It appeared to be just another trip for a Grantham footplate crew in December 1961 but it ended abruptly when, almost without warning, they became involved in a series of collisions involving four trains. Read more in our latest page here.
Month: March 2017
Steam Days, April 2017
There are several photographs taken at Grantham, or in the Grantham area, in an article The silver 'A4s' by Chris Andrews (pages 51-62).
Rob Taylor’s cine film of Grantham
We have just added another section about Rob Taylor's many visits to Grantham. This time it's a lovely record in the form of cine film taken at Grantham during one of his trips there. So dim the lights, get your note book ready and enjoy a brief trip back in time to those memorable days. Here is the link to the new page. Use 'full screen' (near bottom right on each clip) for the best effect.
PS - we sent this message earlier before it was ready; apologies for the confusion!
‘The Plant Centenarian’ at Grantham
Let's go back to September 1953, when the Eastern Region of British Railways celebrated the centenary of Doncaster Works by bringing the two preserved GNR Atlantic locomotives out of retirement at York Railway Museum and onto their old stamping ground, the East Coast Main Line. Humphrey Platts was on Grantham station to witness and photograph the arrival and departure of the veterans.
Bridge over the Grantham Canal at Woolsthorpe
In Part 1 of our Railways Rediscovered series on the Woolsthorpe Branch there's mention of the former railway crossing of the Grantham Canal, though without any detail as to the type of bridge that used to be there. The March 2017 Newsletter of the Grantham Canal Society, Bridge, carries a page about the restoration of navigation by the clearance of the embankment and culverts, and the discovery and re-use of timbers from a wooden trestle structure that was found within the embankment. Turn to page 4 of the Newsletter.
New Grantham Gallery
Like many other railway enthusiasts Rob Taylor was attracted by the sight and sound of mainline expresses thundering through Grantham station. This new gallery is very much a 'spotter's collection' composed of images taken by him on different occasions but will hopefully provide you the reader with a flavour of a typical day trip to Grantham.
You can view this new gallery here
New Passenger Lounge opens at Grantham Station
Tracks through Grantham aims to cover the railway at Grantham today as well as historically. Read about the latest new passenger (or is that customer?) facility on The Grantham Journal's website here.
Stranded at Long Eaton …
Alan Pinchbeck recently sent us a photo of some tickets he has that remind him of days out by train from Grantham in the summer holidays with friends, and how a break of journey between Derby and Nottingham led to a sharp lesson in ticket availability! Read more here.
‘Tracks through Grantham’ April 2017 Meeting
The next of our regular twice-a-year get-togethers for people interested in the Tracks through Grantham project will take place in Grantham in mid-April. These are always very enjoyable occasions, an opportunity for our contributors and supporters to meet while enjoying a varied and, we hope, informative programme.
If you are already on our list of contacts you should recently have received our notice giving details. Please remember to let us know if you hope to be there.
If you're interested in attending but are not currently on our contacts list get in touch using the Contact Form here, and we will send you information - date, time, venue and programme - and a reply form. We need to know how many people to expect so we cannot publish full details on the website. It might help if we say that it's a weekday, late morning to mid-afternoon.
Shorts, Longs and Crows
In our latest article Richard Cumming shares parts of his Grantham fireman uncle's Codes of Engine Whistles booklet, turning another page in his appreciation of how the steam railway worked. Unnoticed by the casual observer, messages were passed in code between driver and signalman using a locomotive's whistle.