A Metro driver trainer with a lifelong passion for railways has starred on national television, showcasing his tireless work to restore and preserve an historic steam locomotive.
Tom Hartley, 32, is a volunteer at the Tanfield Railway in Gateshead, where he’s part of the team who give up much of their spare time to keep the popular visitor attraction running.
Tom recently appeared alongside other volunteers in a BBC One documentary series called ‘Our Lives – The World’s Oldest Railway’, which featured the roles of the volunteers at Tanfield, which this year celebrates its 300th anniversary.
The TV show provided a fascinating behind the scenes look at the workings of a heritage railway and profiled the level of commitment needed to restore a steam locomotive.
It’s a real labour of love for Tom who has been volunteering at Tanfield since he was a boy. In fact, it’s such a big part of his life that he even got married there.
Tom splits his time between Tanfield and his day job at Nexus, where as a trainer and assessor he instructs fellow Metro drivers on how to drive the new Stadler Metro fleet.
He said: “It was amazing to be featured on BBC One and showcase the work of everyone at the Tanfield Railway.
“As someone who works on the new Metro trains in my day job, it’s such a nice contrast for me to work with steam locomotives in my spare time. Being able to share that on national television was absolutely brilliant, especially as it’s the 300th anniversary year at Tanfield.
“Tanfield has great links with Nexus, as many of the volunteers have gone on to secure jobs within Nexus in such areas as operations, customer services and track maintenance. In 2021, Nexus and other contractors also donated track materials to Tanfield that were replaced during the rebuild of South Gosforth depot.”
Tom said: “I first visited Tanfield at the age of two with my parents when I travelled on the North Pole Express and something captured my imagination. Ever since then I was hooked on trains. I started volunteering there at 13 and have been there ever since.
“Alongside a few friends we took on the challenge of a restoring a steam locomotive, No.38, which formed part of the filming with the BBC. It was a childhood dream to own a steam locomotive and that came true when we purchased it from an older volunteer, who saved it from scrap in 1973.
“We’re probably about sixty or seventy percent of the way through the project. It’s an enormous amount of work and an enormous amount of money. There is a lot of trial and error involved. It takes time but it’ll be a hugely proud day when the locomotive moves under its own steam for the first time.
No.38 was built by Hudswell Clarke in Leeds in 1949 and was delivered to the National Coal Board at Rising Sun Colliery in Wallsend. It was used to move coal from the colliery down to the Tyne.
As well as working at Rising Sun it also saw use in collieries at Backworth, Burradon, Bates and Shilbottle before being dumped unserviceable in the summer of 1972.
Restoration work finally started in 2020 and to date the locomotive is now around two thirds complete, with the main outstanding task being the repair of the boiler.
It is hoped that No.38 will steam again in around three years’ time, but this depends on funding and time, as the owners are heavily involved with the running of the Tanfield Railway and maintenance of other locomotives and rolling stock.
For more information about the Tanfield Railway go to www.tanfield-railway.co.uk
Image credit: Nexus