For more than 20 years, book authors and magazine
writers have unwittingly perpetuated errors with regard
to the withdrawal and scrapping of many BR steam
locomotives. Now a major project is being launched
to set the record straight. ROGER BUTCHER reports.
The publication of the souvenir issue of The Railway Magazine sees the official launch of the HSBT Project, an attempt to accurately document the withdrawal, storage and disposal of the steam locomotives that existed in the last 12 years of the British Railways steam era.
In the 41 years since the final demise of BR-owned standard gauge steam, only one
enthusiast, Peter Hands, has attempted to
publish comprehensive information on this
subject. Peter’s generous endorsement of this
new project (see panel below) is very
much appreciated and our team already
possesses a great deal of primary source information
that was simply not available to him.
How the project began:
It all started in a top-floor flat in Cosham,
Hants, in the latter part of 2007 after my
lifelong friend Terry Hayward had survived
an operation for the removal of a tumour. We
decided it would be therapeutic to re-live our
1960s trainspotting days by discussing and
analysing the steam locomotives we had seen
together. Fortunately, we had both retained
comprehensive and detailed records of what locomotives we saw and exactly where and
when we saw them.
Right: 14XX No. 1453 was
listed as cut at Cashmore’s
Great Bridge,
but research
shows that it met its end
at the company’s Newport
yard. STRATHWOOD
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Below: Sparks fly as the cutter’s oxy-acetylene torch
attacks BR Standard 4MT No. 75018 at Buttigieg’s
Newport yard on September 30, 1967. NORMAN PREEDY
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Above: The researchers have discovered that ‘Castle’
No. 5015 Kingswear Castle ended its days at Ward’s of
Broughton Lane, Sheffield – not at Central Wagon, of
Ince, near Wigan. In its working days, the loco is seen at
Newton Abbot on January 27, 1962, with a ‘Footex’ from
Plymouth to London carrying Tottenham Hotspur fans
back from a 5-1 FA Cup win against Plymouth Argyle. Spurs
went on to beat Burnley in the Cup Final. PETER W. GRAY
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Left: Roger Butcher (left) and Terry Hayward, the two
men who realised something serious was amiss with the
published scrap records and who, with Richard Strange
and Peter Trushell, decided to form the new research team. PHIL MARSH
Right: Scrapyard photos generally are so sad . . . Bulleid
Q1 0-6-0 No. 33032
being reduced to a pile of slag at
Eastleigh Works in March 1964. RM ARCHIVE
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Initially, the idea was simply to rekindle
some wonderful memories of 52-hour weekend ‘shed bashes’ as we tried to see as many steam
locomotives as possible before it was too late;
memories of trips on which one could expect
to see as many as 1,500 engines in a single
weekend! Those were the days!
In the 1960s, Terry and I had also taken
a particular interest in scrapyard's and in
withdrawn and stored locos either awaiting
disposal on shed sidings or in transit to
scrapyard's. So, in the 1980s, Terry – like many
enthusiasts – had bought a complete set of
Peter Hands’
‘What Happened to Steam’ books
(‘WHTS’). However, like myself, he had never
actually compared them with our personal
records. As part of this exercise, we started to.
It soon became apparent that the books
could not be relied upon, so we decided to
dig a little deeper.
As those of us who remember the last ten
years of steam will know, John Cashmore Ltd
was by far the most significant firm involved in
the disposal of steam – more than 2,150 steam
locomotives ending their days at either its yard
in Newport, Monmouthshire, or at Great
Bridge, near Tipton in the West Midlands. |
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Above: A fine panoramic view of Central Wagon Co’s yard
at
Ince, near Wigan, Lancs, which features fairly prominently
in the revised records. LMS 2-6-4Ts are in the process of
being cut up in this 1964 view. R. PRESTON HENDRY |
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Some ten years ago, I acquired a copy of
the Cashmore company’s official records of the
locomotives it had scrapped. The information
included the actual day a loco was taken into
the yard for scrapping. It was vaguely my
intention to one day compile a book on the
Newport yard as it was only a few miles from
where I was born and I had been a regular
visitor in the mid-1960s.
However, these
records were now to serve a different purpose!
Whilst recovering from his operation, Terry,
a retired Merchant Navy engineer, offered to painstakingly compare the Cashmore records
with Peter Hands’ books – a long task, but one
that would give us an idea of the extent of the
problem.
