by the load clang of the tall LNWR signal or the clatter of the gates when another train was due. There would always be a big crowd of spotters lining the up side fence on a Saturday. In their idol moments some would pencil graffiti on the crossing gates, which were covered in rude verse and declarations of undying allegiance to ‘The Cobblers’ (Northampton Town FC). Some would mither the boaters on the canal and sometimes get chased, on one memorable occasion the level crossing keeper shut the gates on some such hooligans allowing the narrowboat captain to trap them and clip a few ears. ‘George’, the regular Saturday signalman, did his best to keep the spotters in order with ‘Hey you, I know where you live, I’ll call the law...’ and was also a valued source of information on excursion workings and the like. Breaking the monotony of EE type 4 hauled expresses that day was Peak D7 ‘Ingleborough’ while 46241’City of Edinburgh’ and Scots 46101 and 46129 ensured that steam still had a foothold on express work. Most excursions were Black 5 hauled. Only two freights were seen, both headed by pairs of Type 1 diesels (Class 20).
For some long forgotten reason I only kept notes of a few of my trainspotting trips in those days, I probably just took my ABC with me most times. But on June 24th I was back at Banbury Lane and the Summer timetable was in sway and as a result there were more excursions and more steam. Five Royal Scots, three Coronation Pacifics (including the now preserved and reclad ‘Duchess of Hamilton’), five Jubilees and four rebuilt Patriots were seen in my eight hour observation, but the highlight was unrebuilt Patriot 45547 on a down express, one of the last sightings I had of such a working. There were also four Britannias including the never to be named 70047, mainly on North Wales expresses. Initially 70047 was due to be called ‘Lancashire and Yorkshire’ as part of a group to be named after pre-grouping lines of the LMS, but this never happened. 8Fs passed on chalk tippers bound for the Leamington line from the Dunstable -Leighton Buzzard line, plus a few Black 5s were on passenger duty. These chalk trains were taken forward from Blisworth sidings by a small link of men who actually signed on there. This was a remnant from the days of passenger trains on the SMJ when this link consisted of 5 crews who signed on at Blisworth. When the SMJ services stopped this link was cut back to 2 or 3 crews for the chalk tipper trains. Of course all the principal expresses were Class 40 hauled (27 were seen which I am sure would have excited many of Railtube’s diesel fans) apart from three of the Class 44 original Peak series which were initially allocated to theWest Coast expresses before transfer to Toton to work Midland line freights. ‘Scafell Pike’, ‘Cross Fell’ and ‘Great Gable’ were all noted.
A month on and better was to come on 15th July. Two Princess Royal Pacifics (46203 and 46211) passed the crossing on Euston – Liverpool expresses while the Down ‘Irish Mail’ had maroon ‘Coro’ 46240‘City of Coventry’. An immaculate maroon 46245‘City of London’ headed a Morecambe boat train. The Down ‘Lakes Express’ had Royal Scot 46107‘Argyll and Sutherland Highlander’ and the down ‘Welshman’ had Brit ‘ Lord Kitchener’. There were many excursions and holiday specials to places like Blackpool, most of them steam hauled. Steam express classes seen in 7 hours, included Coronation (4), Princess(2), Royal Scot(4) , rebuilt Patriot(2), Jubilee(6), Britannia(3) and Black 5(8) An unusual working saw Type 2 D5133 on up ECS.
My last recorded visit that year was on 7th September. It was a generally dismal day, 23 of the 34 trains observed were EE Type 4 hauled and I didn’t have a single cop, but there was one outstanding highlight. The Down ‘Midday Scot’ was ‘Prinny’ hauled by 46205‘Princess Victoria’. The only other steam engines seen apart from 8Fs on mineral workings were a Skefko roller bearing equiped Black 5 (44678)on ECS, a Scot (46120)on a up fitted freight and ‘Coro’ 46251‘City of Nottingham’ on an ‘Empress Voyager’ boat train.
"City of Nottingham" at Snow Hill, Birmingham (C)Adrian Vaughan
But all wasn’t lost, a couple of bad winters were going to decimate diesel ranks and lead to something of a steam comeback.
(C)Dick Bodily
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Christian Wolmar Comment
The railways have been doing rather well recently – with the odd exception like the overhead wires coming down on the East Coast yesterday – so attention has focussed on the airports and airlines. In an email to me, Mark Rand of the Friends of the Carlisle Settle Line points out that the railways have missed a good PR opportunity: ‘I have watched in frustration this weekend as the railway industry has missed the PR man’s dream of an opportunity to promote itself. Problems for sure but rail has been coping very well compared with road and air.’
It’s a good point. The trouble is the media are always more interested in the bad news than the good stories, and now that there is no longer ‘rail chaos’, they’ve gone for the aviation industry. With good reason. BAA boasted that it had spent £500,000 on winter prevention measures which seems laughable. Then I heard on Radio 5 that
BA, too, seemed all too ready to cancel flights, rather than trying to get as many people away as poss. All in all, plenty for the railways to exploit, but as usual the lack of a fat controller means the opportunity will be lost.
It is rather unfortunate for Mr Hammond that today he is announcing the proposed route for HS2, which means that he cannot hold a press conference on that as he will get snowed under with questions about the white stuff. In truth, of course, it is very little to do with him.
More like this at: http://www.christianwolmar.co.uk/
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This brings this edition of "On Shed" to a close....
And may we take this opportunity to thank all Steam Tube members for their continued support..your videos, photographs and comments.
As we enter our third year, we shall look forward to sharing more of the same as we continue "Preserving the Steam Locomotive Legacy...and more...on Film"
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Beyer Peacock 13 1940
First Photograph uploaded to Steam Tube on 1st February 2009
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