I believe these photographs show the Royal train on a visit to Billingham, could anyone clarify the date of them please?
Photographs and details courtesy of Gordon Armes.
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
I believe these photographs show the Royal train on a visit to Billingham, could anyone clarify the date of them please?
Photographs and details courtesy of Gordon Armes.
An interesting manoeuvre this – the Royal train into the loop between Billingham & Norton Station (judging by the headcode 1X01 HM was on board) then perhaps the class 37 would have attached to the rear and pulled the train back towards Billingham. I hope the crossover was clamped…
There is a photo by Ivan Harrington on Picture Stockton showing the Royal train passing the stationary diesel engine. It was taken a few minutes after the above photo, as the chap carrying the stepladder is now looking over the fence to watch the train go by. Go to
https://picturestocktonarchive.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/ih0017.jpg
I am aware of the previous photo, I posted this one as I had a query to Bill Adams as to when the royal visit took place, I now know it was indeed to open the forum in 1967, by strange coincidence the guy in the garden is my son-in-laws father and that is my son-in-law on his shoulders.
Just looking at the view of the yard in the background, notice how full it is with traffic of bricks, I think this traffic came from Peterborough area, the Port Clarence pilot a 350 bhp diesel 0-6-0 locomotive was used to shunt the yard, the traffic went to Port Clarence with a local trip and the pilot took the empties back to Port Clarence to be taken back south by another local trip.
Best guess would be 17th October 1967, the Queen visited Billingham to open the new station and then travel to officially open the new Forum.
It shouldn’t be to difficult to narrow the date down, we haven’t had that many visits from royalties over the years.