The result of his analysis was
astonishing. Quite simply, approximately 50
per cent of the Cashmore entries in the WHTS
books were incorrect!
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PETER HANDS’
STATEMENT
Firstly, I would like to thank the Editor of The
Railway Magazine for giving me the
opportunity to refute any suggestion that
I deliberately fabricated some of the storage and
disposal information in my ‘What Happened to
Steam’ books (published between 1980 and 1985).
The information within those books was collated
during the 1970s from the only two sources available
to me at the time – railway journals and via
correspondence with other rail enthusiasts whose
knowledge of disposals was published by myself in
good faith. It now transpires, many years later, that
some of the information I received from both
sources was wrong, but how was I to know that at
the time?
The authors of this new ‘What Happened to
Steam’-style venture have my full backing because,
after all is said and done, it is in the interests of all
true enthusiasts to have totally accurate records of
the disposals of steam locomotives. How I envy the
mass of new information they now have at their
fingertips. If only I’d had access to the same all
those years ago! |
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Many of the discrepancies regarded dates,
but there was an unacceptable level of locos
shown in the books to have been scrapped by
the company that were not so – and vice versa.
Terry’s next task was to compare the books
with Brian Egan and Ian Scotney’s book ‘British
Railways Locomotives cut up by Draper’s of
Hull’, which had also been based on official
company records.
Again, the comparison work
showed significant discrepancies, albeit not on
the same level as the Cashmore records.
During 2008, I mentioned the above to
Michael Hale (who sadly passed away in
January this year) and he not only offered to
send me his comprehensive notes on his visits
to scrapyard's in South Wales and the West
Midlands, but let me have copies of colour
photographs he took at Cashmore’s of
Newport and Bird’s of Risca. |
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The greetings card that started it all by fortuitously bringing the HSBT team together (see main text). It depicts
Western Region 4-6-0s Nos. 6019 King Henry V, 5021 Whittington Castle and 5064 Bishop’s Castle in Newport Town
Dock East sidings on April 15, 1963, awaiting entry into Cashmore’s yard. MICHAEL HALE / NPT PUBLISHING |
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I decided to use one of his photos, of a ‘King’
and two ‘Castles’ in Town Dock East sidings
awaiting transfer into Cashmore’s yard, on the
New Year cards sent out to clients and friends by my company, NPT Publishing.
The caption on
the card referred to the fact that I possessed a
copy of the official Cashmore records.
After the cards had been sent out, I
received a letter by return of post from the
General Secretary of the Steam Railway
Research Society (SRRS), Richard Strange,
and another from retired railway clerk Peter
Trushell – almost certainly the two most
authoritative experts on the disposal of the BR
steam locomotive fleet. Over many years,
Richard and Peter had painstakingly compiled
records – from primary sources – of withdrawals,
storage and disposal, but even they had
many gaps in their records, which they believed
could be reduced by access to the official
Cashmore records.
Richard had long been aware that the
WHTS books not only contained many errors
but also a significant amount of information
that appeared simply to have been guessed at.
However, although he had made his views
known to many of the book and periodical
publishers who were taking the WHTS
information ‘as gospel’, he was simply ignored.
What makes it so serious – and you cannot
blame the WHTS books for this – is that so
many other books published over the last 25
years have simply copied the information from
the Peter Hands’ books. Some – such as Hugh
Longworth’s ‘British Railway Steam
Locomotives 1948-1968’ – acknowledge
WHTS among their sources, but, more
often than not, the source is not acknowledged.
It is, however, clear that the information has
been copied . . . sometimes complete with
typographical errors!
A CHALLENGE TO READERS
Where was this ‘Jubilee’ scrapped?
Even though the extensive research by the HSBT team has produced an
immense amount of new information, some mysteries still exist.
Peter Hands’ books say that ‘Jubilees’ Nos. 45556 Nova Scotia, 45573
Newfoundland, 45608 Gibraltar and 45643 Rodney were scrapped at
Cashmore’s, Great Bridge, but an analysis of the firm’s official records reveals
that this was not the case. It has now been found that 45573, 45608 and 45643 were broken up at Clayton & Davie’s yard at Dunston-on-Tyne.
