R h n hardy collection
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| RH 846A This is the support crew for 60009 Union of South Africa running under the name of Merlin for what reason I cannot remember. John Cameron’s engine and John Cameron’s splendid men. This picture shows the late Dave Murray, John Lynch, the late Lindsay Spittal very much in charge, Bill Andrew of Crewe then a Locomotive Inspector, still going strong at the time of writing, then RH, two representatives of the 8E Society who came to coal and water and did a good job and then Glyn Jones, the Holyhead Loco Inspector while on the ground in front is our old friend from Llandudno Jc, Jock Flavin ex polmadie and, I believe, Nine Elms(the JCB), once of Polmadie, Nine Elms and Llandudno.Jc
(Barry: there are now three pictures numbered 847 which we had better sort before you go on line. RH 847 There are two pictures bearing this number. Both pictures are of the LNER V2 4771 at Princes Risboro with the York Museum Support Crew which includes the late and much loved Kim Malyon, second from the right.. The driver is John Whittington ex B.Arms( a good old B.Arms B------d who transferred from London Bridge to Marylebone to get on the steam: alongside him is the booked driver Gordon Reade, very much an old Neasden man as was his father. RH 847A and 848 Go for 848, a more cheerful picture. Merlin again: with Little Nick on the left, a real ball of fire, then Dave Murray, John Lynch, Lindsay Spittal, Bill Andrew and our friend from the 8E. What a pleasure it was to work with this gang and now sadly two of them have passed on. RH 849 and 849A They are almost identical and a very good picture of Paddy Smith of Moberley, a wonderful man and a very good friend who owned 5407, the splendid Black 5. Paddy died a few years ago and the engine fetched up at Ian Riley’s in Bury. He had a splendid crew and took a very personal interest in each of them. Here they are at Holyhead having come from Crewe in perfect form. L-R “Pat the Nose” of Carnforth, Bill Ashcroft, author of many articles in Steam World, Bob Meredith, Paddy, Joe Singleton, Allan Scott and Mike Frank. What happy time Gwenda and I had with Sue Smith and Paddy. He was for Lancashire at cricket and Man City at football and had a wonderful wine cellar. RH 850 I am not sure what all this was about. I know that Steve McColl got himself involved in shunting for hours on end and tearing about far too fast with the old Adams Southampton Docks shunter “Normandy”. I was his fireman and was relieved by an ex B.Arms Loco Inspector about 1300 and left Steve to his own devices. It was an enjoyable day and the man behind it all stands second left, Roger Cruse and one of the best and has in 2008, completed and set to work his magnum opus, the reconstructed and rebuilt 34059 BoB to be found on the Bluebell Railway. L-R john Blundy, Roger Cruse, Steve McColl, David Foale, David Cox and Ian Wright, some of whom are true blue Bluebell men.. RH 851/2/3. 851 and 853 are similar in that they both show excellently Don Dutton, Jack Beaman and John Robinson(Robbo) but 853 is the best bet as it shows as a splendid background, the LNER K4 3442 “The Great Marquess” in apple green livery at that time based on the Severn Valley Railway, in perfect condition in every department. To have a day with these three splendid railwaymen was an annual event. Standing on the platform near the stops are L-R Don Dutton, a volunteer who spent had many happy hours on the footplate as John Robinson’s fireman as well as days in the Workshop, then in the centre is Jack Beaman still on BR as a Saltley driver and the Chief Loco Inspector of the SVR and then John Robinson(Robbo) who was then the Mechanical Foreman at Bridgnorth and had a driving turn from time to time I was very much at home on this LNER engine, both driver and fireman but I still owe Jack Beaman, serious as to his job but full of joie-de-vivre and Brummy humour, five bottles of whisky, one for each time,3442 lifted her safety valves for she would steam on a candle.. In March 2010, back on the SVR, she was a very different engine and never got near to lifting them. Maybe my being 86 made a difference but not that much.I realise now that the Scottish fireman seemed rather keen for me to have a go which of course I did with minimal success: later we found out how much dirt there was on the grate. ” ‘Nuff said”. RH 852 includes three quarters of the engine and most of us and includes myself and it is a jolly photo of us with the engine in the background. We did two round trips and we had a day to remember whilst 853 is a close up of Don, Jack and Robbo. RH 854 The Director of Inter City, Dr John Prideaux organised a journey to Stratford-on-Avon to which Gwenda and I were invited and 3440 City of Truro was involved. Her enginemen were from Leamington the older one being Gordon Bartlett who