Ex-rail duo recall the age of steam

2:41pm Sunday 11th May 2008

Comments (2)   Have your say »

TWO star players in the last rites of mainline steam are set to feature at an extravaganza to mark the 40th anniversary of the official end of steam.

Forty years ago Raymond Watton, 67, was a fireman on the 15 Guinea Special, the last British Railways steam-hauled train on August 11, 1968. Frank Watson, 72, was a footplate inspector on Oliver Cromwell, the iconic locomotive chosen to haul it on that day which marked the end of an era for mainline steam.

Staff at the National Railway Museum (NRM), in York, have been busy collating responses to the museum's Memories Of Steam appeal. Raymond and Frank are set to record their unique recollections of their experiences of the end of steam for the museum's archive of railway history, which will feature in 1968 And All That - the NRM's nine-day gala to celebrate the end of mainline steam.

The Press issued an appeal several weeks ago on behalf of the NRM for people to come forward with their memories of the era of steam trains and Catherine Farrell, spokeswoman for the NRM, said the museum had been inundated with responses.

"We are very excited by the volume of social history that has come through as a result of our appeal," she said.

Hundreds of responses have flooded in from enthusiasts across the UK, but especially from Yorkshire and Lancashire.

"We have been contacted by people who were passengers on the 15 Guinea Special, the men who worked across the railway network those last precious years of steam, as well as the wide-eyed enthusiasts that scrambled up hillsides with binoculars in hand to watch the last steam train pass by," said Mrs Farrell. "It will be great to meet Frank and Raymond and to have their vivid memories recorded for posterity along with other people from across the UK who have submitted their experiences of the end of steam. "

The recollections will be made accessible via the museum's archive and research centre Search Engine.

The NRM's 1968 And All That event runs from May 24 to June 1. A four-year restoration project to bring No 70013 Oliver Cromwell back into steam has recently reached completion and the legendary locomotive is set to be the star at the steam gala.

Event organiser for the NRM, Matt Thompson, said: "We are trying to put the end of steam in historical context with the line-up for this nine-day event.

"Our team of explainers and volunteers will man the footplates, explain the loco's place in history and give the public a real idea of how things used to be before steam was swept away by the tide of progress.

"It will also be the first real opportunity for the public to see the newly-restored Oliver Cromwell."

Have your say

Do you have any memories of the end of the steam age?