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Cavalcade Retrospect Companion volume to Cavalcade Reflections Soft Cover 1975
Cavalcade Retrospect Companion volume to Cavalcade Reflections Soft Cover 1975 Official British rail Eastern Region Souvenir 48 pages
Creators of Fantasia ... dealers in magic and spells. Thus did we, mere lineside mortals, revere for a euphoric afternoon, the privileged band who, on sunny Sunday 31 August 1975, created for us the greatest steam show on earth.
The greatest ... and possibly the last. The Grand Steam Cavalcade between Shildon and Heighington is already part of railway history. But the memory will linger on.
It will linger long in the memory of those like engineer Mike Satow whose talents went into the creation of that magnificent replica of "Locomotion No.1".
"Standing on the footplate of 'Locomotion' as we came under Spout Lane Bridge at a sedate four miles an hour was like bursting from a tunnel into a sun-drenched countryside," he said. "With me on that little train were all the people who had done so much to make 'Locomotion' a reality and the whole event possible. The air of expectancy radiating from the hushed crowd dissolved in a moment the anxiety and fatigue of months. The sun was shining and the beat of the exhaust was music."
For railway author and photographer Eric Treacy,
Bishop of Wakefield, there was "magic in the air". It was compounded, he explained, of superb weather, the holiday atmosphere of vast crowds determined to enjoy themselves and "the magnificent machines which crept along the line".
"There was almost a self-conscious air of pride about these engines as they passed before the admiring crowds,- Bishop Treacy said. "It was for the British
Rail drivers their finest hour, and they obviously realised it. Those who saw it knew that they would never see its like again and knew themselves to be present at an event which would take its place in the history of railways. It was a superb piece of organisation for which we must all be grateful to B.R. and the local committee."
For organising mastermind, George Hinchcliffe, General Manager of Flying Scotsman Enterprises, it was "the greatest railway show ever produced".
"The stars, immaculately groomed, lined up off stage and at 14.00 hours moved forward along a platform five miles long and 30 feet wide,- he said. "A vast live audience applauded every single act. The stage manager was well pleased."
For owner of No. 4472, the "Flying Scotsman", Bill McAlpine, it was "magnificent, a fantastic show". For leading Japanese television producer Miss Kaoru Kanetaka, trans-Alps solo baloonist and first Japanese woman to make a land crossing of the South Pole, the event was "simply unbelievable-.
For retired education officer Arthur Wickstead, trojan of the assembly area at Shildon Works the Cavalcade had entailed a long night of unbroken hard work for the small team of shunters and drivers arranging the 34 locomotives into Cavalcade order. "It was a long night of shunting," he said. "Then at noon on Sunday I called the locomotives one by one to steam out from their sidings over the level crossing, out of our 'section' into B.R. control. All 34 moved across in their correct order without a hitch."
For Geoff Brecknell, Works Manager for British Rail Engineering Ltd. at Shildon, standing by the trackside on that Sunday afternoon "brought feelings of enormous relief that three years of preparation had been brought to a spectacularly successful conclusion".
"Four hundred thousand people had come to savour the majesty of the steam engine, first at an exhibition and then, finally, at the great Cavalcade," he added. "Shildon had emerged into the limelight after 150 years of comparative obscurity. The enormous efforts of hundreds of Shildon Works staff were rewarded in the only way that mattered... by public acclamation.-
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