was I believe a GW man The Inspector originated from Barry and was based at Bescot, Cyril Rist, one of the best. I wish I had travelled with him more, especially on 4498 the A4 to which he was much attached. The passed Fireman I never saw again so his details are missing with regret RH855 A nice portrait of Cyril and myself probably taken by Gwenda although why I did not take one of her I do not know. We had a lovely day out and John Prideaux did this sort of thing(and many very important matters) very well indeed. RH856 Slightly out of focus. Julian Riddick’s support crew of the 80s and 90s beside their beloved 4498 L-R John Graham, Gordon Pope, Terry Wealeand, Peter Wint(Loco Inspector), Brian Axtell ex Neasden driver and at his very best on 4498, Roger Barker, Norman Hugill, Ruth, Roger Pride and Julian Riddick and taken at Marylebone. RH 857 Green Arrow’s smokebox side and nameplate and two of her support which includes the late Kim Malyon and also Dai Rees from Holyhead. RH 858 Slightly out of focus. Self and John Whittington who had been booked as.the fireman having just transferred to Marylebone from London Bridge where he had done years on the juice, found he was tired and was glad to delegate to me from time to time. I remember the homeward journey very well. I inherited a very full boiler at H.Wycombe and had to ease up firing and then a perfect trip running in with the fire barely covering the bars. I remember John Graham coming through the tender and his amazement nay agitation as he looked at our thin little fire as we went by Canfield Place. RH 859 Appleby and most of Julian Riddick’s normal team back in the early 1980s. The A4 4498 is in the yard at Appleby having worked from Carlisle and will work forward to Hellifield. A perfect trip although Julian was at the throttle part of the way and he was a rough handful when he was performing. L-R Robert Riddick, Terry Whelland, Julian, John Graham, Norman Hugill, George Gordon, Chief Loco Inspector at Carlisle on his last steam trip before he retired, Eddie Gibbons, Ian Howson(head next to nameboard and fireman), Davie Hine(Driver),the PW ganger at Appleby, Ben Hervey-Bathurst and my guest and RH about to work his passage. RH 860 The A4 support coach crew after Hellifield- engine and support coach en route Carnforth. L-R Julian and a friend, John Graham, Joan Jackson, Robert Riddick, Ruth Riddick, Terry Whelland, Eddie Gibbons: Norman Hugill must have been on the engine. As good a crew as you would ever wish to meet. RH 861 Here is John Pilcher at Ramsgate and round the coast to Canterbury and then up via Ashford in 1997. I travelled in the support coach and he was the Inspector for the late and Dennis Donovan for the early turn. The Drivers were Colin Kerswill on the up and John Neale on the down. It was impossible to get a footplate pass at that time from Railtrack and the American firm EWS were at sixes and sevens over steam working. All very difficult behind the scenes. RH 862/863. Not much to choose between them but 862 is marginally better. . L-R Driver Colin Kerswill, RH, Driver John Neale and ex B Arms as is Denis Donovan all in front of 35028 Clan Line, a splendid engine, RH 864 and 865 Both good pictures of the same men without me. Clan Line carries the Golden Arrow plaque and flags just like old times. OVER TO FRANCE: EX STEAM MEN NOW ON THE 16000BBs. RH 866 and 867 Both good but I would choose 867. An adventurous young gent has crept up and silently inserted himself between the departure foreman and Danny Whelan, our Div Operating Supt in Liverpool.It was Danny’s second trip to France and how the French admired him as I did, a supreme railwayman. So here we have the Foreman, the face, Danny Whelan, Madame Leroy, Monsieur Philippe Leroy to whom we all owe so much and the charming La Chapelle conducteur de route, Alfred Bernard, once a mecanicien PO and therefore a “senateur”. RH 868 Gare du Nord Train 19. Maurice Oudry, DMPS Amiens after Henri de Fumichon , Andre Duteil, Basil de Iongh, Group Captain RAF and to the Calaisiens, M le Colonel! This nickname went back to 1959 when he was by no means the equal of a Colonel but had been deputed to go to Bleriot Plage to represent the British Ambassador for the 50th anniversary of Louis Bleriot’s crossing of the Channel. He travelled on the engine on train 9 and no doubt had a very good wash somewhere before doing his stuff. RH 869 Same occasion as 868 but this time, Andre Duteil, M. Oudry and Roger Descamps who was I think a La Chapelle Mecru on the S class Baltics RH 870 This is a wonderful Gallic silhouette: precision, concentration, left hand on straight air brake to get the exact speed of 15kph on the recorder for an emergency track repair. Remember that the Flaman will have a record of his speed and that 9.2 mph is very slow on a locomotive to be maintained over a distance with a heavy train on level track. The Conducteur is Amadee Gosnet from La Chapelle, one time Senateur PO and had been getting the very best out of his magnificent 16000BB, a remarkable locomotive which had to be DRIVEN, nothing boring about handling these Machines. RH 871 Paris Nord yet again. 