Alnwick Branch - (likely) diesel motive power, multiple units, freight, etc.?

[Lacathedrale]

Good afternoon,

 

I'm off to visit my mother-in-law's birthplace soon which is Alnwick - being a soft, southern pansy I've not ventured very far in that direction and certainly my knowledge of locos, freight, etc. is very limited indeed apart from the general understanding that there would likely be coal drops and hoppers in ex-NER eras.

 

I'm sketching out some ideas for a layout based on this part of the world and I'd like to draw inspiration from the surrounds. I know there are books available, but at this very early stage I'd prefer to rely on internet media/information to see if it's something I want to invest my time and energy into more heavily.

 

Can anyone help me flesh out my understanding, plase?

 

• What motive power would one expect on this specific branch for passenger and freight from the very late steam period through the introduction of diesels up to around the end of the BR Green diesels? Alternatively, what sheds would have served this branch (so I can do my own research!)
• Was there any obvious freight traffic on the branch that I might draw inspiration from?
• Is there anything obviously idiosyncratic about this part of the world it would be foolish to not include?

 

From the last time I looked at this I think I grabbed a Bachmann green Class 24 (no headcode box or yellow panel) and a Lima Class 101 with whiskers - I think that's broadly the era I'm interested in but might stretch back to the last gasp of steam or forward to the BR Blue era.

Thank you!

[CWJ]

As you may have discovered, Alnwick station is now an excellent second-hand bookshop (with an equally excellent station buffet).

 

Their website contains some interesting photos and information from when the station was still in use: https://www.barterbooks.co.uk/html/About Us/About the Station.php

 

Cheers,

 

Will

[D9020 Nimbus]

Class 101 DMUs on services from Newcastle. Services to the junction at Alnmouth remained steam hauled to the end, usually K1 2-6-0s though oddities including a 9F and V2; earlier J39s had been used.

 

K1s would also have hauled freight traffic. As far as I'm aware, the only diesel loco class to have appeared on a freight was a Clayton class 17. The line didn't make it into the blue era.

 

There is a book on the branch, published by the NERA I believe (NER Association). It's also covered in Ken Hoole's NER Branch Line Termini. The terminus itself was quite grand with a complex track layout; the building survives as a large secondhand bookshop.

[DaveF]

You may find these photos on IrishSwissErnies flickr site of interest.  Just click on the link.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/albums/72157687666455361

 

 

David

Edited October 25, 2023 by DaveF

[30368]

56 minutes ago, CWJ said:

As you may have discovered, Alnwick station is now an excellent second-hand bookshop (with an equally excellent station buffet).

 

I could not agree more. We rented a cottage last summer in a nearby village (Rock) and the bookshop and its fab buffet is a must to visit. I may have mentioned, more than a few times, the excellent sausage sarny(s) when we visited. A real joy.

 

What a great idea to model the branch but William, you must visit both Alnwick and Alnmouth as soon as the weather improves next year. The whole area is a delight. Don't worry about your soft southerner background, they are fairly civilised up there. Good luck.

 

Kind regards,

 

30368

[rowanj]

i have photos of j39's on both passenger and freight ai Alnwick in the 1960's, In addition I have a photo of a j27 shunting the yard, and a heaton V1 or V3 on a Newcatle - Alnwick, passenger.the only diesel traction I can see are the Class 101' 2 coach sets coach sets, sometimes running in pairs, on Newcastle trains.

 

[Lacathedrale]

Thank you all for that amazing advice!! if there were to be diesel Locos running on that branch what would they have been??

[keefer]

http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/a/alnwick/index.shtml

Has a picture of a 101 in green w/whiskers in 1962

[EddieK]

Having been to the bookshop, I can see why the station is a source of inspiration!

 

Hope this comes to pass a a layout, and please post some images....

 

If you use the Lima 101, by the way, be aware that the cab windscreens are the wrong size and shape....

