Vintage Trains Story
On the 2nd May the Milton Keynes Branch held a first ever joint meeting with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (I. Mech. E.) at Network Rail's HQ, the Quadrant, to hear Mike Corbett's presentation "Vintage Trains' Story: The Rise to a Train Operating Company". Mike firstly outlined the history of Vintage Trains' base, Tyseley locomotive depot, from its construction in 1906 as a classic Churchward style GWR roundhouse and factory establishment to the present day diesel unit maintenance facility which adjoins Vintage Trains depot.
The origins of the heritage operation which we have today goes back to the early days of steam preservation with Tom Rolt's letter in the Birmingham Post appealing for volunteers for the Tallyllyn Railway restoration project. Amongst those answering the appeal was one of the most influential men in the steam preservation movement, Patrick Whitehouse. Patrick soon bought a Class 45xx "Prairie" tank from BR and needed a base to maintain it. He contacted Tom Field the depot engineer at Tyseley, who was agreeable to keeping it at the depot. During the mid 1960s the Prairie tank was soon joined by two other locos Patrick Whitehouse bought, Castle No. 7029 "Clun Castle" and Jubilee No. 45593 "Kolhapur". This led to the formation of the Standard Gauge Steam Trust which leased the coaling stage building at Tyseley as a permanent base.
On 9th May 1973 the SGST ran a special charter from Birmingham to Stratford upon Avon using pannier tank No. 7752 for the I. Mech. E., thus setting the precedent for the present day "Shakespeare Express". Since then Vintage Trains have gone on to establish themselves as regular operators of steam hauled charters and have obtained a full Operating Licence and Safety Case, making them a fully fledged Train Operating Company.
Mike went on to describe many of the technical innovations that have been developed at Tyseley by the company's Engineer, Bob Meanley. Amongst these is the Company's converted bogie parcels van, "REG", short for Range Extension GUV, which has compartments for storing water and coal thus extending the range of a steam loco between water stops by over 50%.
Mike Corbett's talk was both informative and fascinating giving many insights into the varied skills of Vintage Trains.