However, there
is no record of 45556 going there, so in which yard was Nova Scotia scrapped?
This is an example of how Railway Magazine readers can, after all these years,
suddenly have a unique chance to help re-write the railway history books.
If any reader has photographs or other documentary evidence of where No.
45556 (or any other disputed loco) was cut up, can they please send it to the
editor, who will pass it on to the HSBT team for inclusion in the database.
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Above and left: In some
cases, locos were cut up
hundreds of miles from
the locations stated in
the ‘WHTS’ books. B1
4-6-0 No. 61177 (seen
in 1963 at Basford) was
cut at Cashmore’s,
Great Bridge, and not
at Inverurie Works, in
Scotland, as was widely
reported.
The
November 1965
photographic evidence
on the left shows‘Jubilee’ No. 45608
Gibraltar in Clayton &
Davie’s yard on the
banks of the River Tyne,
not at Great Bridge –
both about as far from
their recorded locations
as one could imagine!
COLOUR-RAIL.COM and
TREVOR ERMEL/BOOK LAW |
Right: The destination of
various 9Fs in ‘WHTS’ are
incorrect. For example,
No. 92066 is seen with
parts removed at Ellis
Metals, Derwenthaugh,
not Cohen’s, of Cargo
Fleet, Middlesbrough
TREVOR ERMEL/BOOK LAW |
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The perpetuation of erroneous information
has even resulted in some authors justifying the inclusion of the data by stating that it
has been drawn from, say, five different books– as though that somehow makes it right! Such
authors obviously have no understanding of the
meaning of the phrase ‘primary sources’!
Clearly, for the sake of railway history, this
situation could not be allowed to go on and so
the four of us resolved to pool our knowledge
and resources. Thus was the HSBT (Hayward
Strange Butcher Trushell) Project born. Other
key people involved with us include railwayman
John Hall, retired civil servant Keith Gunner
and retired librarian Ross Woollard, who is
the librarian of the Steam Railway Research
Society.
Each person’s area of special responsibility
is shown below, although all the books to be
published are, of course, a team effort.
■ Eastern Region: Ross Woollard
■ London Midland Region: Richard Strange
■ Southern Region: Keith Gunner
■ Standard Locomotives: Terry Hayward
■ Western Region: Roger Butcher
■ History and location of scrapyards: John Hall
■ Movements to scrapyards: Peter Trushell
Above: BR Class 5MT No.
73119 Elaine in happier
times at Basingstoke.
Its demise came at
the Cashmore yard
in Newport, not at
the Buttigieg one.
STRATHWOOD
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Alive and dead: ‘West Country’ No. 34034 Honiton at
Waterloo in 1965 (top) and at Cashmore’s Newport on
April 2, 1968. The published records state incorrectly
that this loco was scrapped by Buttiegieg’s.
Top: COLOUR-RAIL.COM Above: R.K. BLENCOWE |
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As we researched further, we began finding
photographic evidence of engines actually
being scrapped at locations that in some cases
were hundreds of miles from those in the
WHTS books! It became obvious that the
record had to be put straight for the sake of
railway history.
It is at this point that I would very much
like to record my appreciation of the support
and backing of The Railway Magazine in
officially helping us to launch this project. The
RM is Britain’s top selling rail title by far and
both editor Nick Pigott and deputy Chris
Milner share our passionate interest in the fate
of steam. This led Terry and I to approach The
RM team at their Eastleigh open event in May.
Coincidentally, Terry and I had first met
outside Eastleigh Works 45 years previously
when I showed him how to ‘bunk’ the place. Not that he needed much persuading!
To enable us to complete this massive project, we would now like to make contact
with any reader who:
(a) has copies of, or access to, official scrapyard
records or who worked at any of the yards.
(b) Visited scrapyards and has notes and/or
photographs of what he saw.
(c) Has copies of, or access to, documents
about movements from sheds and works to
scrapyards – or documents providing details of locomotive sales to scrapyards.
Right: Ex-LNER Gresley
K3 2-6-0 No. 61890 a
Bishops Stortford in
June 1957. This loco met
its end at Cashmore,
Great Bridge, not at
Central Wagon Co, of
Ince. S. CREER/
TRANSPORTTREASURY.CO.UK |
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Right: Re-sale of locos
between scrapyards was
rare. However, Cooper’s of
Sharpness, Gloucs (whose
yard is seen with at least
17 ex-GWR locos on view)
didn't scrap all the 30
locos it bought, re-selling
around half of them to
Cashmore’s, Newport.