[Oldddudders]

2 hours ago, Lacathedrale said:

I'm off to visit my mother-in-law's birthplace soon which is Alnwick - being a soft, southern pansy I've not ventured very far in that direction

I have never lived north of the Thames, but rural Northumberland is gorgeous, and as unspoilt as anywhere is these days. Late wife Deb's Great Aunt Doris lived in Alnwick, and another relative ran the Market Tavern. Another pub you might essay is the Dirty Bottles, although it is quite a few years since I checked they were all intact. Alnmouth is equally delightful, and up and down the coast there are ruined castles - e.g. Dunstanburgh, Warkworth - to enjoy, as well as Holy Island. Unlike some parts of the UK, we never found our accents offended, so, as Richard (30368) says, you will have a good time.

[Michael Hodgson]

 

The branch may have been closed, but take a ride on it anyway !

 

https://www.alnvalleyrailway.co.uk/

 

There's a few castle on that coast ... https://www.alnwickcastle.com/

ancestral home to the Percys, one of the wealthiest families in England.

[rowanj]

Alnwick is a lovely town, and Southerners are welcome! The Dirty Bottles, and the curse that goes with it, is still intact. The Aln Valley Railway is still creeping towards a main line connection at Alnmouth, but is unlikely to get any nearer the town centre than its' present location.

 

As far as diesels on the branch are concerned, I have no evidence of anything other than the 101's. These were predomnantly 2 car sets, paired up where necessary on the Newcastle Trains from 1960, They also ran on the Alnmouth shuttle as a single 2-car set in the period between the end of steam in June 1966 and closure.. Passenger services were withdrawn from 29th January 1968 but goods services lasted until 7th October that year, so diesels must have been used on those remaining goods turns. Tweedmouth and Alnmouth sheds closed with the end of steam in June 1966, so Gateshead is the most likely source of diesels on the remaining freight services.

 

Surprisingly, I cannot find a single photo of anything other than 101's in that later period, but assuming Gateshead was the provider, at that time they had  a couple of Class 17's, Class 24;s and had started to get a good supply of 37's so any or all of these would seem likely candidates. ,

 

Edited October 25, 2023 by rowanj

[Lacathedrale]

Lovely stuff, I guess it's down to me to get up there, now.

 

Freight-wise it looks like the Flickr album linked above has a good deal of flat wagons, coal hoppers and cattle wagons?

 

 

This is very modellable:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Daddyman]

Just a quick reply before going to work: most of my books are in the loft so can't check, but the Middleton Press Book Alnmouth to Alnwick, Coldstream and Berwick has lots of photos of the branch and shows a Class 17 in the yard at Alnwick in 1968. Cover shows a 101 with speed whiskers. The Middleton books are light on text, though, so not sure how regular freight was by diesel days.  

 

15 hours ago, D9020 Nimbus said:

There is a book on the branch, published by the NERA I believe (NER Association). It's also covered in Ken Hoole's NER Branch Line Termini. 

I think my dad's book is on the Alnwick and Cornhill branch and doesn't cover Alnwick to Alnmouth (I may be wrong - again, it's upstairs in the loft so can't check at the mo). But, yes, lots of his drawings and lots of photos (though I don't remember any of diesels) in Branch Line Termini.  The NERA digital archive may have lots of photos, but OP would have to become a member. 

 

Um, do we  maybe want to not advertise the beauty of Alnwick and Northumberland on a site where southerners are reading? 

[Lacathedrale]

Thanks again! Class 17/24/101 is a decent pool of potential motive power, and the K1, J39 for sojourns back in time.

 

I definitely don't have the scope to model Alnwick itself, but the theory is that I could pull inspiration from different parts of it - the coal drops, the gates and steps up to the station, the yard buildings, etc.

[chris p bacon]

9 minutes ago, Daddyman said:

Um, do we  maybe want to not advertise the beauty of Alnwick and Northumberland on a site where southerners are reading? 

Too late 😀 although I'm technically 500 yards over the border.

 

Your Dads book needs a reprint, trying to find one is near impossible (apart from paying £30 for a secondhand one) and I'd rather give my money to the NERA.

[Daddyman]

2 hours ago, chris p bacon said:

Too late 😀 although I'm technically 500 yards over the border.

You're alright - you had the sense to leave the south.  

2 hours ago, chris p bacon said:

Your Dads book needs a reprint, trying to find one is near impossible (apart from paying £30 for a secondhand one) and I'd rather give my money to the NERA.