21.July 1960, my first journey from the Gare du Nord on a BB16000 as far as Amiens. Train 19. We are the object of considerable interest in the background! The Chief Conducteur or Inspector at MP HQ. This is M. Bisieux and he is next to his Chief, M. Phillipe Leroy and Geoffrey Ford DMPS Norwich stands next to the relatively young conducteur and his second man no doubt ex chauffeur. RH872 20th July, our first run from Amiens to Paris Nord. An Amiens crew and very friendly the sunglasses being a sign of the times for such things were unheard of on steam! RH 873 BB16501 This is smaller and by no means as powerful as the BB16000 that stands behind it on the new roads electrified at La Chapelle. Standing by are M.Magnier, Sous Chef du Depot and Geoffrey Ford. How sad that Geoffrey died so young about 1966. He was in the middle of one of his famous cartoons of Colin Morris and I engaged in opening a bottle of wine on the footplate of a PO at speed.. He wrote to say that he was terminally ill and would never be able to finish the cartoon in all it’s glory. RH 874 We are standing at Compiegne and Andre Duteil now Conducteur de route for a mere twelve months, is in charge. We went as far as Aulnoye en route to Lille and steam with a 231G from Tergnier. Andre had settled down with the new form of traction: his second man had never been on the steam and things were changing rapidly for very quickly it will be single manning with shunters as now to do the hooking up at stations. Monsieur Compagnon is the Chef Conducteur, then Andre still dressed for steam(SNCF never wasted money on smart uniforms for tractionaires), the second man and then Stanley Sears who took me to Brighton twice on his 1901 Mors, very much a French car at a time when the French led the automobile world until along came Mercedes to sweep the board in 1903. Stanley also owned a four and a half litre mini-sports-racer Mercedes built in 1904, a very useful and up to date little machine.. RH 875 BB 16016 with Andre, Geoff Ford, Monsieur Leroy, ex Chauffeur Delaplace and Conducteur Roger Lemaille both of Fives depot, Lille. Again the best of company. RH 876 Gare du Nord and the usual happy send-off with Train 19. Chief Inspector Len Theobald, how he loved the French and what great company he was: holding Andre’s shoulders and then Philippe Leroy to see us off The Chef de Train stands between the Fives Second man M. Bedard and Conducteur Albert Dancoigne, yet another very friendly railwayman. RH 877 This must have been a very long Fleche d’Or as the engine is right up near the overbridge and yet another group at the Gare du Nord L_R Andre Duteil, Maurice Oudry, the Fives men whose names I never noted and my old friend the legendary Bill Harvey. He loved the French and their railway and spoke pretty good French with some formidable gesticulations! RH 878 Andre Duteil smartly dressed with muffler in mid-May whereas daughter Annie has a rather smart blazer and white gloves. The first Fives man with whom I rode I think, the charming Ernst Duquesne and his second man dressed a la mode for electric traction. Ernst had been a Mecru PO, one of the elite.. RH 879 Yet another foreman/inspector in on the photographic act. How I got copies to them I do not know but they must have received them somehow. Andre as ever after our lunch at his home which started at 0930 and finished in time(just) to catch the 1151 Epinay-Gare du Nord. Never once was this train even a minute late which gave us time to walk across the tracks to the front of train 19. Edwin Howell enjoying himself and Jean Aspeele of Fives. RH 880 Dick Lawrence who had a great time and really needed such a break, Emilon Bertaux, Jean Aspeele again and Maurice Oudry seeing us on our way. RH 881 ; Roger Descamps of La Chapelle, RH, another very cheerful group on the platform before departure with train 19. Roger Descamps of La Chapelle and a great friend of Andre’s, RH, Albert Haouw (try pronouncing that), Maurice Oudry and Andre.. . RH 882 This is a very good copy negative of an official photograph. It shows the cab of the engine working the last steam hauled train from Gare du Nord to Calais Maritime, an unforgettable day in May 1971. The picture was taken at the Gare du Nord and shows the Chef Mecanicien , the much-loved Edmond Godry and the highly competent mecanicien Jean Guelton and the equally so chauffeur Michel Lacroix, all of Calais. Yes, a day I shall never forget for I had to fire K82 from Amiens to Abbeville in my best suit but that tale has been told elsewhere, I think.. RH 883 Bill Bradshaw in his office at Paddington after his appointment