Seeing the train coming to a stop, reminded me of an incident my Dad talked about. Back in the late 1940s, on a steep incline, the steam engine struggled and the speed being down to walking pace, one passenger asked the Conductor if he could step off the train to pick some flowers. The Conductor said: "It's October and there are no flowers". "That's OK", the passenger says, "I've got some seeds with me". Greetings from Sweden 🇸🇪.
Not gonna lie. The overhead shots of Sir Berkeley trundling up the gradient, Brooks coming to his aid, and the two of them working the train in tandem, coupled with the ambient soundtrack and Lawrie's narration... To me, it was like seeing a classic Thomas and Friends story come to life. Simply beautiful!!!
I worked on Middleton railway back in the 90’s from 11-13 years old. Sadly a move down country meant I could no longer work there, Sir Berkeley is one of my fondest memories. I’ve washed, polished, filed the coal bunker, filled the oil pots and sand boxes, I’ve even had a fireman’s breakfast on the foot plate before helping shovel the coal as we ran up line. Such a privilege and a beautiful engine.
Have you been to Devon, there you will find The last working coal fired paddle steamer in England, PS Kingswear Castle. She runs in conjunction with the loco's. I grew up volunteering on her and was her engineer & fireman for my last season aboard before I moved to Cheshire. My late father restored her along with a band of volunteers. He was ship's engineer for 25 years.
I am actually a member of the Vintage Carriage Trust, though I haven't yet renewed my subscription at the point of writing this comment. Glad you got to support Sir Berkeley's return to service despite the slip-up you encountered, Lawrie. It is indeed a superb little machine. Regards, Samuel Farris.
Such lovely engines and passenger cars on a truly delightful railway. Can't imagine the open cab is fun in heavy rain or snow. It must have been an adventure to operate these types of locomotives. Another great video.
Such a wonderful looking engine. Wished I'd been able to see it on its first day. Looking forward to starting my volunteering at the Middleton soon. Great video Lawrie, thanks.
Great video! She is a beautiful little loco and I thought she did very well up until she struggled with the load. For her size and gradient that was a fair load for a loco of this size and power!
Great video, looked like a lovely day! Surprised Sir Berkeley struggled with only three carriages though, I assume from its history, that it was used to haul quite heavy and bulky loads!
It's 1:47 at that point of the line on a left hand curve. Due to needing to keep the loco quiet during the speeches the fire and steam pressure wasn't quite where it should be on departure.
An excellent film and lovely to see an old Manning Wardle. Her old home at Cranford is just off the Kettering and Huntingdon line and is literally a few miles up the A14 from me. We used to have Ironstone railways all over the place here sadly all are gone now, including the branch line.
Agreed, I'm going to start volunteering there in a couple of weeks and have loads of MR videos, but I very rarely can find Middleton videos on other channels.
That was so good. Such a charming little engine. I do love little 0-6-0 locos. Maybe only 2 coaches for Sir Berkley next time so that he can steam proudly, unassisted. 😊
I noticed that too. I've heard both for the city next to me, Berkley California. Growing up people always pronounced the City burk-lee but sometimes I hear non-natives saying bark-lee. Who or what is the engine named for? Would have been nice to hear an explanation.
The other VCT Locomotive is Lord Mayor - which is non operational but cosmetic restored at Keithley and Worth Valley Railway - there are some Vintage Carriages there on display too
When the engine was last in service I remember it de-railing on the top points at Middleton Park. The points have to be taken at an absolute crawl. I assume it is because of the radius of the curved rail. I think it's last tyres had a flange-less centre axle. A good mention of the locomotive's existence as a contractors engine. An excellent comparison to a dump truck. One like yours Lawrie. One of the tubs would have been of similar capacity. I wonder why the locomotive could not re-start after it ran out of steam. Is there an issue with the valve-gear in that it can stop on a dead-point between inlet & exhaust events?
The de-railing occured because the test run had only been up and back on the weds beforehand, with no manoevre over the curve of the points. There being no haynes manual for Hunslet locomotives what happened is the springs , which appeared to be interchangeable, were a mix of handed and tempered to take specific weight loadings along the frame etc, so a lot of dismantling to get back to remove all the springs, check and re-measure, including weighing calculations to re-fit them in the best order and location. It is then just common practice for all the locomotives to take the turnouts at a fairly slow speed as they are fairly tight on radius and the ground at the top is not easy to keep level - though more re-ballasting has helped over the last 20 odd years.
He or she (always get confused when they are named after a male person but people say the loco is a she)is a lovely industrial locomotive. I keep checking up on how Warwickshire is doing whenever I volunteer at the SVR as that too is a lovely little industrial tank engine and so is Lady Armigale who has disappeared from engine house museum display. Maybe she is to be restored soon when the Bridgenorth get some of the locomotives currently being worked on back out on the rails.
Great video! I love the Middleton, I was there for Sir Berkeley's test run at the start of April, it looked great. Good to see they've repainted the front buffer beam, it was pink at the start of April! On a different note, I remember the last time I rode on Sir Berkeley before its overhaul was in 2016, and it stopped in pretty much the same place then! Also, did you not see any of the other double headers? They did at least three around twelve o'clock, or was that when you were going to Hunslet?
