When my spotting pal, Stephen Dent, left school, he followed in his father's footsteps and joined British Rail as a trainee at Newcastle Central Station. When I left school and applied for a post with BR at Newcastle, I was told that I lived too far away - yet I lived four miles closer than Stephen. Seemingly, my application was unsuccessful because I had no family already working for BR - such is life!
It wasn't long before Stephen was promoted to Station Inspector based at Blackburn in Lancashire, and in April 1968 he invited me down from Durham for a crazy weekend photographing the Manchester Rail Travel Society/Severn Valley Railway Society's 'North West Tour' on April 20th.
The railtour originated at Birmingham New Street hauled by E3180 to Stockport. The route from Stockport was: Disley LNW - Buxton No1 - Peak Forest Jn - Chinley - Romiley - Guide Bridge East Jn - Stalybridge - Standedge - Hebdon Bridge - Copy Pit - Rose Grove - Blackburn - (2) Bolton - Bury - Knowsley Street - Rochdale - Oldham Mumps - Philips Park No1 Jun - Droylesdon - Denton Jn - Stockport - Northenden Jn - Skelton Jn - Warrington Bank Quay Low Level - Ditton Jn - Liverpool Lime Street - Birmingham.
Having spread out a map and planned our route, we set off with one of Stephen's pals - an aspiring professional concert pianist - in his soft-top Sunbeam Alpine, and headed for the first of eight trackside locations on a glorious warm spring day...
(Above-Below) The above photographs show Stanier Class 5s 45110 and 44949 near Barmoor Clough Tunnel on the LNWR Buxton line near Dove Holes Station - on the right can be seen the trackbed of the former Peak Forest Tramway just beyond the wall. (Below) The statutory 'going-away' shot...
(Below) The second chance came when the rail tour returned from Buxton via the MR line and we caught it heading through the deep cutting from Peak Forest Junction into Dove Holes Tunnel.
(Below) The next chance came near Ashton Park Parade on the Guide Bridge to Stalybridge line, aiming to get multiple shots from a vantage point with views across the town.
(Below) After exchanging the 'Black 5s' for a pair of BR Standard 5MTs 73134 - 73069, we photographed the rail tour climbing from Saddleworth Viaduct to Diggle on the Manchester-Leeds Standedge route...
(Above-Below) These elevated view show the BR Standard Class 5s getting to grips with the 1 in 68 climb from Todmorden to Copy Pit.
(Below) Our next port of call was Spring Vale, hoping to see the rail tour storming up the grade to Slough Tunnel but when it arrived, it slowed to a stop and the Class 5s propelled the train through a cross-over before working wrong line into the tunnel. We later discovered that parts of the tunnel roof were under repair hence the change to wrong line working.
(Above-Below) Following another engine change to Stanier Class 8F 2-8-0 No 48773, we photographed the train storming to Clayton Bridge Viaduct, then coasting past us at speed, by now running rather late.
(Below) Our final shot of the day shows a filthy Class 9F 92160 at Boundary Bridge, Cheadle on the Stockport to Liverpool line, now running an hour late. We saw the train hurtling towards us on the newly ballasted track and thought it was going to derail; it passed over the bridge (just behind the loco) and the front end visibly reared up and became very unstable. Stephen reported this on Monday morning but was assured there was nothing wrong with the track. However, just a few weeks later, a diesel-hauled freight did derail on the bridge, went down the embankment (at the exact spot we had been standing) and demolished a car showroom full of Bentley and Rolls Royce cars. Stephen received a profound apology from BR for not checking out his observations, and we are sure it helped his career with rapid promotion
Unfortunately, I lost touch with Stephen over the years; I joined the RAF and do believe Stephen was promoted to Shed Manager at Bristol Bath Road. He later concentrated on photographing Signal Boxes and his work has often appeared in publications, such as 'Backtrack'. I understand he died some years ago.
Stephen meant a lot to me; on the first day I went to Senior School, Stephen was in the 3rd year and made a point of seeking out a train spotter like himself…ME! In those days, the school's senior pupils were encouraged to make new arrivals feel welcome in their first year. Therefore I dedicate this page to his memory, for it was due to Stephen that I was accepted on the Dearness Valley Branch at Ushaw Moor Station (Porter Jack Railton), New Brancepeth Signal Box (Jacky Hammill), Flass Junction Signal Box and Waterhouses Station - in one way or another, all the railmen I met have made a lasting impression...
To be continued...
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