as General Manager of the Western Region, the job he cherished above all others but who could have one day become Chairman of BR. Many folk will disagree but he had it all. Others did not think so and at 50, he left the railway to pursue a distinguished managerial and academic career and eventually to become Lord Bradshaw, a Liberal peer. At the House, he was without doubt regarded as an expert on transport especially on railway matters. Good for Bill: at the age of 37, he was thirteen years younger than I when he followed me at Liverpool as Divisional Manager.He developed and improved where he could, he did not alter things without good cause and he was a man in every way after my own heart for whom it had been a pleasure to have things straight up when he took over. His trouble later on was that he was too good for lesser mortals of greater influence but that’s life. RH 884-885 Here are two ladies standing against 4771 Green Arrow. They stand on the ballast well off the platform at Stratford-on-Avon as are several other would be passengers and photographers in the days before H&S. My Gwenda is on the right and her lifelong friend Pat Carden on her left. They had come to Stratford from High Wycombe behind 4771 to soak up culture whereas I had come to work my passage. 884 shows the engine and part of the tender and is the one if you want the whole show whereas 885 is a close up of the two ladies against the cab, . RH 886 RH on the NMYR on the hottest day of the year on a locomotive designed for maximum discomfort. Keith Gays and I had three round trips, two of them complete rounds from Pickering to Grosmont and back and out and home LE. The load was either six or seven bogies and that strong little engine aided by it’s middle-aged operatives worked the job throughout. Tight turn rounds, tea sitting on the platform. It was before H&S came along as the only way to empty the smokebox on disposal was to put a plank across the buffers, stand on it and shovel out the ashes and we never gave a thought as to whether it would bear one’s weight. Bulleid’s Charlies were as bad but nobody seemed to worry at the Lane where the ashes were probably raked out from ground level: I never had a complaint from anybody. For all that, Keith and I worked hard, ran to time throughout and got steadily blacker and hotter as the photograph of me bears witness. RH 886A Here is my companion for the day, Keith Gays now deep in retirement. We actually said we must be quite mad to enjoy our day but we did. RH 887/888 There are not many pictures of what is an illegal device for raising steam on overloaded or shy-steaming engines. This is a “Jimmy”, otherwise known as a razor or, on the GE section at Ipswich as a ”Spike” Quite illegal but a vital piece of equipment if the ”Little Black Goods” were to be constantly overloaded and run to time. It’s purpose was to increase the sharpness of the exhaust which in turn produced a marvellous white hot fire and a firework display at the chimney top as well as a constant supply of steam at maximum pressure. And all for half a crown paid out of the back of the hand and in this case, to the Blacksmith at March Loco in 1913 by Fireman John Lilley of Parkeston who gave it to me at an ASLEF Dinner at Parkeston in 1960. This work of art was made out of the company’s material and in the company’s time and fixed across the blast pipe whereupon the two lugs fitting inside were locked into place by the thumbscrew with the safety chain as a back up. It’s so called razor sharp V section bar across the blast pipe did the trick by increasing the smokebox vacuum thereby drawing the steam producing fire ever whiter. Illegal but it made those old J15s steam very freely. When John Lilley deep in retirement gave me the jimmy, he also gave me a blow by blow account as to how it helped him to maintain steam with a “Little Black Goods” on 45 of bacon from Parkeston to Spitalfields. This took nearly as long as the journey and was John’s swansong for I never saw him again. RH 889. On the platform at Scarborough. This was a special outing arranged by John Prideaux, Director Inter City using Mallard from Doncaster to Scarborough and back to York. Two remarkable people:- Stuart Currie was not only Chief Civil Engineer of the ER but he was also a mechanical engineer and I had some hand in signing his papers when he made his application to join the I Mech E in the early 1980s. On the right is ”Mr Toad” alias Julian Riddick always to be linked to 4498, “The Blue ‘Un” and he looks well in the straw hat provided by a thoughtful management! RH 890 My Gwenda alongside the nameplate of “Mallard” at Scarborough. I would go so far as to say that they were two lovely ladies! RH891 When I retired in 1982, a number of kind people who were not necessarily BR but other railways and folk who had an understanding love of the railway, railway work and our