Bert Hitchen
Albert Reginald Hitchen was an English Pioneer, notable for his work in the preservation of steam locomotives.
Early years
Raised in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, Hitchen worked on steam locomotives at his home shed for 18 months before a further 12 months at Wakefield's shed and then six months at Bradford Hammerton Street. He finished his service with British Railways (BR) in 1952 as a fitter at Mirfield where he worked for 36 months. After leaving BR, Hitchen spent three years looking after Barclay tanks and fireless locomotives at ICI's Dalton works in Huddersfield.
Cyclist
A keen cyclist from his boyhood, Bert won the Yorkshire Junior Championship aged 16. He then toured East Germany the following year sponsored by Corona. First racing as a semi professional he turned pro in 1967, he also took part 3 times in the Tour de France finishing once. Bert also became a professional champion of Britain on three occasions, during this period he was appointed the racing team manager of the Falcon Sales Team.
Railway preservation
After the ending of steam in 1968, steam locomotives were been rescued from Barry Scrapyard for preservation as steam was becoming a big attraction, and, as a result, in 1980 Bert rescued Bullied West Country Pacific No 34027 Taw Valley for preservation from Dai Woodham's Barry Scrapyard. On being rescued, she was moved to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway for restoration to running condition. She was later moved to the East Lancashire Railway in 1982 before finally moving to the Severn Valley Railway in 1985. No 34027 was to later make a number of appearances on the mainline working charter trains from London, including the ever-popular VSOE British Pullman trains. After the engine was sold in 2001 to Phil Swallow, he became part owner of BR Standard 4 4-6-0 no 75014. Based at Grosmont, the 4-6-0 became a regular on charter train duties, with her finest hour being in 1995, when she worked the first season of Jacobite trains along the West Highland Line from Fort William to Mallaig. No 75014 was eventually sold to what is now The Dartmouth Steam Railway.
LMS 'Black Five' 4-6-0 no 45231 The Sherwood Forester was the final locomotive to be owned by Bert which after completion of an overhaul at Loughborough on the Great Central Railway she was moved by road to the Mid Hants Railway in 2005. The 4-6-0 then made a proving run from Alton to Fratton (Portsmouth) entering mainline service later in the year. The engine has also been used on 2 occasions to work the 40th & 45th anniversary trains of 1T57, Fifteen Guinea Special which she worked in double headed formation with sister engines 45407 & 44932.
45231 is currently based at Carnforth alongside a number of other mainline certified LMS engines, she was until November 2015 owned by the Hitchen family when Jeremy Hosking purchased the locomotive from them. The current plan is for her to remain at Carnforth for the rest of 2015 but plans for 2016 haven't yet been finalised on where she will be moving to. Her current mainline certificate expires in 2020 with her boiler certificate running out in 2023.
Personal life
In 2015 Bert was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and died at home in Mirfield on 13 May that year, aged 76.[1]