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Woodhams Yard on Barry Island in August 1968
This was my first visit to the then massive collection of locomotives,mainly GWR and Southern and LMS.Some Standards and just one solitary LNER type.About 213 engines in total I just just 19 at the time and I rode over from Wiltshire on a 350 BSA Gold-Star.In those days the M4 Motorway ended before Newport and the last 30 miles or so was through Cardiff and then narrow country roads.I remember it well because it was the same weekend that BR-Steam officially finished in the North-West and it was a scorching hot day! All pictures were taken using a Halina 35X and Agfa CT18 slide film.
A good general view of the ranks of locomotives parked at Barry waiting for the cutters torch.We now know that it never actually happened but standing there in 1968 it seemed a stone-cold certainty.At this time there was over 210 engines here and none had left for preservation.Some well known engines can be easily identified. 30541/34007/61264 and 34105.A visit to this yard in the late sixties when all engines were virtually untouched was a very thought provoking experience. ..August 1968..
Quite a historical picture this.Here is Ex-MR 43924 standing in Woodhams Yard but seperated from the rest of the engines there in readiness to become the first locomotive to be rescued from here and in fact the first one to return to steam just 2 years after it left! It was complete with everything as the so-called 'preservation vultures' had not laid a spanner on it.She was only in the yard for less than 3 years and now is a prized exhibit on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway. ..August 1968..
GWR 0-6-2T 5643 still with a recognisable coat of passenger-green paint sits in the sun and heat at Woodhams.Totally complete with all brass fittings and all connecting rods still in place.Reason rods still in place was its final shed was Barry just a few hundred yards away!.. ..August 1968..
42968 is the unique Stanier 2-6-0 that is the sole survivor of its type.Thanks to Woodhams the Severn Valley Railway were able to rescue this loco for posterity.Bought in December 1973 and work commenced restoring it in 1980.Engine was one of the main engines working on the SVR in 2011.
..August 1968..
5322 was a unique survivor.Being the only early 43xx 2-6-0 type sent to Woodhams so was an obvious early choice for rescue.This came less than 5 years (1969) after its arrival in March 1964.Just 6 months after this shot was taken.As can be seen it was virtually fully intact,even the brass top-feed still in place.Now a restored exhibit at Didcot and again fully operational. ..August 1968..
Here is the later style of GWR Mogul 2-6-0 variously modified including the addition of a 'side-window'cab.Its original number was 9303 and was one of the final batch of 20 built in the early 1930's.When the special weights were removed from the front-end that were there for Cornish allocations she was renumbered as 7325.The engine left Barry in August 1975 (70th to go) and now resides as a working engine on the Severn Valley Railway.
..August 1968..
Amazingly when this shot was taken in 1968, 4979 'Wootton Hall' had already been in this scrapyard for four years.At that time still virtually complete with all brass beadings/top-feeds and copper-cap on the chimney.It was to be another 18 years (1986) before it departed into preservation but by that time it was just a stripped-hulk!
..August 1968..
5080 'Defiant' stands tender-less amongst other ex-GWR engines at Barry.It arrived here in 1963 and left in 1974 thus only spending 11 years exposed to the Welsh salt-air.Being 'Number-62' to leave it was not very complete and the Tyseley Team originally acquired it purely for spares but later decided to restore it to full mainline working order by 1987. ..August 1968..
Interesting one this! This Loco went to the scrapyard as 4983 'Albert Hall' in 1964 and indeed was bought for restoration at Tyseley-Birmingham as 4983.However during the restoration information became apparant that in fact it was more 'Rood Ashton Hall' 4965 than 4983 so it was restored as 4965.Now a mainline working engine and a credit to Tyseley. ..August 1968..
GWR designed Hawksworth Pannier-Tank 9466 sits in the top yard at Barry.The only member of this type of WR-Tanky to make it to this yard and survive.Apart from 9400 in the National Collection the only other survivor of a 220 strong class. Built in 1952 so actually not a GWR loco it had a short life of just 12 years before being consigned for scrap.Rescued in 1975 and now has an active life in preservation. ..August 1968..
Southern Railway 30841 is a member of the S15 class,basically a small-wheeled 'King Arthur'.Due to their more mixed traffic suitability outlasted the 'Arthurs' by many years.This one was rescued from Barry in Sept-1972 and went to Chappel in East-Anglia and was restored to full working order in less then 3 years! It took part in the 1975 'Rail 150' Cavalcade at Shildon nr Darlington celebrations but now is stored unservicable at Grosmont on the NYM-Rly. ..August 1968..
A very complete 80135 sits in the sun alongside 80079.Both were to go on to work again on Preserved Lines after much work fixing them up .80135 only spent 7years here before going to the NYMR at Pickering in 1973.Within another 7years it was again a working loco.
..August 1968..
The immortal 'Duke of Gloucester' 71000 recorded during its time spent languishing in a scrapyard,thought at the time to be beyond repair due to the unique cylinders being removed and scrapped or sectioned for display in the NRM.This early picture shows engine apart from missing steam chests fairly complete including the original steam pusher tender that was lost due to it being sold to a local Steel-works for use as an ingot carrier (Minus the scrapped top-half).Today all that was lost or scrapped has been replaced and the 'Duke' is now probably the finest British Locomotive in the country-----------I think so anyway. See Locomotive now 43 years later in 2011..HERE ..August 1968..
When this picture was recorded 47357 had only been an inmate at Woodhams for just 9 months.After less than a further 2 years it was taken to Derby Works and fully overhauled in LMS-Red as 16440.Now a resident ot the Midland Railway Centre at Butterley. ..August 1968..
The famous pair of 'King' class engines that made it to Barry.6023,in front of a 6024.Both now fully restored to working order.6023 took a little longer due to it becoming a total hulk from being stripped for spares and (at the time) receiving seemingly terminal damage to its driving wheels when it became derailed there.Note the car park for Barry Island daytrippers,chock full of the then common single decker Duple Buses,also the non corridor DMU going over the bridge from the mainland to Barry Island Station Terminus. ..August 1968..
Class 'N' 31874 seen 4 years after arrival at Woodhams looking still pretty complete.Externally not much brass so was left mostly alone.It departed in 1974 going to the Mid-Hants railway.Just 3 years elapsed before it steamed again in 1977.An impressive achievment! ..August 1968..
30825 sits still virtuallly complete on the end of a very long line of locomotives in the top yard at Woodhams Yard.It arrived in June 1964 and stayed for over 22 years before becoming the 181st departure into preservation.At this time in 2011 this is the only S15 of the eight rescued from this yard to actually be in working order.She can be seen on the North-Yorkshire-Moors Railway running as SR 825. ..August 1968..
46521 and 78022 sit nose to nose next to an unidentified 'double-chimney' 9F.Note how complete 46521 was ,even the mechanical oiler c/w all copper pipes still in situ in the running plate.3 years later it was bought by the Severn-Valley Railway and was restored to full working order in 1974.So easy when engine is almost all there in the first place! ..August 1968..