STEAM
TRAINS
 |
| What sent these trains off the rails? |
What
do you get when two groups of train enthusiasts decide to swap engines
for the weekend? A very long traffic jam, yes a traffic jam!
The green
Great Western engine is making history.
It is the first time in 40 years that she has run over this line.
And the faithful have flocked to Shepton Mallet to pay their respect.
All in all
it was a big day at the East Somerset Railway.
As part of their Autumn Steam Gala, they decided to borrow a locomotive
from the West Somerset Railway.
In return East Somerset gave an engine to West Somerset for the West Somerset
Railway autumn steam gala.
| GWR
FACT FILE |
|
The
Great Western Railway was originally created to link Bristol with
London.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a rising star in engineering, was appointed
as the chief engineer on the project and the London to Bristol line
opened on June 30, 1841.
In 1841, it was decided that the Great Western Railway's workshops
should be located in Swindon.
The
first locomotive, The Great Western, was completed in 1846, starting
a proud tradition that lasted nearly 150 years until the works closed
in 1986.
|
... And
the traffic jams?
These were
caused not because trainspotters flocked in their thousands to see the
engines (although many did that too), but because the engines had to travel
by road.
The West
Somerset Railway is a thriving business running steam trains between Bishop's
Lydeard outside Taunton and Minehead, with a small number of paid staff
and 400 volunteers.
The bizarre feature is that although East and West Somerset railways are
linked by a railway track, the two groups of enthusiasts have to put the
steam engine on a lorry which then drives it across Somerset.
The process
of getting the engine onto the lorry is complex.
And Eric's very much a 'man of the road' - his speciality moving steam
engines.
 |
| These
steam engines took road journeys across Somerset |
Eric attaches portable rails to the end of the track and winches the steam
engine onto a low loader.
South Wales to Somerset
The steam
train in question is loco number 5637.
5637 is a 0-6-2 tank engine built by the Great Western Railway in 1925
and following 40 years of service in the south Wales coal fields it was
declared redundant and sold for scrap.
It 1981 it moved to the Swindon and Cricklade Railway and over a period
of 16 years it was rebuilt and returned to full working order.
5637 is
a major draw to the the East Somerset Railway at Shepton Mallet.
 |
| Stephen
Masters went over to West Somerset to ensure they were looking after
the engine properly |
Stephen
Masters is the locomotive superintendent after completing a degree in
mechanical engineering and being unable to tear himself away from the
trains long enough to get a job.
He and fellow
East Somerset Railwayman Richard Taylor went over to West Somerset to
ensure they were looking after the engine properly, such is their love
of the engine.
As it was
an industrial train, it is not the usual type to run on the West Somerset
Railway and the drivers were pleased to be able to expand their repertoire.
In turn,
the East Somerset railway were ecstatic at having the shiny loco 5542
which actually used to run on their railway in the Sixties and this is
its first homecoming since then. |
