Mark Beedham Remembers Steam Railways From His Childhood
13th November 2026
In: News, Members' Articles
Mark Beedham – Memories of Steam Railways
Going back to my early childhood, one wall of my bedroom was covered in wallpaper with train patterns. The trains depicted were viewed at third angle projection in a repeated block of 4 throughout the paper. The locos,of which there were only four, are based on the following -
This paper remained in situ right up until my father’s passing. I have some pictures somewhere showing the paper albeit quite discoloured having been on the wall for over 50 years!
I was never a train spotter myself as a child listing down locomotive numbers but I did enjoy my father driving me down to Barrow-in-Furness Central Station to watch the trains coming and going and taking on water at one end of the platform. As a child the pressure valves being released by the loco driver was quite scary but at the same time compelling to witness.
The motive traffic around this time was mainly Stanier Black Fives, Fairburn tanks and the odd Mogul with the partial roof cab on the coal tender. At the very end of Steam in Furness around 1968, Britannia Class Oliver Cromwell paid a visit and was featured in the local news at the time.
My only claim to fame on the railway is that I was lucky enough to have travelled to Lakeside at the foot of Windermere Lake all the way from Barrow-in-Furness with my Grand Parents. My late Father had done a similar journey from Nottingham with his parents back in his days. The direct loop coming of the Leven Viaduct meant the train didn't have to go to Ulverston first and retrace its steps back to Plumpton Junction before taking the single track to Lakeside. I was too young to be in possession of a camera and, with hindsight, I was born just a bit too late to really appreciate steam.
In fact, when the announcement came that steam was to be withdrawn, it was like a death in the family. Luckily for me and other steam buffs in this area, the Lakeside Railway Society was created based at Carnforth Motive Depot (Steamtown as it came to be known) with the hope of buying the existing closed route to Lakeside from Ulverston and whilst negotiations were on going (sadly they didn't come to much) the society accumulated many locos from BR albeit in a poor state of repair. I fondly remember having many a footplate ride on those locos from the sheds to Cragbank and back. None of that health and safety rubbish back then and what an experience that was for a 7 year old such as me, which I've never forgotten about.
I have a particular soft spot for Southern Locomotives designed by O.V.S, Bulleid and very recently I found it very emotional to watch a video of 34028 Eddystone entering Waterloo Station on the 17th of October after 40 years of last rolling into the station. Silly I know but steam locos are a living thing when in steam.
Some of the loco’s mentioned have been photographed courtesy of Keith Walker.
Air Smoothed West Country Clas 4-6-2
Black Five
Standard Class 4-6-2 Brittania
Merchant Navy - Eddystone
Merchant Navy - Eddystone
Schools Class - Cheltenham
Schools Class Cheltenham
Going back to my early childhood, one wall of my bedroom was covered in wallpaper with train patterns. The trains depicted were viewed at third angle projection in a repeated block of 4 throughout the paper. The locos,of which there were only four, are based on the following -
a West Country class in air smooth casing,
a Schools class with smoke detectors,
the prototype Deltic in blue livery with its go faster white stripes and coaches and
lastly and oddly a 0-6-0 tank engine in the same colour blue of Henry Fowler design.
This paper remained in situ right up until my father’s passing. I have some pictures somewhere showing the paper albeit quite discoloured having been on the wall for over 50 years!
I was never a train spotter myself as a child listing down locomotive numbers but I did enjoy my father driving me down to Barrow-in-Furness Central Station to watch the trains coming and going and taking on water at one end of the platform. As a child the pressure valves being released by the loco driver was quite scary but at the same time compelling to witness.
The motive traffic around this time was mainly Stanier Black Fives, Fairburn tanks and the odd Mogul with the partial roof cab on the coal tender. At the very end of Steam in Furness around 1968, Britannia Class Oliver Cromwell paid a visit and was featured in the local news at the time.
My only claim to fame on the railway is that I was lucky enough to have travelled to Lakeside at the foot of Windermere Lake all the way from Barrow-in-Furness with my Grand Parents. My late Father had done a similar journey from Nottingham with his parents back in his days. The direct loop coming of the Leven Viaduct meant the train didn't have to go to Ulverston first and retrace its steps back to Plumpton Junction before taking the single track to Lakeside. I was too young to be in possession of a camera and, with hindsight, I was born just a bit too late to really appreciate steam.
In fact, when the announcement came that steam was to be withdrawn, it was like a death in the family. Luckily for me and other steam buffs in this area, the Lakeside Railway Society was created based at Carnforth Motive Depot (Steamtown as it came to be known) with the hope of buying the existing closed route to Lakeside from Ulverston and whilst negotiations were on going (sadly they didn't come to much) the society accumulated many locos from BR albeit in a poor state of repair. I fondly remember having many a footplate ride on those locos from the sheds to Cragbank and back. None of that health and safety rubbish back then and what an experience that was for a 7 year old such as me, which I've never forgotten about.
I have a particular soft spot for Southern Locomotives designed by O.V.S, Bulleid and very recently I found it very emotional to watch a video of 34028 Eddystone entering Waterloo Station on the 17th of October after 40 years of last rolling into the station. Silly I know but steam locos are a living thing when in steam.
Some of the loco’s mentioned have been photographed courtesy of Keith Walker.
Air Smoothed West Country Clas 4-6-2
Black Five
Standard Class 4-6-2 Brittania
Merchant Navy - Eddystone
Merchant Navy - Eddystone
Schools Class - Cheltenham
Schools Class Cheltenham