A look ahead to Power from the Past - the railway exhibits...

A look ahead to Power from the Past – the railway exhibits…

/ August 12, 2012 / 2 Comments / News
Well, we are only a few weeks away from our late summer transport spectacular – Power from the Past – August 30th to September 2nd.  Kicking off a six week programme of events as part of the Great North Festival of Agriculture at Beamish.  A great range of visiting exhibits are invited, along with some new home-based attractions (No.18, South Shields 196, G&I 26 etc. etc.!!!).
As always the caveat of ‘subject to availability applies’ but we will do our best!  Road steam should feature as always, something we have been working on these last few weeks in association with the HSE.  So, a big event, lots to see and enjoy and a wide range of working displays as ever.
We’ll start the preview with a look at the invited railway attractions…
The Colliery area will almost be hosting an event in itself!  What with our own attractions on show as well, there are some really choice sights to see…
Below: Eugene Wheelwright is the proud owner of the 105 year old Peckett 0-4-0ST ‘Whitehead’ – to me this is one of the prettiest of all industrial locomotives, now based at the Midland Railway Centre and a regular visitor to other heritage railways.  It will be based in the Colliery and I for one greatly look forward to seeing it in this industrial setting.  Copper cap chimney too…!!!
Below: A few had suggested this, but I wanted to keep it a surprise!  1933 built Avonside ‘Marchlyn’, recently and stunningly restored by the Hunslet team at Statfold Barn has recently made its debut in service little more than a year since repatriation from the USA.  And the significance to the north east?  Marchlyn is another former Durham County Water Board locomotive and so will be the first of the DCWB engines to steam in Durham since Elidir (then named Lanchester) left the Birtley Brickworks where it had worked after employment on the Burnhope dam contract finished.
Marchlyn was named ‘Wear’ when in DCWB service, and has been restored to its Penrhyn Quarry appearance.  It will make an interesting contrast with near-identical sister engine Ogwen which is on display in the Colliery Engine Works.

Below: Graham Lee’s Statfold Barn Railway has also recently rebuilt Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0WT ‘Bronllwyd’ into its original contracting guise as GP39.  It became famous as Alan Bloom’s engine of choice at Bressingham Gardens where it was rebuilt from little more than a rolling chassis.  It recently moved to Statfold Barn to join Graham’s comprehensive collection of narrow gauge locomotives there and visits us as part of its tour around various UK narrow gauge lines.  One I have long hoped to see at Beamish! (thanks to Dave Wilcock for use of these two images showing the two Statfold engines visiting the West Lancs Railway last weekend)

Rowley Station will become the North Sunderland Railway for four days, with a strong line up of similar motive power as that used on the Northumberland light railway, which ran to Seahouses from Chathill on the East Coast Mainline.  Latterly noted for its use of hired Y7’s, it, in its own way, pioneered use of diesel-electric traction through use of two Armstrong Whitworth 0-4-0DEs, one of which was owned by the cash-strapped company.  The line also ran an eclectic mix of ex main line four wheel coaches.  Hopefully our own efforts will evoke something of this long closed but well known railway line for these four days…

Below: One we’ve been working on for some time!  Re-uniting the two Y7s (well, technically a class H and a Y7) in the north east for the first time.  The Middleton Railway are sending up their recently restored H class (later LNER Y7) No.1310.  Like 985, this saw service in industrial use and in fact worked very locally at Waterhouse Colliery.  After Beamish it will be heading for the Tanfield Railway to take part in their gala.

Below: No.2 is the 1933 built Armstrong Whitworth diesel electric shunter (D22) which has come to be a well known locomotive at the Tanfield Railway where it was restored and is now regularly used.  It will be visiting to complete the North Sunderland Railway line up, and is likely to spend the following weekend with us to enable us to celebrate the NSR a little longer.

Hopefully there will also be a pair of four wheel coaches visiting from the Tanfield Railway to complete the NSR scene.  Operations will be top and tailed so there will be lots of varied photographic opportunities to enjoy, as well as the now familiar Saturday evening public photo session enabling close up photography of these exhibits at rest around the site.

As always it is important to thank all of those who so generously make available their engines and exhibits in support of the events at Beamish – it means a lot to us to receive such support and we hope that as many enthusiasts as possible will come along and enjoy the spectacle.

Next time we’ll have a look at some of the other invited exhibits and displays planned…