Touring Gloucestershire On A Runabout Ticket

The Autumn 1960 issue of 'The Gloucestershire Railway Society News' included an article by a member who had a few days train riding with a Runabout Ticket, from Saturday 6 to Thursday 11 August 1960. The branch line services used are long gone; Gloucestershire suffered considerably in the matter of closure of branch lines in the BR era, both pre- and post-Beeching.

Like the writer of the GRS article I travelled on the same DMU service to Stratford, on Saturday 21 January 1961, where we changed to go to Leamington. There were two DMUs at the platform, we boarded the second one and waited for it to depart to Leamington - but it didn't, the front unit trundled off to that place. Turned out the one we got on was bound for Birmingham Snow Hill! So we alighted and waited for the next one to our destination....On our return, we also caught the 4.20pm from Leamington Spa, as far as Stratford. No mention of motive power in the August report, but we had a very unusual loco. The service started from the bay and we walked along the platform to the front of the train to look at the engine. It was a big surprise to find Hawksworth 0-6-0PT 1507. Though this small post-war class was extensively used for empty coaching stock workings at Paddington station, I had never heard of one working an actual passenger train. Many years later, I found out that 1507, shedded at Newport, had been for attention at Wolverhampton Works and spent most of the week running-in on the daily stopper from Wolves to Leamington, via Kidderminster, Worcester, Honeybourne and Stratford;I have acquired a photo of it at Worcester Shrub Hill on the outward working.

The report mentions there was a problem that Saturday with the 7.40pm Ashchurch - Gloucester train. Well, there is a story to tell and I have the details...

MORE TO COME