Railway Page (Ronald Shephard Collection)
Top
Introduction
Ronald Shephard was a resident of Linchmere. He ran a firm which
patented a bottle stopper (familiar to older generations who drank
Tizer). The top of the stopper was embossed with a Shepherd's
crook.
He was a member of the Permanent Way Institution and acted as an
advisor during the Second World War on the defence of narrow gauge
railways.
By acting as a reviewer, Ronald Shephard received and
amassed a vast collection of railway books, which he bequeathed to
West Sussex County Council. He was consulted frequently by two
other famous railway authors, namely O.S. Nock and C. Hamilton
Ellis.
He was President of the Linchmere Model Railway Club and had an
extensive O Gauge model railway in his garden.
The collection consists of:
- 700 books
- 154 volumes of national and local press cuttings
- 27 volumes of postcards
- 1500 photographs and negatives of standard and narrow gauge
railways
Of particular note is the series of Railway Magazine 1897-1973, The
Locomotive Magazine 1897-1955 and photographs of many lines which
have long since disappeared.
The book collection has now been transferred to
Hampshire
Libraries Special Collections.
The collection of photographs remains at the Record
Office in Chichester and is available by appointment only.'
Contact:
Bill Gage Assistant County Archivist
Email - records.office@westsussex.gov.uk
Back to Top
Examples I
Liverpool & Manchester Locomotive "Lion" at the Liverpool &
Manchester Railway Centenary Celebrations held in 1930. The old
"Lion" engine, formerly used on the Liverpool Dock Estate, drew a
specially constructed replica of a train of 1830 round a circular
track on the Wavertree Playground in Liverpool. The railway
servants were dressed in the uniform of the period. Fares were 1/-
1st class; 6d. 3rd class.
"Lion" was built for the Liverpool and
Manchester Railway in 1838 by Messrs. Todd, Kitson and Laird of
Leeds. It was No.57 of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway and
eventually became No.116 of the London and North Western Railway.
The "Lion" was sold for the sum of £400 by the LNWR Company to the
Mersey Docks and Harbour Board on 26 May 1859, and worked as a
pumping engine at Princes Graving Dock from that date until 1928
when it was presented to the Liverpool Engineering Society.
It was restored during 1930 in the
Crewe Shops of the London and Midland and Scottish Railway for
operation as part of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway
Centenary. It subsequently starred in the 1950's Ealing film comedy
"The Titfield Thunderbolt" about a group of village railway
enthusiasts reopening their closed branch line - a quite unknown
occurrence in those days!
The Southwold Railway was a narrow
gauge line 3 ft. line in East Anglia linking Halesworth on the
Great Eastern Railway to Southwold on the coast between Ipswich and
Lowestoft. Opened in 1879, it survived until 1929.Here is No.1
"Southwold" a 2-4-2 built by Sharp Stewart in 1893 on a train at
Southwold Terminus circa. 1900.
Festiniog Railway - Scene at Portmadoc Station, circa 1957, with
Fairlie double-boiler locomotive on train.
The book collection has now been
transferred to Hampshire
Libraries Special Collections.
The collection of photographs remains at the Record
Office in Chichester and is available by appointment only.'
Contact:
Bill Gage Assistant County Archivist
Email - records.office@westsussex.gov.uk
Back to Top
Examples II
A view in 1936 on the Kent & East Sussex Railway at
Tenterden Town Station with a Ford Railcar in the
Platform.
No. 7 Typhoon of the Romney Hythe and
Dymchurch Railway lies on its side near the Prince of Wales Bridge
at West Hythe following a collision with a tractor seen on the
right of the photograph.
The R.H.D.R. was constructed in 1927
and ran from New Romney along the Kent coast to Hythe. In the
following year the line was extended in a westerly direction to
Dungeness, making a total route mileage of 14 which has remained
unchanged to the present day. The vision of a 15 inch gauge public
railway belonged to Captain Howey and Count Louis Zborowski.