Do readers have further
details on this? D. HAWKINS
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Right: Stored at Aberdare
shed with their chimneys
capped on July 7, 1963 are
ex-GWR 2-8-0s Nos. 2876
and 3816. No. 2876 was
taken into Cashmore’s
Newport on March 22,
1965 for disposal and
was not cut up at Bird’s
of Risca, as has been
reported. (Readers’
on-shed storage notes
are welcomed.)
RAIL PHOTOPRINTS |
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As an incentive to encourage you to dig
out your records from your loft, garage or
wherever, everyone who helps us will be able to
buy the books at a discount – and if the help
given is really extensive or significant, the
book(s) will be given to you completely free of
charge. In addition, everyone who participates
or helps in the project will be personally
acknowledged in the books, whether or not
the help is large or small.
For charity
On top of that, NPT Publishing feels so
strongly that this task has to be undertaken for
the sake of future generations that any profits
from the book sales will be donated to charity– and if anyone can provide us with the
majority of the information we need, then they
too can nominate their favourite charity!
This project is not a commercial venture,
but an opportunity to involve everyone with
knowledge or photos to come together and
complete the final pieces of the jigsaw.
The amount of information we receive will
define the exact final scope of the books. Do
we, for instance, include locomotive allocations,
as Peter Hands did (but instead use
official internal BR Regional advice sheets as
opposed to society or commercial magazines
with their varying interpretations of information
issued by the various Regional public
relations offices) or do we limit the work to
withdrawal, storage and disposals only?
Another loco whose funeral notice has been wrongly
recorded is ex-LMS 4F No. 44134, seen at Disley South Jct,
Cheshire, in 1959. It was cremated at Cashmore’s of Great
Bridge, not Bird’s of Long Marston. RAIL ARCHIVE STEPHENSON
Photographs of steam locomotives at,
or en route to, scrapyards will obviously be
vital, not only to help illustrate the books but
to help us confirm data.
In this respect, we are very grateful to David Allen, Barry
Hoper, Kevin Derrick and Rod and Stewart
Blencowe, who have pledged us their support.
Thanks also to the Engine Shed Society, the
Monmouthshire Railway Society, the National
Railway Museum, the Stephenson Locomotive
Society and the Welsh Railways Research
Circle, who have all pledged their assistance.
Thanks also to those individuals – mainly aged
60+ now – who, having the time to study their
own personal notes, have already been in touch
to offer their support as they too have been bewildered by continually reading storage and
disposal information that simply doesn't tally
with their own personal observations. One such
reader is Brian Edinboro, who has trawled
through his notebooks and typed up several
years of storage dates and locations. Hopefully,
once this article is published, other individuals
and societies will step forward.
Please get in touch (my contact details
appear below), but, if comparing your notes
with the WHTS books before deciding whether
to contact us, do make sure that you are using
his later (revised) editions and please also note
that we are only interested in ‘primary source’
information, so do not send any text details
you find in publications (although we would
appreciate being told of published photographs
we might not be aware of). The same applies to
the plethora of internet sites on this topic, as
almost all the information originates from the
same sources, complete with the same errors!
We are going back to square one because,
quite simply, the circle of a continual
perpetuation of errors has to be broken!
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Former GW 4-6-0 No. 4907 Broughton Hall, here slumbering on Bristol St Philip’s Marsh shed on July 3, 1962, was
not cut up at King’s of Norwich, as some records show, but in Tipton, at Cashmore’s of Great Bridge. D.K. JONES |
The sun sets on steam . . . an atmospheric study of No. 1009 County of Carmarthen at Bristol in January 1963. The ‘County’
ended its days at Cashmore’s Newport, not Swindon Works as stated in ‘What Happened to Steam’. COLOUR-RAIL.COM |
Contacts
Website: www.whatreallyhappenedtosteam.co.uk
and: www.wrhts.co.uk
Postal: HSBT Project, 26 Priory Gardens, Langstone,
Newport, NP18 2JG.
The author has generously donated his fee for this feature to
the Naomi House Children’s Hospice, Winchester.
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