Peter Townend

[silverfox]

Just heard that Peter died this morning.. I understand it yesterday that his wife was buried

RIP Peter

and Thanks for the Double chimneys

[mick b]

R.I.P

Very sad news.

[manna]

G'Day Gents

Another link with the past gone. RIP

manna

[Hatfield Shed]

Unforgettable. Rest in Peace.

[Mickey]

Peter relates an amusing story in one of the dvds that he appears in of ECML steam during the later 1950s and of himself being on the footplate of one of the Kings Cross Top shed Pacific's (possibly an A3 but I can't remember exactly and possibly with a dynamometer coach attached behind the locos tender?) and coming Up road following the Up 'Queen of Scots' Pullmans south of Doncaster when the Queen of Scots was 'looped' at Carlton just north of Newark for the Pacific to pass it. Apparently on approaching Carlton on the footplate of the Pacific with the Up Queen of Scots seen sitting in the Up Carlton loop from the footplate of the Pacific all the heads were out of every coach window looking expectedly back up along the line including the footplate crew as well who were also looking back up the line all waiting to see what was coming up behind them and being given a 'clear road' ahead of the Up Queen of Scots Pullmans sitting in the loop?.

[strang steel]

That is such sad news.

I remember reading Top Shed sometime in the 1970s, and was fascinated by the daily goings on at Kings Cross. I also remember being amazed to discover from that book, that the A3s had been given almost a new lease of life with double chimneys, and how the German-style smoke deflectors were excellent at keeping the exhaust smoke well clear of the locomotive, but dieselisation prevented any further advances.

I also have a number of the 'Power Of' dvds, although I haven't watched them for a while. I will view them again in Peter's memory.

RIP

[SeniorGricer]

Peter's son, Mark, who is a correspondent of another rail forum I use, broke the news of his father's death. I'm sure he won't mind me reproducing his post here:

"Peter Townend, my father, passed away in the early hours of 18th October, aged 98. He survived mum by 17 days. He will be greatly missed by family and many friends and former colleagues in the railway industry and the preservation movement. One of the last great men of steam, he was trained by the LNER as a premium apprentice at Doncaster Plant works and after a spell as a draughtsman in the locomotive drawing office, he moved into the motive power department where he was first employed on special projects as a 'progressman' while also providing short term relief cover as required for shedmasters and supervisors at various depots in East Anglia and on the Great Northern. In the mid-1950s he was successful in applying for the shedmaster vacancy at Kings Cross which was specially re-graded to be a management position due to the sheer size of the establishment there. He served in that position until the early 1960s when the majority of the allocated fleet was scrapped or dispersed and a lower-graded 'caretaker' was appointed to oversee final rundown and closure. Latterly he became the Kings Cross Divisional Traction and Rolling Stock Engineer, Responsible for diesel fleets and depots including the Deltics at Finsbury Park. He took early retirement in 1984 and moved from Letchworth, the family home, to Torquay in Devon where he and his wife Daphne enjoyed a long and happy retirement. Rest in Peace, Dad."

I was privileged to have seen the range of superb locomotives (many of them Gresley Pacifics) in my early days as a "junior gricer", much of my time being spent at the end of the platforms at Kings Cross or on the "spotters' platform" at Finsbury Park. A first edition of Peter's book "Top Shed", takes pride of place in my book case.