5596 Bahamas at unknown location

[InkyScrolls]

I've found this photograph of (4)5596 Bahamas at an unknown location and wondered if the RF hive mind might know where it was taken? It was in a modern edition of Thirteen Guests by J. J. Farjeon, bought at a charity shop in Yorkshire. The reverse of the photograph, which is around 3" square, has G896 written by a typewriter. There are no other identifying marks but the size are quality of the paper suggest a Polaroid camera to me.

 

[Ash Bridge]

That looks very much like Dinting near Glossop to me.

VIEW Stanier Jubilee Class 5596 BAHAMAS Dinting

Stanier Jubilee Class 4-6-0 No 5596 BAHAMAS, superbly turned out, in action during a relaxed open day at the then Dinting Rail Centre, Derbyshire, which closed in 1990 01/09/1969

www.anistr.com

 

[Spamcan81]

Another vote for Dinting.

 

[InkyScrolls]

Looks like we may have a winner - from the picture @Ash Bridge linked Dinting does appear an accurate suggestion. Not somewhere I've been to personally - is it very different nowadays?

 

[edwin_m]

Looks like we may have a winner - from the picture @Ash Bridge linked Dinting does appear an accurate suggestion. Not somewhere I've been to personally - is it very different nowadays?

It closed down many years ago. Wikipedia seems to be saying the people who saved Bahamas actually ran the centre too - the name rings a bell from when I was very young and I know we visited Dinting several times before moving away from the area in 1978. I also have a vague recollection of a short ride on the footplate of Flying Scotsman there, probably around 1972 when I would have been 7.

 

[Ash Bridge]

I’m probably showing my age here, but I first visited the site when I was taken there as a youngster around 1970 when the Bahamas Locomotive Society were renting the former GCR single road steam shed to accommodate 5596. The shed was located on the north eastern side of the triangle at Dinting Station behind the derelict platform on the Glossop Branch side, it looks so overgrown with trees these days it’s difficult to tell if the building still stands, I presume all the track in the yard has now been lifted as the connection to the main line appears to be long gone?

@edwin_m you just jogged my memory there as I too seem to recall that Flying Scotsman visit, could Scots Guardsman also have been in attendance as there may have been three large steam locomotives present on that occasion?

 

[edwin_m]

@edwin_m you just jogged my memory there as I too seem to recall that Flying Scotsman visit, could Scots Guardsman also have been in attendance as there may have been three large steam locomotives present on that occasion?

I'm afraid I have no clear recollection of what else was there, being so young at the time. I also had it it my mind that we saw Bahamas plinthed up at a Butlins in Wales but having done a bit of online searching I think I must have been confusing Bahamas at Dinting with Princess Margaret Rose at Pwllheli. They were both big and red after all!

 

[Ash Bridge]

I'm afraid I have no clear recollection of what else was there, being so young at the time. I also had it it my mind that we saw Bahamas plinthed up at a Butlins in Wales but having done a bit of online searching I think I must have been confusing Bahamas at Dinting with Princess Margaret Rose at Pwllheli. They were both big and red after all!

Ah fair enough, I was in mid teens by 1972 so perhaps old enough to to remember in more detail but obviously the passage of so much time takes its toll! Now you mention it I can definitely remember the footplate rides up and down the yard.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

It is so long since we last visited the Dinting site, but when we were there, I am sure that 60009 Union of South Africa was there.

 

[Ash Bridge]

It is so long since we last visited the Dinting site, but when we were there, I am sure that 60009 Union of South Africa was there.

After performing a recent google search it was quite a surprise to find such a variety of preserved steam locomotives have visited on occasions throughout the 1970s/80s, quite a shame that it’s not still operational as the frequent class 323 emus from Manchester Piccadilly make it very easy to access.

 

[Whisky Papa]

I’m probably showing my age here, but I first visited the site when I was taken there as a youngster around 1970 when the Bahamas Locomotive Society were renting the former GCR single road steam shed to accommodate 5596. The shed was located on the north eastern side of the triangle at Dinting Station behind the derelict platform on the Glossop Branch side, it looks so overgrown with trees these days it’s difficult to tell if the building still stands, I presume all the track in the yard has now been lifted as the connection to the main line appears to be long gone?

Are you sure about the location, or am I misunderstanding where you mean? I would have thought SE of the triangle more likely, as NE has Dinting Road running at a higher level quite close. I also visited as a child around the same time (by car) and I think once just by train as my friends and I started spotting in our early teens. I seem to recall a fairly open view of the valley, but could be wrong.

Bahamas was definitely present when I went as a child but I have a feeling there was a second LMS loco in black there, probably under restoration / repair.

I never though then that I would work a few shifts in the booking office 30 years later!

 

[Ash Bridge]

Are you sure about the location, or am I misunderstanding where you mean? I would have thought SE of the triangle more likely, as NE has Dinting Road running at a higher level quite close. I also visited as a child around the same time (by car) and I think once just by train as my friends and I started spotting in our early teens. I seem to recall a fairly open view of the valley, but could be wrong.

Bahamas was definitely present when I went as a child but I have a feeling there was a second LMS loco in black there, probably under restoration / repair.

I never though then that I would work a few shifts in the booking office 30 years later!

Yes, I think the bearings you have suggested are a tad more accurate than mine having just checked again! could have just said east and then perhaps got away with it

Quite shocked having seen how wooded the area is now, I can remember a much more open view across the valley and towards the viaduct. The black loco certainly fits wi th the livery worn by Scots Guardsman around that period from what I can remember, regarding Dinting Station it’s good to see its still got a manned booking office and what seems likewise for the signal box.

 

[John Webb]

There are a number of photos of the Railway Centre and locos at https://www.geograph.org.uk/gridref/SK0294 - a couple of them mention that the Centre closed in 1990.

 

[EyeKay]

I went there several times as a child. I can confirm that Scots Guardsman was there

 

[Whisky Papa]

I went there several times as a child. I can confirm that Scots Guardsman was there

Thanks for the confirmation, and also #Ash Bridge at #13. The 'Scots' bit was lurking in the back of my mind but I didn't have time to chase it up yesterday afternoon.

Edit - I've just noticed on Google's satellite view that the roof of a long building is visible in the woodland, shown as 68 Dinting Rad. Is this the original loco shed or some other building connected with the former centre, or just coincidence?

 

[sprinterguy]

Edit - I've just noticed on Google's satellite view that the roof of a long building is visible in the woodland, shown as 68 Dinting Rad. Is this the original loco shed or some other building connected with the former centre, or just coincidence?

Yes, that's the original loco shed.

 

[Whisky Papa]

Yes, that's the original loco shed.

Thanks for that. It was weird, working there occasionally in 2006/7, I could barely connect the site with the former railway centre. Nice station to work at, though!