job decided to give me a present to mark my retirement. In fact I had been able to give them permission to travel on the footplate, visit signal boxes at busy times and so on. James Colyer-Fergusson organised the evening and Basil de Iongh had a wonderful whisky decanter cut by an excellent firm in North Walsham. It is a much treasured and it carries the inscription:- RICHARD HARDY RAILWAYMAN 1941-1982 From his Friends Underneath the above is a representation of a Britannia with a likeness of the famous David William Harvey leaning against the buffer-beam. How much I treasure this gift. And now three photos of the Ratty at Ravenglass. The connection I have with the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway is that when our daughter Anthea got married, she and Jim lived near Ravenglass so it was natural that we should go to the Ratty now and again. RH 892 shows Ron Clarke, Driver and Graham Withers Traffic Manager and Signalman outside the signal-box on as perfect day as you could ever wish for in that lovely part of the country. RH 893 shows Ron and his regular engine “River Mite” on it’s train and Ron about to do a spot of oiling round. In both 893/4, the cab fittings are clearly visible as the sliding part of the cab roof has been removed. This makes sense at any time except in the rain. Cleaning and polishing can be carried out just as on a BR engine that had it’s regular crews, In fact everything required of the driver for firing duties is easier performed without the cab roof! RH 894 was taken a minute or two later with Ron busy with his handy little feeder. I first met Ron when he was a rising forty year old passed fireman at Carnforth BR Shed on Flying Scotsman. I know that I did a fair amount of the work but, at first Ron quite naturally thought I might make a Mary Ann of the job but as I had been brought up with wide fireboxes and letter-box firehole doors on GN Atlantics, Pacifics and V2s, I managed quite alright. The next time I met him, he had left BR and joined the Ratty where he worked happily ever after as a first class engineman and a splendid ambassador for the R&ER as of course was Graham who also came from BR and was a signalman at Salisbury and Reading so he had considerable experience of the practical side of railway operation. Whenever I went to the Ratty, I was sure of the warmest welcome from these two good old friends who are now long retired. RH 895-917 are all Festiniog Railway pictures mostly taken in the middle 80s so the young men are mostly knocking on to middle age by now. RH 895 Here is Blanche at Boston Lodge and against her stand a good cross section of the Locomotive Department , both permanent staff and volunteers I had ten years on the FR Company Board from 1977-87, an unforgettable experience and by no means an easy ride. So here are the following L-R:- Clive Gibbard, a member of the permanent staff of great experience as a craftsman and engineman. Colin Dukes, son of Paul who served the railway for many years. Paul Ingham with whom I pared up for four days as his fireman and we really had a splendid time together. Oil-burner firing fascinated me having had experience many years before of the old Austerity at March in 1947. Then Alwyn Jones, a Volunteer of many years standing as was Jo Clulow behind him and whose father was one of the Company’s Doctors. Jo gave a great deal of time to the railway not only on the engines but on the Operating side and in the Control. Then John Davis and Colin Sudland who were both Volunteers at Boston Lodge: the little chap next to him is “Shadwell” who was a Welshman with very Welsh names which defeated many of the English staff- Llyn Aploto so he was know as “Shadwell”. These days I understand he runs his own Engineering business and that there is a copy of this picture in his office. And if I have got the spelling wrong, will somebody please correct me! Then comes Roy Harper, a volunteer at the.Lodge and finally Andrew Arrowsmith who was, I think, known as ‘Arry which went well with his surname. RH 896 This was after as big a soaking as I have ever had so a Sunday evening when Gwenda and I were enjoying a week in the Company’s cottage, Borthen Bach which belonged to the very well known Williams family. So here are John Halsell who typically brought out some waterproof clothing for us but got soaked into the bargain. John had been a BR Traffic Inspector in Liverpool and left about the time I went there in 1968. He was on the permanent staff of the FR many years and was one of the best in every way. As was Clive Gibbard, for whom I did my stuff that evening as the rain teemed down. Next to Clive is Mark Tanous and his Father Christopher, both of whom volunteered from time to time and whom I knew very well and was indeed Mark’s God-Father. Download 0.62 Mb. Share with your friends:
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