Zborowski never lived to see the railway as he was killed in a
motor racing accident and it was left to Howey to direct the
construction of the line. The line is "the smallest public railway
in the world" and relies on a fine fleet of steam locomotives built
to one-third scale for the main provision of motive power.
Terrier loco W.9 Fishbourne operating in Southern Railway days
on the Isle of Wight. Seen here at Bembridge Station having run
around a train, circa 1935.
The book collection has now been
transferred to Hampshire
Libraries Special Collections.
The collection of photographs remains at the Record
Office in Chichester and is available by appointment only.'
Contact:
Bill Gage Assistant County Archivist
Email - records.office@westsussex.gov.uk
Back to Top
Publications
Don't miss our very own railway books. On Sale Now!
Railways in West Sussex. Sources of books,
documents and photographs. Also the advice you need for starting
your railway research. No longer available for purchase but
found in West Sussex Libraries (ISBN 0-86260-351-X)
Going off the Rails - The Country
Railway in West Sussex by Bill Gage, Michael Harris and
Tony Sullivan.
Personal memories of the country branch lines in West Sussex
including the rickety and quaint Selsey Tramway. Going
off the Rails is not a conventional railway enthusiast's
book - essentially it is concerned with people. It does not
seek to offer technical information on locomotives, rolling stock
or timetabling for such material is already in print
. Instead, it sets out to provide an insight into the
operation of these local lines through personal memories, not only
of railway workers but also of those who used the lines for
travelling to work or school, for shopping in the nearest town, or
for the transportation of goods. Consisting of 96 pages, it is
amply illustrated with 150 pictures. No longer in print it is
available for loan from West Sussex Libraries
(ISBN 0-86260-400-1)
Back to Top
Talks
The Record Office specialises in the presentation of local
railway history with a series of illustrated talks based on
personal memories. These talks are not just
for the railway enthusiast but for anyone interested in local
history. While the majority of the slide illustrations are of the
London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (1895-1923) in West
Sussex, contemporary views of the various towns are also featured.
Brighton with its former locomotive shed and works is also
included. The independent light railway company of the Hundred of
Manhood and Selsey Tramways Ltd., known locally as the Selsey Tram,
is also a popular railway subject.
If you want a light hearted
and amusing talk with scenes of yesteryear; book now!
The railway talks are as follows:
- Going off the Rails
- The Country Railway in West Sussex
- Local Branch Lines
- The Bognor Railway
- Favourite Photographs -The London, Brighton and South Coast
Railway
- The Selsey Tramway, 1897-1935
- Three Bridges to Petworth Railway
- All lines to Midhurst
- Rails along the Coast
Steaming through Sussex is a railway film show including
the first railway footage taken in Sussex (1897) and steam
operation of the Pulborough to Midhurst branch in the 1930's.
The book collection has now been transferred to Hampshire
Libraries Special Collections.
The collection of photographs remains at the Record
Office in Chichester and is available by appointment only.'
Contact:
Bill Gage Assistant County Archivist
Email - records.office@westsussex.gov.uk
Back to Top
Southern Steam DVD Vol.1
Southern Steam DVD (Revised
edition)
To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the steam locomotive, West
Sussex Record Office in conjunction with the South East Film and
Video Film Archive produced a railway DVD dedicated to the
age of steam in Southern England.
The films included on the DVD are both professional and amateur
and were discovered by archivists at the Record Office.With the
cooperation of the film makers and the South East Film and Video
Archive the films were digitised and then transposed to enable
production of the first Record Office DVD entitled Southern
Steam.
The earliest film dates back to 1897 and is the work of George
Smith a film pioneer who made fiction and non fiction films. This
short film shows the entry of a train into Hove Station with the
normal hustle and bustle of passengers trying to board a train.
The DVD also includes footage of the Pulborough to Midhurst Line
showing the operation of a typical country branch line in the days
of steam. Shot in the 1930s it provides a fascinating portrait of
rural stations and steam locomotives. Memories will be stirred by
footage of the Horsham to Guildford line and steam on the Hayling
Island Branch.
