Barrow Hill 150+2 Gala
Barrow Hill Roundhouse held its 150+2 Gala 26th-28th August 2022. The 150th anniversary of the venerable roundhouse had been delayed by Covid, hence the "+2".
The RCTS was pleased to partner with BHR to run a special Members' Day, at which two nameplate unveiling ceremonies took place.
Jump to:
RCTS Members' Day
An estimated 150 RCTS members attended on the Saturday. The recruitment stand and bookstall in the cafeteria - manned by Sheffield branch members and various other helpers - was busy all weekend, with over 30 new members recruited and healthy sales of RCTS publications.
A photography competition was held which attracted a very high standard of entries. The winning photo and other entries are available to view below.
Copies of The Railway Observer were distributed to people queuing to get in. Each was specially stickered to promote a joining offer.
A longer report will appear in October's Railway Observer.
Football club plates unveiled
The two RCTS-owned plates Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday were originally carried by LNER B17s 61649 and 61661 respectively. They have been hanging in the Barrow Hill Roundhouse cafeteria for several weeks, but the opportunity arose to formally unveil them during the RCTS Members' Day.
John Pearson did the honours. John appeared 105 times for Sheffield Wednesday in the early 1980s.
Class 66 66726 now carries Sheffield Wednesday and was displayed in the yard.
Click an image to enlarge
Class 69 69003 named "The Railway Observer"
The main event of the day was to unveil the fourth locomotive to carry the name The Railway Observer.
GBRf was represented by Engineering Strategy Directory Bob Tiller who explained the rationale for rebuilding former Class 56s (56018 in this case) into "new" locomotives, developing capacity and skills in the UK.
RCTS President Canon Brian Arman performed the unveiling.
The RCTS Our Locos web pages will be updated shortly to tell the story of 56018/69003 more fully.
Photo competition
The Members' Day photograph competition attracted a wide variety of entries. Thank you to everyone who took part.
We asked the winner to comment on the composition:
Click any of the images below to open a gallery displaying all the entries.
Photos of the day
Click the images to open the albums. They use a page-turning effect.
Robert Batty has shared 98 of his photographs taken on the RCTS Member's Day. A mixture of B&W and colour, some artistic, some factual, these outstanding images demonstrate someone with a sensitive and keen photographer's eye.
Alan Jones' Barrow Hill photos have previously been showcased in the RCTS Cambridge branch galleries. They date from a time when he captured the operational days of the roundhouse up to 1994.
A small album of 18 Gala photos is available to enjoy here.
Michael Smyth captured more of the steam displays and steam action. He also did a fine job of capturing the lettering on the ribbed sides of Class 67 67007 in its Platinum Jubilee livery and Class 66 66726 Sheffield Wednesday.
John Redgate's album contains three panorama photos taken in the roundhouse. The album displays them as a double-page spread (when in two-page mode). John - a nameplate expert - recorded a display in the Deltic Group workshops.
Alan Buckett's highly commended photo of 45060 and 91120 reflected in the soon-to-be-named 69003 is the cover of his album. He also caught images of objects and locos missed by others.
Stuart Jolly's album focuses mainly on the locos in the yard and roundhouse. With only a few exceptions, the images are clean well-lit shots, uninterrupted by other visitors.
Peter Jelley's images are mostly in B&W, a format which resonates history. There are some interesting shots of GWR/WR 0-6-0 Pannier Tank 1501 being filled with water, the smoke hoods in the roundhouse, and the roster board.
James Milne, head of RCTS Strategy Group, was involved in planning the day and organising the nameplates. He was on hand the day before to observe the arrival of Class 69 69003 from Doncaster, having had the plates affixed there.