12:18 That's not the only oddity like that, the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company built locomotives such as the British Railways 26, 27, 33, 81 & D0260 Lion.
Can someone tell my why they decided not to put a full cab on the engine? Doesn't seem very rational or practical, and kind of inhibits and restricts you from fully operating
Beautiful locomotive but nothing speaks more about the social class of engine men when the designers don't include a cab for the drivers. Must have been brutal back in the day to operate this engine in the "lovely" English weather. That spectacle plate that provides no protection from steam or weather is an absolute shame. Of course my comment isn't meant to take anything away from the magnificent work everyone put in to overhaul this locomotive and keep it running properly and looking beautiful.
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
Seeing the train coming to a stop, reminded me of an incident my Dad talked about. Back in the late 1940s, on a steep incline, the steam engine struggled and the speed being down to walking pace, one passenger asked the Conductor if he could step off the train to pick some flowers. The Conductor said: "It's October and there are no flowers". "That's OK", the passenger says, "I've got some seeds with me". Greetings from Sweden 🇸🇪.
Not gonna lie. The overhead shots of Sir Berkeley trundling up the gradient, Brooks coming to his aid, and the two of them working the train in tandem, coupled with the ambient soundtrack and Lawrie's narration...
To me, it was like seeing a classic Thomas and Friends story come to life. Simply beautiful!!!
4:31 That's some superb sleepy baby acting, Laurie. Very cute 😊
I worked on Middleton railway back in the 90’s from 11-13 years old. Sadly a move down country meant I could no longer work there, Sir Berkeley is one of my fondest memories. I’ve washed, polished, filed the coal bunker, filled the oil pots and sand boxes, I’ve even had a fireman’s breakfast on the foot plate before helping shovel the coal as we ran up line. Such a privilege and a beautiful engine.
Have you been to Devon, there you will find The last working coal fired paddle steamer in England, PS Kingswear Castle. She runs in conjunction with the loco's. I grew up volunteering on her and was her engineer & fireman for my last season aboard before I moved to Cheshire. My late father restored her along with a band of volunteers. He was ship's engineer for 25 years.
Ah yes Dartmouth
My father and I crewed KC when she operated on the river medway from thunderbolt pier at Chatham dockyard.
There also would've been the PS Lincoln Castle too had it not been scrapped
I am actually a member of the Vintage Carriage Trust, though I haven't yet renewed my subscription at the point of writing this comment. Glad you got to support Sir Berkeley's return to service despite the slip-up you encountered, Lawrie. It is indeed a superb little machine. Regards, Samuel Farris.
I've renewed my membership subscription.
Such lovely engines and passenger cars on a truly delightful railway. Can't imagine the open cab is fun in heavy rain or snow. It must have been an adventure to operate these types of locomotives. Another great video.
What a fantastic little railway now on my list to visit
Grew up next to it, it's a short trip from one end to the other. It's well worth it for the history
Wow nice news and train !! 🚂🚂🚂🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚂
I drove by the railway this afternoon. Had a delivery just down the street. Will have to go back for a look.
Such a wonderful looking engine. Wished I'd been able to see it on its first day. Looking forward to starting my volunteering at the Middleton soon. Great video Lawrie, thanks.
Fantastic to see engine, and Mr Coulls in his natural habitat - wonderful to see Sir B in action, even if with some rather lovely help.
Nice to see it's back in action
Agreed, I saw its test runs at the start of April. It's a stunning machine, it looks even better in person!
Great video! She is a beautiful little loco and I thought she did very well up until she struggled with the load. For her size and gradient that was a fair load for a loco of this size and power!
Great video, looked like a lovely day! Surprised Sir Berkeley struggled with only three carriages though, I assume from its history, that it was used to haul quite heavy and bulky loads!
It's 1:47 at that point of the line on a left hand curve. Due to needing to keep the loco quiet during the speeches the fire and steam pressure wasn't quite where it should be on departure.
What a fantastic video from Lawrie. It was nice to see a dedication video of a very historic engine plus seeing it trundle along the railway line.😊😊
That graffitied arch was part of Manning Wardle, Kitson was over the other side of the road next to Fowler
Thumbs up for the happy wagon. All wagons should be this happy.
An excellent film and lovely to see an old Manning Wardle. Her old home at Cranford is just off the Kettering and Huntingdon line and is literally a few miles up the A14 from me. We used to have Ironstone railways all over the place here sadly all are gone now, including the branch line.
So cool
Thank you
Very nice to see it back in service!
Thanks Lawrie! 🙏🙏
Nice to see a video on a railway I volunteer at
5th video at the railway!
Agreed, I'm going to start volunteering there in a couple of weeks and have loads of MR videos, but I very rarely can find Middleton videos on other channels.
@@PHsRailwayVideos there are/ were a few , particulary of the special celebrations, like the hunslet anniversary.
