East Coast Giants at Barrow Hill Roundhouse

A Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity….
….to see A4 4489 Dominion of Canada and A4 60008 Dwight D Eisenhower in a genuine working engine shed environment before their return to their respective homes in Canada and the United States.

Taking place on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th February 2014, Barrow Hill Roundhouse is honoured to be hosting the two iconic locomotives at Britain’s last surviving operational Roundhouse engine shed, providing the opportunity everyone has been asking for since the locomotives’ arrival in the UK earlier this year – the chance to see the locomotives in a genuine working environment alongside other locomotives including A4 4464 Bittern, A1 60163 Tornado and A2 60532 Blue Peter. The Deltics D9009 and 55 019 will complete this once-in-a-lifetime line up of East Coast power.

Barrow Hill would like to thank Exporail, the Canadian Railway Museum in Montreal, Quebec, and the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin, for allowing 4489 and 60008 to visit the Roundhouse.

Anthony Coulls, Senior Curator of Rail Vehicle Collections at the National Railway Museum, said:
“Bringing these engines to the widest possible audience is what it’s all about and this event, part of our Mallard 75 season, is the only opportunity to see the freshly cosmetically restored trans-Atlantic travellers outside our York and Shildon museums. This is an incredible opportunity to see Dwight and Dominion in a genuine railway setting ahead of our Great Goodbye – a final spectacular showcase of all six surviving A4 steam giants later the same month. We hope people in the UK will take all the chances they can to see these steam icons while they can as we will be saying bon voyage to them in late spring.”

Another unique feature of the event will be the debut of ‘Grantham – the Streamliner years’. Owned by Graham Nicholas, this large (33’ x 17’) OO-gauge exhibition layout will be running a model of every one of the original 35 LNER A4 Pacifics to coincide with the visit of 60008 and 4489. Mark Allatt, Chairman of The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, has agreed to make available his collection of 35 LNER liveried A4s (as featured in Model Rail magazine earlier this year). Together with other appropriate stock for the era, the layout will be operated so that each A4 will run on the layout at least once on each day.

The celebrations of the visit will extend beyond the two public days as the Roundhouse events team have arranged two additional opportunities to see the A4s. The first, on Thursday 6th February is a day and night photo charter led by Russ Hillier who can be contacted on 07831 217061 for further details. The second, on Friday 7th February 2014 is a UK Railtours HST rail tour from London which will come right into the Roundhouse site where passengers will be able to alight at the Roundhouse platform for an exclusive preview of the event. Further details on how to book can be found at www.ukrailtours.com.

On 8th and 9th February the event will open to the general public from 10.00am to 4.00pm. However, those holding advance tickets will be able to enter the show at 9.30am.

Tickets for the event will go on sale on 1st December 2013 through www.theticketfactory.com or by telephoning 0844 338 8000.Ticket prices are:

Adult: Advance* - £11.50; On the Day - £13.50
Barrow Hill Member: Advance* - £9.00; On the Day - £11.00
Children aged 5-15** (under 5s free): Advance* - £6.00; On the Day - £7.00
Family (2 adults and 2 children): Advance* - £31.00; On the Day - £34.00

*A £1 booking fee per transaction is also payable.
**All children must be accompanied by an adult.

 

Will Tornado be in BR Blue still?

Martyn

 

Yes Martyn, Tornado will still be in blue livery.

 

will Tornado be in 1 piece in Feb ? I thought it was under going a mid-term overhaul ?

It will certainly be a colourful line up, 1930's Blue, 1948 Apple Green, 1950's Blue, 1960s BR Green…
a livery for each decade..

 

hello
can you tell me how you propose to display the locos - will they be around the turntable or outside or both and will it be the same for the chahter as well as the weekend
thanks

 

According to the VCT database the turntable is a 55 footer. I'm sure A4s and the like need a 70 footer.

 

Does anybody know if they are running a bus service from Chesterfield station for this event.

 

According to the Observers Book the A4 is 71 ft 03/8 inches long so I suspect that any storage will be on the through road from the yard over the turntable for only one loco.