Local footage includes the arrival in Chichester of "The Great
Marquess" locomotive with an enthusiasts' special in 1967 and steam
operation taken from Brighton Kemp Town and Preston Park signal
boxes.
The last days of steam are also represented with with steam
passenger trains leaving Waterloo for the south west and the quaint
little tank engines on the railways of the Isle of Wight.
The DVD is available for purchase. Price £12 (p&p
£1.50) It is available from the Record Office, all major libraries
in West Sussex and on-line from the WSCC eshop.
Following the success of the original DVD it has been
revised with an improved menu and soundtracks and is now
Vol.1 in the series as a further two railway DVD's have been
released.
Back to Top
Southern Steam Vol.2
The success of Southern Steam
1897-1967 encouraged West Sussex Record in conjunction
with the South East Film & Video Archive to produce this second
railway DVD of steam operation in Southern England.
The lines of Sussex and Hampshire are again featured with goods
traffic on the Midhurst Branch, including the very last passenger
train in 1964 and the Terrier Tanks at work on the Hayling Island
Line and Bluebell Railway.
The county of Kent is represented with early footage of Margate
Station in 1923 and film of the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway
- the latter includes early footage taken in the opening year
showing intensive operations at Hythe Station in 1927.
Pre electrification of the line to Bognor is featured with film
of the motor train service at West Worthing together with freight
traffic at Worthing and Romney Marsh .
Work of the railwaymen is also included with scenes of Brighton
Shed 1937, and Nine Elms and Norwood motive power depots
in the 1960s. An important social aspect is also featured with
footage of the Southern Railway Orphanage at
Woking.
Other footage includes: Southern Railway Footplate Rides1939,
Shoreham - Horsham Line, Ashford Works 1947, and the Sussex
Downsman Rail Tour of 1964.
The DVD is available for purchase, Price £15 (p&p £1.50)
It is available from the Record Office, all major libraries
in West Sussex and on-line from the WSCC eshop.
Back to Top
Southern Steam Vol.3
Southern Steam Vol.3 has been released
to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the withdrawal of steam from
operation on the Southern Region of British Railways. In the
following year steam ceased to be a form of motive power for
British Railways.
Southern Steam Vol.3 includes footage of a
number of lines which have vanished including the Cuckoo Line
(Polegate - Eridge) Three Bridges to East Grinstead and the
Hayling Island Branch - all operated by steam.
Further film of the Bulleid Pacifics is included but in contrast
to the footage in Vol.1, this is in colour together with further
black and white footage of steam working in the London area.
Of particular interest are the enthusiasts' specials, notably
the South Western Suburban Railtour of December 1962 with
two Beattie Well tanks.
Film Footage is as follows:
The Beginning of the End c.1937 Footage of Coastal Line post
electrification with steam on goods and motor trains.
Local Line (Redhill Station) 1960 - a typical working day at
this busy Station on the London- Brighton Line.
London Steam 1962-1967 also includes colour footage of the last
steam suburban service in London, namely the "Kenny Belle"
Isle of Wight including the last day of steam working on 31st
December 1966.
Oxted Line, Three Bridges- East Grinstead and the Kentish Venturer
Rail Tour(1959-1962)
Hayling Island Branch 1963 - including the last day of
operation.
The Cuckoo Line 1965 - a journey along the line from Polegate-
Eridge then on to Groombridge and arriving at Tunbridge Wells West,
includes the last day of passenger service.
The Bowaters Paper Railway 1961 - a 2ft 6in gauge narrow gauge
railway prior to the Southern portion taken over and preserved in
1969.
Last Steam from Brighton - the reinstatement of steam on the
Brighton-Plymouth Service 1965/1966.
Vol.3 is available for purchase, price £15 (£1.50
p&p). It is available from the Record Office (credit/debit card
transactions 01243 753602), all major West Sussex libraries or
on-line from the WSCC eshop.
Please Note: All three Southern Steam DVD's
are also available in a Box Set for the price of £35,
inclusive of postage.
Back to Top