ASTT’s 2026 Conference, Pickering & Grosmont – 3/4 October 2026
L-R: Eelco de Bode; Xavier Jiménez; Pep Alemany; Martin Johnson; Nigel Barnes (kneeling); Chris Newman; Chris Parmenter; Andrew Hartland; William Powell; Graham Shirley (kneeling); Terry McMenamin; Jamie Keyte; Hendrik Kaptein; John Hind (kneeling); Alex Powell; Paul Middleton (kneeling); Owen Jordan; Bob Gwynne.
Absent: David Pawson, Richard Coleby and Ian Foot (who kindly took the photo).
ASTT held its 11th annual conference over the weekend of 3rd to 4th October 2026, at Pickering and Grosmont on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. This followed Paul (“Piglet”) Middleton’s talk at our 2025 conference when he described the plans to install oil-firing on Peter Best’s S160 No 2253 “Omaha” which is based on the railway. This year, Paul invited us to see the see the locomotive with its new firing system which was installed earlier in 2026.
The Saturday was spent in Pickering where we gathered in the NYMR’s training room located on Pickering station’s No 2 platform. Thus, the day was interrupted every hour or so by sounds of steam locos entering and leaving the station. After lunch. we visited the Pickering Carriage Works where we saw one of the railway’s fleet of 30-odd BR Mark 1 coaches sitting on trestles awaiting restoration of its badly corroded bodywork. To reduce maintenance costs, the NYMR is in the process of removing central doors on its Mk-1 fleet, and fitting collection tanks below their toilets to meet Network Rail’s requirements for running trains over their tracks to and from Whitby.
More impressive was the work being undertaken to restore a third-class dining car built in the late 19th century to form part of the East Coast Joint Stock. If this carriage represents 3rd Class eating accommodation, one can only wonder what level of luxury was provided to 1st Class passengers. (See photos below)
Five presentations were made during the Saturday sessions by the following speakers (links to PPT files to follow):
- Eelco de Bode – Pulverised coal as steam loco fuel 1910-1970;
- Martin Johnson – A fundamental approach to firebox heat exchange;
- Owen Jordan – The Locomotive Exhaust – an Essay in Fluid Dynamics;
- Andrew Hartland – Why Did BR Give Up On Steam? Part 5 – Multiple Units;
- Jamie Keyte and Richard Coleby – Revolution – The Boiler.
Attendees gathered at Pickering station on the Sunday morning to buy tickets for the 9:30 train to Grosmont hauled by 4079 Pendennis Castle. At Grosmont, we walked through Stephenson’s 1834 pedestrian tunnel to the NYMR’s motive power depot, where we reassembled in the railway’s newly built Mutual Improvement Classroom for Paul Middleton (NYMR’s locomotive superintendent – aka “Piglet”) to give us an introductory talk about the recently completed installation of oil-firing on Peter Best’s magnificent S160 2-8-0 No 2253 “Omaha”.
In the afternoon, Paul showed us over the locomotive and demonstrated the procedure for lighting-up the firing system from cold.
The conference effectively ended when attendees caught the 2:55 pm train back to Pickering, which was (disappointingly) hauled by a grey-liveried Class 37 diesel.
Conference Photos (Click on images to enlarge them)
