A full party of 54 members was booked in three brakevans on our traditional first fixture of the year. There isn't usually much else happening this weekend and the steelworks is quieter than normal after Christmas. We were pleased to see that renovation of the high capacity 'Shark' brakevan was nearing completion - an impressive job with almost total replacement of the woodwork so we expect four brakevans for our Mon 26 Aug tour.

Of note, there were a large number of first timers (referred to as 'Scunthorpe Virgins'), particularly younger members, which was good to see. For the chronic hardliner 'Scunthorpe Addicts' this tour was off to an excellent start at the Heavy Repair Bay. The brakevans were propelled along Road 7 which, following removal of a set of buffer stops, now joins into the end of Road 6 again. The doors were reached, also on Road 5, and up to an obstruction on Road 4. Most unusually Roads 1 & 2 were clear to the doors (normally an immovable large road vehicle sits on the concrete apron blocking the end - not today!). This shows that if you keep coming back, eventually you will find a line you want to do is clear.

At the Rail Service Centre (updated Jan 2024 track plan on our website 'Archive' - just put 'Scunthorpe' in the top right box and click 'Search'), we went up to a stabled Di8 locomotive on 5 Bay Road and to the doors on 4 Bay and 3 Bay Roads. Most of the rest of the morning was taken up with reaching the much requested 'Muck Bank' buffer stops. It has to be said that the Muck Bank line was clipped out of use for quite a few years and we even wondered if it would ever be available again. The first task was to temporarily relocate some wagons stabled in the Muck Bank Loop (between Points 443 and 444). This proved to be considerably easier than on our last tour in Aug 2023 as they were of a lighter type and all moved in one go; no mucking about. There were some extremely heavy duty wagons with rusty wheels on the Muck Bank line itself which would have been very difficult (maybe Impossible) to move.

Then the hard work started for the few with authority to alight. Shovels and garden implements were used to dig out the deeply buried track on a level crossing. It wasn't just a case of digging the rails out, there needed to be clearance for the brakevan foot boards too. A long section was involved as the branch runs along the haul road, a bit like a tramway, and the 'muck' was well consolidated. Our Route Director and Appleby Frodingham Railway member, Alan Sheppard, went Dutch with his hoe (ho ho!). There was much 'toing and froing' of our train, with by necessity the loco leading, gaining a few feet each time by taking a run at it. (This could be a problem for those who count and time every reversal - excluding them, there were 78 reversals all day but no setbacks.) The final bit involved hacking out and squashing saplings growing out of the track but we eventually arrived at the stop blocks of the Muck Bank. Although this took a while and was hard work for some (thanks to all involved), it was quality very rare track. One of our new younger contingent was heard to say that you wouldn't be able to do this sort of thing in Bosnia even. It was probably the first train to the end since our previous one!















In recent years, the lunch break has evolved into a full buffet with a good selection of food, not just a wide variety of sandwiches but nibbles, crisps, cakes and a hot (or cold) drink or two. Fortunately it was dry and not as cold as it could have been. The stoves were lit, so those inside the brakevans were nice and warm - one stove glowed so hot it was like a mini-blast furnace (well done Archie and Neil!).






The afternoon was a treat for the first timers covering considerable ground on this still very extensive railway over a vast site (marked up plan on our website). Highlights included the end of Road 1 inside the Torpedo Repair Bay, the Fuel Road end of line and loop and likewise at Frodingham Platform.

We made some interesting discoveries. The active blast furnace (of the four) has been Queen Victoria - the southernmost - which dates from 1954 (unlike the real thing) but it is being run down and will finish production. The adjacent Queen Anne blast furnace - also a 1954 vintage - is being started up (there was evidence of this) instead to replace it. Our tour visited Queen Victoria's bottom and found that the left hand tracks are all permanently out of use now with the power turned off to the point motors. That is from Points 210 to 133 and its end of line, along with the connections to/from that line at Points 142, 130 & 131. The only line available towards Queen Victoria now is the single track we did (Points 140 - 129 - 130 - 131 - 128). Also, the former through line along the west side of the four blast furnaces (Points 101, partly dismantled, by the Torpedo Repair Bay to Points 111 at least) is defunct.

This is only the start; opinion among AFR-S people in the know is that most of the west side of the railway will go with the closure of the four Blast Furnaces and BOS (Basic Oxygen Steelmaking) plant.

British Steel proposals (with e-BLN) are to replace them with a 130 tonne electric arc furnace, two 130 tonne ladle furnaces, a 130 tonne degasser and two continuous casters. In addition, there would be a new, much larger, Scrap Yard. Plans show a 'potential', relatively small, 4½ acre rectangular site for the electric arc furnace over part of the south end of the Former Soakers, extending over 'The Subway' north to the south end of the Former Bloom & Billet Mill then across, over 'Concast Road', to the Slab Yard. Very ominously, improvements to local roads are mentioned under 'transport improvements'.

During our railtour, the inner (Up) track of the double track between Points 452 and 448 was out of use for engineering work and a gang was installing a new point (486) in it facing Anchor Sidings. This is for a new Coke Handling Line round the ever increasing coke stockpile in that area, joining the existing railway at 'The Angle' - facing Brick Shed Jn. It will then be possible to circle round the coke stockpile.



The new line is top right (dashed) on our updated plan. Recently, each time we visit, there has been more and more coke stockpiled at different places on site; perhaps this new development means the blast furnace/s will stay operational until the electric arc furnace is commissioned (unlike the plan at Port Talbot)? Pleasingly, our tour raised £2,844.98 to support the work of the volunteers at Appleby Frodingham Railway-Scunthorpe. Thanks to everyone involved in arranging yet another interesting and enjoyable tour here including (in alphabetical order), Martyn Brailsford (mapping), Martha Haggas (brakevan allocations), Neil Lewis (who provided an A3 colour printed map for each participant), Alan Sheppard, of course, and AFR-S. https://www.afrps.co.uk/ has details of some of their 2024 events.