41E reborn - The first 10 years

The two surviving LNER B1 4-6-0s Nos 1306 Mayflower and 61264 together in the roundhouse early on 9 November 2007.

The Rail Power 2008 event of 22-25 August will commemorate several anniversaries, not least of which is 10 years since Barrow Hill Roundhouse staged its first open day. Geoff Silcock tells Robin Jones of some of the unique steam experiences created at this magnificent site over the last decade.

So how did you get involved initially?

A telephone call from Dave Wilcock one evening extolling the virtues of the revived Staveley Barrow Hill. Though I visited Derby, Burton, Coalville, Nottingham and Sheffield in the vicinity on arranged shed visits in the late 1950s, I missed out on Staveley, shedcode 41E, the first time around.

What happened then?

I went to see Mervyn Allcock, the supremo at Barrow Hill, and he showed me around. I was very taken by what I saw, with this great empty roundhouse, in the mould of the Cricklewood and more especially Kentish Town sheds that I’d known in London, and it was just begging for steam locos again... The cunning plan was hatched with Mervyn and Martyn Ashworth to phase a photo charter before the event, to cover some of the costs of the first gala in July 1998. I’d had previous dealings with the mentor of the ‘half- cab’ 0-6-0T No 41708, so that became the first acquisition. It grew from there, with 4F

No 44422, and then ‘Jocko’ No 47298 via contacts of ours. A late arrival on the scene was L&Y ‘Pug’ No 51218, which was going to be in transit at around that time.

And the 1998 Gala was successful?

Very much so, and I particularly remember that there was a solid stream of cars coming in, that eventually outstripped the parking allocated, and then a JCB started clearing the ground ahead to make more parking space as more cars arrived!

And it covered its costs?

It met its targets, though it may not have been appreciated how much on a shoestring the first event in July 1998 actually was, in that we could only afford to steam two of the four locos, while paying the other two a lesser appearance fee. In the event, the gala was so enjoyable that all the loco owners wanted to come back and steam their engines the next year anyway...

What is the special affinity of the ‘half-cab’ 0-6-0T No 41708 and Staveley Barrow Hill?
The last of the Johnson rebuilt IF 0-6-0Ts only survived so long in service because of the 100-year contract for steam operation at the nearby Staveley Ironworks, which ran out in 1965. No 41708 became one of the last ones in operation, although originally No 41712 had been earmarked several years before to be preserved, but the funds weren't forthcoming then. That a ‘half- cab’ entered preservation at all was due to their longevity at Staveley Barrow Hill, so it could be said that 41E is indeed its spiritual home. It is also believed that the preserved example was one of the few IF 0-6-0Ts that was originally turned out in Midland Railway green before the more accepted Johnson crimson lake livery from 1880.

My own special affection for the ‘Iffy’ is that it opened up Parkend on the Dean Forest with its low axle loading for us, and a host of other locations, including Bristol and Goole Docks.

The 1998 gala locomotive movements didn't go completely smoothly though? When No 47298 had been despatched ‘light engine’ by low loader back to its home shed at Llangollen, a foreign lorry hit the back of its low loader going south on the Ml, and forced the ‘Jocko’ nearly into the driver’s cab. It was the unexpected culmination of a momentous few days...

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