LNER Photograph Album

[Darwin4975]

In my own locality B16/1s were a regular weekday sighting heading a braked freight (class C or D) of Drikold containers from ICI Billingham to a destination in the Birmingham area. York shed seemed to select their most scuffy examples for this working.

On 27th May 1959 No 61426 came wheezing along towards Norton East minus front number plate and sounding like a fitter's nightmare. It's a wonder she made it home.

The end was nigh as on 5th October I took a photograph of the same engine in Darlington Scrapyard still with painted number on the smokebox door.
(The engine alongside was 62701, with nameplate attached.)

[Darwin4975]

Some pictures taken in September 1959 in the Norton on Tees area:

63470 climbing from Norton South towards Norton West with a freight from Tees Yard on 4th September 1959. The buildings on the left form part of the original Norton Station built in the 1830s

65760 approaches Norton East with a freight for Tees Yard on 18th September. The J26 has acquired the shaped cab windows (changed from round spectacles) and has lost its chimney capuchon but still has the NER buffer stocks with circular base and the original taller domed boiler.

67759 pauses at Norton Station with a local passenger working heading towards West Hartlepool a week later on 24th September 1959. DMUs took over most such trains a few days later.

[Darwin4975]

A very rare occurrence brought a GC 04/6 to Teesside on the morning of 9th September 1959. I was lucky enough to witness the event and managed to get a very hurried picture of No 63906 passing Norton East signalbox. The freight was heading north in the direction of West Hartlepool but where it had come from is anyone's guess. Shedded at Frodingham at the time the O4 was best part of 100 miles from home and may have been borrowed by York as GC engines were certainly seen there from time to time.

All could not have been well, as ten days later on a visit to Thornaby 51L it was seen under repair in the shed yard with what seems to be part of the blast pipe arrangement lying on the bufferbeam. Whatever the ailment it wasn't terminal as this particular O4 had a few more years of work ahead before withdrawal.

Surrounded by ex-NER stock the GC visitor made an unusual sight which was almost certainly never repeated.

[Old_Taoist]

What a fantastic collection. Thank you for sharing your wonderful images and memories.

[Darwin4975]

In late September 1959, a visit to West Hartlepool shed brought the 35mm camera into action again.

J71 No 68233 was out of use and obviously destined for early oblivion.

In the yard Q6 No 63454 was ready for action.

A J27 No 65805 was being coaled manually at the coaling stage.

The catch of the day was lurking in the little two road shed at the top of the yard in the form of J73 No 68364. Fortunately there was someone on hand who agreed to drive it outside for a photo. Getting it back was something of a struggle as there was so little steam left but back it did go.

[Rlangham]

These are all wonderful, thanks for sharing them. As an NER fan I'm especially interested in the NER types but I really like the one of 60093 - the weather, background and two children in the left of the shot make it a really superb, atmospheric photo

[Darwin4975]

Here are a few photos taken at Stockton shed not long before closure in May/June 1959.
The shedcode was 51E and there was nothing larger than B1 4-6-0s on its books.
Entry was very easy and staff friendly (but few visitors).
Most workings were freight with just a small number of local passenger turns.
The 51E allocation was mostly transferred to the new shed (51L) at Thornaby on the other (south) side of the River Tees.
A visit on Sunday 10th May 1959 found the following on shed: 65787/88 65773 61030 62042 90155/172/430.

On 11th June 1959, a few days before closure, No 61173 (a Stockton allocated B1) was being turned (very primitively) on the shed turntable

I passed Stockton shed on the bus every day on my way to and from School, making sure I was on the upper deck (and the appropriate side) to get a good view of what was on shed. Regrettably there was no bus stop on this stretch of road so the bus kept moving, and fast observation was necessary.

[Darwin4975]

My last visit was on the very day of closure, Saturday 13th June, in the morning.
It looked like a normal day with engines in steam sitting in the yard.

But by the next day, the only engine present was J27 65787.
The yard was completely deserted on the Monday.

[Darwin4975]

A couple of weeks before those last visits to Stockton Shed, a friend and I decided to have another trip to Doncaster, calling in at Selby on the way. The date chosen was Saturday 23rd May and it was a perfect early summer's day. Like Stockton, Selby shed also closed before the end of the year but there was plenty to see that May morning. The yard contained several B16s, including 61433 and 61458 which can both be seen in this picture taken from outside the shed. Some lovely old NER signals also on display.

Inside the roundhouse another rarity was lurking in the form of pioneer T1 4-8-0T No 69910. She was in steam having just returned from a morning's work at Gascoigne Wood. Also present and in steam was J27 0-6-0 No 65888. This is an interesting picture showing detail of the Selby roundhouse interior. Two locomen can be seen on the left signing off duty. Note the gas lighting
.

Catching a local train from Selby we arrived at Doncaster to find an enormous crowd of people at the station. Why they were there we had no idea but quickly discovered the reason when a gleaming A4 came steaming in from the south. The mass of people made it impossible to take a photograph of No 60007 at the platform though we did manage to get up close and saw the SLS Silver Jubilee headboard. It was some time later that I came to realise the true significance of the occasion and the 112mph achieved on the Doncaster-Kings Cross return, which was later commemorated with the plaque carried by the engine to this day.

I did manage to get a picture but this was after Hoole and Hancox had left the footplate and the engine was in the charge of Doncaster men in readiness for uncoupling and being taken to the shed. The special headboard was quite thin and delicate but it can clearly be seen in this side-on view which also shows vintage gas lamps, many of which were still in use at that time on the Eastern/North Eastern Regions.

The choice of day for our excursion was fortuitous -but a date which turned out to be very special. The sky remained cloudless all day long and I remember the trip back to Stockton from York in sparsely filled compartment stock hauled by No 60127. Whether the crew of the A1 knew about the exploits of Hoole & Co I do not know but we certainly seemed to be hurtling along at an exhilarating speed on the racetrack north of York in the setting sun.

On arrival back home this picture of 'Wilson Worsdell' preparing to depart for Newcastle rounded off a great occasion still remembered as if it was only yesterday.