@@lmm why did you have to go on the one day I was sick tho
That was so good. Such a charming little engine. I do love little 0-6-0 locos. Maybe only 2 coaches for Sir Berkley next time so that he can steam proudly, unassisted. 😊
Glad to see you got the name right some of the time ("bark-lee" and not "burk-lee")😁. Still, as always, another enjoyable video.👍
I noticed that too. I've heard both for the city next to me, Berkley California. Growing up people always pronounced the City burk-lee but sometimes I hear non-natives saying bark-lee. Who or what is the engine named for? Would have been nice to hear an explanation.
The other VCT Locomotive is Lord Mayor - which is non operational but cosmetic restored at Keithley and Worth Valley Railway - there are some Vintage Carriages there on display too
When the engine was last in service I remember it de-railing on the top points at Middleton Park. The points have to be taken at an absolute crawl. I assume it is because of the radius of the curved rail. I think it's last tyres had a flange-less centre axle.
A good mention of the locomotive's existence as a contractors engine. An excellent comparison to a dump truck. One like yours Lawrie.
One of the tubs would have been of similar capacity.
I wonder why the locomotive could not re-start after it ran out of steam. Is there an issue with the valve-gear in that it can stop on a dead-point between inlet & exhaust events?
The de-railing occured because the test run had only been up and back on the weds beforehand, with no manoevre over the curve of the points. There being no haynes manual for Hunslet locomotives what happened is the springs , which appeared to be interchangeable, were a mix of handed and tempered to take specific weight loadings along the frame etc, so a lot of dismantling to get back to remove all the springs, check and re-measure, including weighing calculations to re-fit them in the best order and location. It is then just common practice for all the locomotives to take the turnouts at a fairly slow speed as they are fairly tight on radius and the ground at the top is not easy to keep level - though more re-ballasting has helped over the last 20 odd years.
It looks so good in the green
apparently it is thought to be the contractors original colours
AMZING!
Great Video !
He or she (always get confused when they are named after a male person but people say the loco is a she)is a lovely industrial locomotive. I keep checking up on how Warwickshire is doing whenever I volunteer at the SVR as that too is a lovely little industrial tank engine and so is Lady Armigale who has disappeared from engine house museum display. Maybe she is to be restored soon when the Bridgenorth get some of the locomotives currently being worked on back out on the rails.
Great video! I love the Middleton, I was there for Sir Berkeley's test run at the start of April, it looked great. Good to see they've repainted the front buffer beam, it was pink at the start of April! On a different note, I remember the last time I rode on Sir Berkeley before its overhaul was in 2016, and it stopped in pretty much the same place then! Also, did you not see any of the other double headers? They did at least three around twelve o'clock, or was that when you were going to Hunslet?
12:18 That's not the only oddity like that, the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company built locomotives such as the British Railways 26, 27, 33, 81 & D0260 Lion.
What is the large brass "stack" at the rear of the boiler?? Thanks for taking us along.
That's the safety valve bonnet
I think the John Fowler works were not too far away from your little Leeds Locomotive builders excursion.
Lawrie, can you make a video about bagnall no.2228 or no.2227?
I love how they go past a sports facility lol
Yay! I'm a wagon! The happiest wagon!
Love this loco
You were there?! I didn't see you
How funny, a few weeks ago she managed two coaches no problem - three may have pushed it over the edge.
Sir Berkeley said "I'll get there or burst!"
Nice to see a loco back in steam
Can someone please tell me what the point of a spectacle plate is? Like, why is it there? What benefit does it provide?
It's the railway equivalent of a motor car 'windscreen'.
@@tooleyheadbang4239 Fair enough.
@@sambrown6426 esp soot and water from the steam and chimeny.
didn't she appear in the 1968 version of the railway children?
Yes episode 2
Can someone tell my why they decided not to put a full cab on the engine? Doesn't seem very rational or practical, and kind of inhibits and restricts you from fully operating
looks like she's got about 35 psi of steam pressure showing on the pressure gauge
Is THAT how it's pronounced?
I've been saying this engine's name wrongly for YEARS!
What’s the railway called?
The Middleton Railway
When I’m older, I’m gonna build a railway museum
Bouquet B-U-C-K-E-T, nice reference lol
You could've told me this was a Thomas the Tank Engine book plot and I wouldn't of been any wiser.
"YAY I'm a wagon" LMAO
What was wrong with “Sir Berkeley” at this event
They should've used Hyce's (in)famous and always (in)accurate Excel sheet to calculate whether the engine could pull the weight up that gradient
I love you lawe
Thank you very much
If the engine had been built to run on standard gauge track
perhaps they could get another engine to give them a bit of help
im ur 1st sub
Series 11 of Thomas the tank engine: I’m billy 🤓
Had a cracking day on her on the Sunday...
Beautiful locomotive but nothing speaks more about the social class of engine men when the designers don't include a cab for the drivers. Must have been brutal back in the day to operate this engine in the "lovely" English weather.
That spectacle plate that provides no protection from steam or weather is an absolute shame.
Of course my comment isn't meant to take anything away from the magnificent work everyone put in to overhaul this locomotive and keep it running properly and looking beautiful.
The lack of cab was the contractors choice- he believed crew worked better in such conditions
Chigly Locomotive
Seriously,why the annoying MUZAC?? Totally ruins the film!! Come on Lawrie!!!
First here