European Railroad Discussion > A Texan's view of England, Part 4 - Manchester

We arrived in Manchester on a rainy Saturday and that Sat and Sunday in the northern suburb
of Bury was what was billed as Small Engines Weekend where the East Lancashire Railway brought in
other switching engines for the weekend, so I told Mrs Murphy that was our outing for
Sunday. I am a big fan of steam and actually prefer a small 4-4-0 or 2-6-0 to the big 4-8-4's or 4-6-6-4's that have come through Texas, so this small steam event really had me juiced. Fortunately the Metrolink tram to Bury ran right by our hotel (pic 1) . Unfortunately, there was a replacement Ariana Grande concert that day on the south side of MAN and they used all the trams for that event so we were left with a bus ride to Bury rather than the electric tram.

There was a guy at the gate to the East Lancashire Rwy selling tickets but I told him I just wanted to hang out and watch the trains and not ride them, so he charged us 3 pounds each to enter. Upon arrival we found this small Gothenburg No 32 0-6-0 steamer preparing to depart with a string of three carriages. Soon after as this steamer departed, British Railway centercab diesel D9551 arrived with a trio of fully loaded passenger coaches. Just as I snapped this photo, a fellow spotter stepped up and went in for a closer shot.

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Nice, D9551 is an ex-British railways class 14; a diesel hydraulic originally built for trip freights between freight yards, so like a mainline switcher. They were nicknamed 'teddy bears'. They didn't last long before being withdrawn - but due to traffic loss rather than unreliability. Many are now preserved and seem to run very well. D9551 is in an experimental golden ochre colour scheme, once carried by a western region class 72.

Lancaster & Yorkshire Railway No 1195 Class 27, a 1897 built 0-6-0 arrived next in reverse with 4 blue carriages loaded with patrons. I assume there is no place to turn the steamers as it later proceeded forward with another load. Soon after the 1195 unloaded its passengers and re-loaded a new group and headed out of sight , under the nice Bolton Street arched tunnel came this neat 0-6-0 side rod diesel with 3 coaches. I failed to record the number on this little grey and yellow number. The driver uncoupled the locomotive from the coaches, and ran to my side of the platform and picked up some paperwork from the attendant, then back up to the engine servicing area. This was a really sweet sounding diesel, but lacked the aroma of the previous coal burning L&YR No. 1195.

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At the engine service, a couple of diesels were waiting their turn, while an old friend
peers out of the shed. All the other engines in Bury were very useful on this day, but
oddly Thomas was not. It was killin' me not to be able to check out the engine service
facility but it was out of bounds to the public, so a photo from afar was all I could muster.

I failed to mention, there was a small restaurant/bar on the platform that made for a nice
relaxing break for pacing up and down the platforms waiting for the next arrival or departure.
We tried a couple of local brews that went smoothly down the hatch.

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The grey 0-6-0 diesel with 'wasp ends' is 09024, a class 09 shunter (switcher). Only 26 of this variant were produced but over 1000 almost identical class 08's were made - easily the most numerous of all British Rail diesels.
The class 09 had a higher top speed for tripping between freight yards on the main line than the class 08.
Looks like the sun came out... you were very lucky in Lancashire! ;-)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/17 08:52 by exhaustED.

Here is a view of the restaurant/bar area. That is Mrs Murphy,
closest to the camera, admiring the running gear of British Railway
No 9541 0-6-0 ERNEST. I inquired about about the heritage
of 9531 to another fellow railfan, and learned of its German origins,
then about the demise of British railway engineering, the demise of British
coalfields, and the havok that the Labor Party has wrecked upon the citizens
on the UK .... lots to digest but little time for it all to soak in.

Upon leaving I took this departing shot of the train passing under Bolton Street.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/17 07:52 by WrongWayMurphy.

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Here is Great Western No. 813 from the Bolton St overpass.

813 is a 0-6-0 dockside saddletank engine. In the second photo the fireman is
taking on water in the hatch above the boiler, while the driver looks on.

Third photo on this page is the business end of 813.

I would give my first born to fire this one.

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Nicely restored D9537 idles at platform 4. Engine sounds
kind of like a Fairbanks Morse opposed piston job. I was told
these engines are very heavy, and thus very difficult to repair
and after the war, the railwaymen preferred the EMD designs but
the British rail agency bought the German locomotives because they
were dirt cheap. That is what a local railfan told me, anyway.
I am no British Rail expert, that is for certain, though were I to
live in the UK, I would become one.

Here is a short video clip of No. 08164 PRUDENCE running light
across Platform 4 heading to the carriage yard to pick up 4 coaches.

If you have to run diesel, at least these folks have the decency
to use side rod motion locomotives, something EMD would not have provided.

By the way, I do not understand the different numbers on either end of these
Class 8/9 locomotives, just above the buffers. Explanation, someone?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/17 09:25 by WrongWayMurphy.

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The 4-digit code on the end was used to display the trains head code, equivalent to your train symbols. First digit indicates train speed (a 1 or 2 means a passenger train), the letter is a destination code, the last two digits identify the specific train. These days those are never displayed on an actual train but they are still used as part of a longer train code.

The local railfan was talking twaddle about the class 14. The class 14s have a Paxman 6-cylinder 650hp engine. Their hydraulic transmission, made by Voith is the only German part.

Really nice photographs and account of your visit 'oop north' by the way! Wonder if you saw a standard 2-6-4 tank - i love these...



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/17 09:52 by exhaustED.

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I'll conclude part 4 with a hot, steamy video from Small Engines Weekend,
since I have put y'all to sleep with my tales of Bury, plus Todd Clark is probably
going to cancel my www.trainorders.com subscription for using up all his bandwidth.

Next stop, including The Great TransPennine Challenge .... Edinburgh

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Once again, many thanks for capturing what feels like some of the essence of UK railways.

Some extra info:

The class 14 (0-6-0 diesel - hydraulic with side rods) were one of the last type of standard diesels constructed in the mid 1960s. As such they represented probably the biggest single mis-investment in the entire dieselisation programme, as many never turned a wheel in revenue service, and the light trip traffic for which they were constructed was being run down to the point of non-existence. That is why there are so many in preservation.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but it now seems clear that even if public ownership might be necessary for good policy, it doesn't guarantee it automatically. After the war British railways were absolutely collapsing with neglect, and the last thing that was needed was a fleet of new steam designs. Diesels and electrification were effectively delayed by further ten years because of a childish and jingoistic idea by the then chief mechanical engineers that "we can do it ourselves" (This sounds just like my two year old grandson!).

An immediate purchase at the end of the 1940s of (say) GM diesels would have saved us millions, even after the foreign currency costs, but we actually ended up with a huge range of generally unsatisfactory (with a few exceptions) home built designs which were sentimentally expected to sell well in the "Colonies". Meanwhile the French and Germans who needed more complete total reconstruction ended up streets ahead. The best we have ever done was to produce the High Speed Train in the 1970s, which is only now being replaced by cheap and nasty Hitachi models at a ridiculous price.

Rant over! I look forward to hearing about the rest of your trip.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/26/17 02:11 by spflow.

Another fine set of photos. Some 'Teddy Bears' were exported after withdrawl. I spotted this one in 1981 at Goole on its way to Spain. chris uk.

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Like your series so far.

The Teddy Bears 🐻 are great looking locos! Wish there were some in the States.

Totally love the two tea pots on the shelf of the steamer. Classic.

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