Prototype Tim Mills' Photos
- Thread starter oldravendale
- Start date
AJC
Western Thunderer
There’s lots of interesting freight stock in these pictures (note the ex-Denaby colliery wagon behind the B1 for example). But it’s the Butlin’s Express that interests me. Partly because this period is ‘peak Butlin’s’ the height of the operation’s post-war expansion (new camps at Bognor, 1960, Minehead, 1962, and Barry), and partly because it’s a nice illustration of Billy Butlin’s collaboration with the railway - all the camps seem to have had BR offices onsite (I’ve been compelled to write a history of the Minehead camp for work - not something this medievalist ever expected to do). I don’t know anything much about the Butlin’s Express, but it didn’t apply to just one route: the whole thing was a sort of package tour/charter operation - which I assume was weekly on changeover day. I guess this one must have started at Skegness, and the B1 had just enough coal for the job.
Adam
PS - that said, I think Butlin’s real passion was aviation, ironically, given what it did to the business. He did site prospecting by helicopter, flew a Spitfire in air races, all sorts. Very interesting man.
Adam
PS - that said, I think Butlin’s real passion was aviation, ironically, given what it did to the business. He did site prospecting by helicopter, flew a Spitfire in air races, all sorts. Very interesting man.
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LarryG
Western Thunderer
Just as blood & custard spread rapidly across the railway landscape in the early 1950s, so too did maroon after 1956. The year 1958 shows a roughly 50/50 split although it must be taken into account that a good number of ex. LNER, LMS and GWR 1920s coaches plus more modern stock down for early withdrawal were never to get maroon.
I always find pre-1959 photos more interesting partly because there ere so few railway photographers about. As regards oil-firing, it was very short lived to cover for post-war coal shortages. Plus oil became expensive.
I always find pre-1959 photos more interesting partly because there ere so few railway photographers about. As regards oil-firing, it was very short lived to cover for post-war coal shortages. Plus oil became expensive.
Barry37
Western Thunderer
Butlin's: in the 1950s/early 60s, my grandfather supplied their Ocean Hotel in Saltdean, near Brighton, with wooden craftsman souvenirs labelled "Saltdean".
They were very bad at paying bills.
Having a long-overdue invoice, he went to the office there (he lived a few miles away). All invoices were thrown into tea chests, and not usually paid until the end of the season. It took some time to find his invoice in the piles.
Holidaymakers paid up front, of course.
AJC
Western Thunderer
One of the things I've learned from working on just one camp, @Barry37, is that absolutely everyone seems to have some sort of Butlin's anecdote, regardless of whether they ever visited one, and that's quite an interesting observation: I'm really not sure how the hotels were managed, or how centralised the operation was, but your story paints a picture.
Adam
Adam
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Martin Shaw
Western Thunderer
It would appear that none of the B1s were ever oil fired, it was as Adam comments a fairly short lived experiment although the tender does look mighty empty. Interestingly 61302 after transfer to Colwick in Jan 65 was transferred to LMR stock on the 2/1/66. I think we have mentioned this before in that Colwick itself was transferred to the LMR in Jan 66 becoming 16B instead of 40E.
Martin
Martin