Proud men made last days of steam fast and furious
With the sun about to set on an entire era, and with their jobs on the line anyway, the men of steam let rip.
Egged on by enthusiasts, they ensured the age of steam railways would end in a blaze of glory, by pushing the locos to the limit with high speed runs.
With the machinery destined for the scrapheap - often their careers too - some of these men on the footplate, who had devoted their working lives to the steam railways, became like teenagers out to see just how fast their hot rods could go.
By some strange quirk, the line from Gobowen to Shrewsbury, the alignment, profile, and condition of which already favoured the speedsters, became the last on the British railway system to be chalked up for scheduled mile-a-minute steam running, with a timetabled 18 minutes for the 18 miles, a so-called "even time," giving 60mph.
The response of the proud men on the footplate was to put their foot to the floor (actually, open the regulator).
The extraordinary story of those final few months of scheduled steam train services going flat out in a last hurrah has been researched and detailed by lifelong steam enthusiast Chris Magner of Bridgnorth, who was on the spot at the time, got to know the drivers and staff and, incredibly, was even once on the footplate.
Chris, who back then was a student living in Bebington on the Wirral, was one of a mid-1960s band called the Train Timers, who came from all over Britain, and would travel overnight and sleep in waiting rooms as they targeted particular trains.
Armed with a stop watch and a journey chart, their mission was to record the performances of the dwindling number of steam locomotives still in service.
Some enthusiasts went into engine sheds, with the tacit agreement of staff, to clean and polish the unkempt locos, their thinking being that crews with a smart train would be more likely to crank up the speed and "have a go."
They openly encouraged footplate crews to go as fast as they could, pushing the machinery hard. The crews listened to them patiently and, with nothing to lose as the age of steam was weeks away, some were game.
"Some of the men - not all - at Shrewsbury and Chester, realising that steam was coming to an end, and having spent a lifetime on the railways, decided to see what could be achieved," said Chris.
"The engines were not looked after as they used to be, but it was lucky that some of the remaining steam locos were still in good nick.
"Ironically, it was a lot of the older men - not the younger men - with a gung-ho attitude.
"I was told the men themselves had a competition to see who could do the best times. Everything was going to finish in March 1967, and they would never have another chance to do this.
"To put it in perspective, a lot of people did not do this, but there were a handful of crews determined to see steam go out at its best."
Some clapped-out locos were simply not up to it, but despite being in poor external condition Black 5 No. 44917 had caught the eye as a real flyer.
So for the final steam run of the 15.31 from Chester to Shrewsbury scheduled for March 4, 1967, Chris had the brass neck to knock on the shedmaster's door at Chester and make the case for Shrewsbury-based driver Walter Bernard to be given his own last steam fling - it was not actually Shropshire's last steam run of all, but would come within hours of the end - in 44917.
"I pleaded with the shedmaster to arrange this. I was very quickly told to remove myself from the premises," said Chris.
But by accident or design, it transpired that Walter Bernard driving No. 44917would indeed make that run.
Chris was one of 45 or so enthusiasts on board among 82 passengers. There was an air of expectation. Reaching Gobowen, ahead lay 18.1 miles to Shrewsbury, with the timetable allowing 18 minutes to complete it. By Rednal they were doing 76mph, 82mph near Baschurch, and then briefly 84 or 85mph at Leaton, to arrive at Shrewsbury Station in 17 minutes, 17 seconds, which included a run of six minutes at over 80mph.
A great run - and don't forget about the fireman who kept up the steam by shovelling on the coal - but it had been bettered several times in previous weeks, with the best of all in this fast-paced finish of Shropshire steam coming on February 23, 1967, with that pairing of Driver Bernard and 44917 again.
"At the time it was thought that this was Driver Bernard's last run with steam, so we all hoped he would make a last great effort," said Chris.
There was no GPS timing of course in those days, but at least 93mph was reached in a fantastic Gobowen-Shrewsbury run of 16 minutes and 15 seconds which, as far as Chris knows, is the fastest ever time for a steam-hauled train on that stretch.
Of that last hurrah of steam in Shropshire, Chris said: "It was a wonderful time.
"One of the things Dr Beeching could not do was knock the spirit out of the railwaymen."
His book has not been produced commercially but Chris says if anyone wants a copy at cost they can contact him at chrismagner45@yahoo.co.uk by email.