 

Or they could go in one of the several other sheds that don't require turntable access, with agreement of the tenants.........I am sure Mervyn will have it all in hand.

 

DPS Shed by any chance ?

 

Anyone hoping to get a shot of the A4s under the famous Barrow Hill chimneys is going to be a bit disappointed it seems.....

 

hello
maybe they could get them around the turntable by splitting the locos from there tenders and putting them in seperatly
just a thought
regards

 

An update on this event and to answer some of the questions above:

Due to the huge amount of interest in the photo charter being organised by Russ Hillier on 6th February (Russ can be contacted on 07831 217061 if you still want to book a place) we have just agreed a second photo charter, this time organised by Neil Cave who can be contacted on 07770 227625. Neil's charter is taking place on 7th February between 17.00 and 22.00hrs.

During the event itself, on 8th and 9th February, the locos (with the exception of A1 'Tornado' which will be on the turntable) will be lined up in the Roundhouse yard for photographic opportunities from the coal stage, the yard and the signal box. To confirm, the line up will include A4 'Dominion of Canada', A4 'Dwight D Eisenhower', A4 'Bittern', A2 'Blue Peter' and the Deltics D9009 and 55 019.

'Bittern' will also haul passenger trains on the Springwell branch line.

And don't forget the debut of "Grantham - the Streamliner Years" OO gauge layout in the Roundhouse where you will also find several trade stands.

The Barrow Hill free bus service will be in operation between Chesterfield Railway Station and the Roundhouse throughout the weekend, with the first bus leaving the station at 09.20hrs and running a half hourly service.

And to reassure all those who have discussed this in the thread so far, I can assure you that all our VIP visiting locomotives will be well looked after and kept nice and warm and dry during their stay As one person commented, Mervyn has indeed got it all in hand

If you still haven't bought your tickets, the discounted advance tickets will remain on sale until 3rd February through www.theticketfactory.com or by ringing 0844 338 8000.

Thanks everyone for your interest.

Alexa

 

hello
just booked my ticket and am looking forward to it
but i do wish they could utalise the roundhouse more to see that line up around the turntable would have been fantastic
after all it is barrow hill ROUNDHOUSE
regards

 

Thank you Sidmouth and zep108 for your comments. There will be several thousand visitors over the weekend and it would be foolhardy in the extreme to attempt to fit all of you AND the locos, which as Sidmouth explained - due to their length - will only fit on a couple of roads, in at the same time! Having them in the yard will ensure that all our visitors get the best possible view. Getting an unimpeded view of the A4s at Barrow Hill will be a priority. And yes zep108, it is indeed a Roundhouse - and one which we are extremely lucky to have thanks to the work of Mervyn and his team in ensuring its survival - but you must bear in mind that it was built to house smaller industrial locos - not the Pacific giants we will have on display on 8th and 9th February.

 

Alexa,

Can I pose a question.............................................. are there any plans to have the two A4's looking like they are "in steam"?

Certainly looking forward to this - the chance to actually photograph them without hundreds of people in the way is most appealing!

(I've even managed to convince a rather hesitant mate to come along as well!!)

 

Hi Duty Druid

During the event the A4s will be lined up at the top of the yard. Whether there will be an opportunity - as has happened occasionally in the past when we've had Blue Peter in a line up - to put some oily rags in the smoke box, I don't at this stage know. Sorry I can't be more definite - Ringmaster Mervyn will no doubt have a few surprises up his sleeve as always!

And I don't know what plans Russ Hillier and Neil Cave might have up their sleeves for their respective photo charters ....

But I'm sure you and your hesitant mate will have a great day!

Alexa

 

Some more detail of this event from the Deltic Preservation Society's Facebook page...The DPS Depot will be open with D9015 and 55019 on display, cab visits, sales stand, Deepcar Model Railway layout operating (hopefully all 22 Deltics in green and blue) There will also be an opportunity to view ongoing work to our spare units in the normally out of bounds Power Unit House.