I think the problem is it would have to get past the Committee. But the NERA publications people might be able to get you a copy s/h - there have been a few deceased estates to clear out in recent months.  

 

 

[ejstubbs]

4 hours ago, Daddyman said:

I think my dad's book is on the Alnwick and Cornhill branch and doesn't cover Alnwick to Alnmouth (I may be wrong - again, it's upstairs in the loft so can't check at the mo).

 

I just checked my copy, and there's nothing of substance about the Alnmouth to Alnwick branch.  It does briefly mention that it was opened in 1850.  According to Wikipedia and Railscot, what is now Alnmouth Station was originally named Bilton, though your dad's book refers to the junction as Lesbury.  The Alnwick to Cornhill railway opened 37 years later, running from a significantly upgraded Alnwick station compared to the original terminus of the Alnwick branch (the passage in your dad's book about this is quite interesting reading).

 

20 hours ago, Lacathedrale said:

my knowledge of locos, freight, etc. is very limited indeed apart from the general understanding that there would likely be coal drops and hoppers in ex-NER eras.

 

There is (or certainly was, last time I passed by that way) a set of ex-NER coal drops still in-situ in the old goods yard of Belford station:

 

 

 

These photos were taken about ten years ago.  The latest Google Streetview photo suggests that the drops are still readily visible beyond the somewhat menacing-looking metal gate.  That photo seems to show rails at ground level in the yard, but there's nothing like that visible in my photos, or in the 2009 Streetview photo.  Google's satellite view does show a single siding, but it stops short of where the 2023 Streetview photo seems to show rails, so I assume that it's just materials being stored there.

Edited October 26, 2023 by ejstubbs

[Daddyman]

On 26/10/2023 at 13:14, ejstubbs said:

(the passage in your dad's book about this is quite interesting reading).

That doesn't sound right... 

Edited April 8 by Daddyman

[Daddyman]

10 hours ago, chris p bacon said:

Your Dads book needs a reprint, trying to find one is near impossible (apart from paying £30 for a secondhand one) and I'd rather give my money to the NERA.

Spoke to my dad and he says, yes, try the NERA for a secondhand one as I said, or Barter Books as he thinks they took a load of the hardback reprint (though possibly some years ago). Alternatively, saunter over the bridge to the other Yetholm and bang on Bill's door.   

[chris p bacon]

1 hour ago, Daddyman said:

Alternatively, saunter over the bridge to the other Yetholm

That's a local village for local people...😀

 

Bill is fine and I speak to him regularly, I am slowly converting him to the GN.

[31A]

Another book which I don't think has been mentioned so far is "The Alnwick Branch" by Bartle Rippon, published by Kestrel Railway Books in 2008 (ISBN 978-1-905505-11-1).

 

As well as the Alnwick branch, it covers the history of Alnmouth station and depot.  It has lot of photos, and drawings of track layouts and Alnwick station building.  The only diesels that appear in the pictures are a Clayton Type 1 (Class 17), a Metro Cammel DMU (3 or 4 cars, or two twins) and a Gloucester RC&W 2-car DMU.  Also the steam loco types already mentioned.

[Tom Burnham]

We visited friends at Longhoughton earlier this year and rode on the Aln Valley Railway, which is making good progress from a modest start. They are cut off from the original Alnwick station by the A1 bypass, so the terminus and base of operations is on the Lionheart industrial estate.  At Alnmouth, the original bay platform is no more as a result of track realignment, electrification and resignalling, but they have some thoughts on what to do about that.  As a Southerner, I'd endorse the beauty of the Northumberland landscape and also praise many of the smaller towns.  Alnwick can get quite busy with all the visitors to the Castle gardens.  I'd recommend Corbridge, which has an excellent independent bookshop in an old chapel, as well as other non-chain shops.

[Simon_Hadden]

Class 37 locos certainly reached Alnwick.

In the Aln Valley Railway's photo archive (which I look after) there are several photos of such locos shunting in the goods yard, including D6896 and D6899.
D6896 is shown in the first photo below.

If you visit Alnwick, let me know and we can arrange a tour of the railway.

 

Edited December 2, 2023 by Simon_Hadden

[Lacathedrale]

I was not expecting that!