Sheffield Steam Sheds Article in Steam Day Magazine

[CHAIRBOY]

Whilst searching KE form pics - Bus thread - I came across a 1961/2 form in which stood Bob Judson. He lived quite near Archer Road and was one of the enthusiasts who frequented 17C and the railway steps.

[bus man]

Surprised no ones mentioed this yet

 

 

http://www.hornby.com/locomotives-89/r2782xs/

 

father christmas brought me on = sheffield transport models on lodon road as them cheaper than the list price

[Rowlinson]

When we moved to Woodseats in early 1961 I used to be spotting most nights on the shed steps. No one seemed to realise that the shed was closing and it came as a surprise to walk in one Deceber evening to find it deserted except for a V2 under repair at the bottom of no. 1 road. I suppose this was the last engine on shed - unfortunately I no longer have a record of the number.

[Blackburnrod]

I was part of King Teds 1950 intake and living at Nether Edge frequently visited Millhouses shed and Totley cutting.I got and then learnt to ride my first bike(Raleigh Lenton)in Nov52 to visit other locations,notably Stavely.By the summer of 53 I had got as far as Lincoln and back via Chesterfield for my first 100+mile ride.Then I discovered the Cromford and High Peak which I visited many times and got to know the driver (Robert Wass) of the shunter (58856) at the bottom of the incline.He had lost both of his sons in the war and I think regarded me as a substitute.When work had finished on Saturday lunch times he went home to Darley Dale on his motorbike and I followed on my bike .When I got there his wife was making tea for me while Bob taught me to shoot with his air rifle.Eventually Bob taught me to drive the 0-6-0 tank engine culminating in me driving a train of 14 waggons from Cromford Bottom to High Peak junction,but I did have to hide behind the cabside as we passed a signal box! Strangely during my many visits I never saw any other enthusiasts there. Soon after this I joined a cycling club (Sheffield Sports CC) and this became my main interest, then I left Sheffield for Birmingham University but still called in at Cromford on my cycle journies between Uni and home for several years.The C&HPR is now a cycle path and I visit and enjoy it still at least once a year.Happy memories

[Blackburnrod]

I got carried away in the last post! My original intention was to ask if anyone remembered the early 50s when the11o'clock "up London" through Millhouses was regularly hauled by a Scot,usually "Highland Light Infantry 46118 (I think) and occasionally a Patriot Giggleswick 45538.

[hillsbro]

Hi Blackburnrod - I envy your visits to the Cromford and High Peak line, and even driving a train! I knew about the line (I read about it in Firth Brown News - my dad worked there) but I never managed to get there before it closed. Recently Mrs hillsbro and I walked along part of the route and called at the visitor centre.

 

I didn't know that Scots and Patriots came through Sheffield in the early 1950s, but I was hardly out of nappies then. It was great when they began to reappear in c. 1961 after main line diesels took over some express workings on the WCML etc. 46118 was Royal Welch Fusilier; 46121 was Highland Light Infantry. The 1955 Locoshed Book shows 46118 at 5A Crewe North and 46121 at 66A Glasgow Polmadie. 45538 Giggleswick was at 8A Liverpool Edge Hill.

[leswpotter]

Hi Blackburnrod,

I was also in the 1950 intake to King Ted's but I cannot remember you. I was one of the "dumbo's" alternating between the C and D streams I assume you were one of the clever clogs in the A or B streams.

I think the Scot you refer to was probably 46120, Royal Inniskilling Fusilier, which was based at Derby for a short time undergoing tests of some type or other after it was rebuilt. Regularly seen in Sheffield, for a few months only, this was probably in the late 40's, or at the latest in the early months of 1950.

Giggleswick was one of 3 Pats based at Holbeck, the other two being 45534/35, in the 40's. I would guess that they were transferred by 1948 at the latest, perhaps when 45534/35 were rebuilt.

Millhouses was one of the easiest sheds to "bunk" in the early 50's. Living only a short distance from Millhouses and Ecclesall station my friends and I would walk down the coal yard, cross the lines into and out of the shed, walk up and down the 8 roads, and go back the way we came to the station. Very rarely were we requested to leave. Entry from Archer Road north was just as easy. Health and safety? We all survived!

The stretch of line from Millhouses shed to Dore and Totley gets very little mention in the rail magazines and yet, despite the absence of Scots and pacifics in the early 50's, to me it was magic. Is there a better sound, or sight, than a fully loaded Jubilee climbing towards Bradway tunnel?

[Blackburnrod]

I always used to enter Milhouse's shed from the steps down from Archer Rd.and can only remember one occasion when I was "asked" to leave. Now you have jogged my memory I can remember seeing Royal Inniskillen Fusilier several times,but I definitely remember seeing HLI many times and being disappointed that it was always the same Scot,

Incidentally today I have just returned from a 60 mile bike ride along a trail on the bed of a railway line in Florida which was almost dead flat and almost dead straight and mostly through forest which made it very sheltered. The trip was enlivened by seeing two wild turkey and four deer actually on the trail.Two weeks previously I was on the high Peak Trail on the course of the Cromford& High Peak Rly..

[leswpotter]

Forgive me if this has been covered before, but I have perused the thread and cannot find reference to Peter Fox's excellent book "Steam Days on BR - The Midland Line in Sheffield" which has many coloured and b & w photos of "our" era. It is No.1 in the series and was first published by Platform 5 in 1990. I don't know if it is still available but certainly very highly recommended.

 

I have a copy of this excellent book. Most of the photographs are taken south of Sheffield but that suits me fine as I lived in Beauchief at the time. It reminds me how lucky I was. My "territory" was from Archer Road north to the "cutting" at Dore and Totley.This included Millhouses shed, Milhouses Park, Hutcliffe Woods, Beauchief Gardens, the wood between Beauchief golf course and the railway, and the "triangle" at Dore and Totley. Other attractions for kids, though not adjacent to the railway, were the allotments at the top of Hutcliffe Wood Road, Graves Park, the ponds at Beauchief Abbey, and Ecclesall woods. We were never bored!

[bus man]

Evening Gentlemen

 

While out yesterday I took this:

 

 

 

while I appreciate it is too modern for a lot of you however , if you look at it you see the remains of the hight speed tunnel to get to the fast lines , no doubt some of you will remember it in its glory days