at Goonbarrow Junction
Best wishes Gareth
Many thanks to Gareth and also to Graham Mann for pictures contributed. MORE PICTURES in Features 'January to July 2016'
'ALL CHANGE' at Goonbarrow Junction Gareth Thornton Signaller at Goonbarrow Junction writes - Hi Keith, as promised a few more smudges of the Orange Army in action at Goonbarrow. Sorry about the quality but the lighting was tricky! We've had some heavy metal up here and a huge amount of manpower who really have pulled out all the stops. In less than 24hrs the up main and all its ballast has been removed. New ballast and sleepers laid and new rails fitted. The tamper should be in on Sunday and normal service will resume on Monday, train passengers being none the wiser about what a hive of activity this little place has been. Also included is a shot of our frames three newly redundant levers. Sad days indeed! Best wishes Gareth Many thanks to Gareth and also to Graham Mann for pictures contributed. MORE PICTURES in Features 'January to July 2016' More pictures in the Features section - January to June 2016
Dainton Possession Graham Mann We are most grateful to Graham Mann, Network Rail Programme manager ,for giving us the following pictures of work on site in locations impossible to us. Many thanks Graham Five of the best From Craig Munday Hi Keith, After a glorious week, the weekend isn't going to be so sunny. Here are some recent images from the Duchy. The Par harbour working ran down after daylight, which is unusual for this time of year. The sun hadn't quite reached the crossing as the train crossed. The Par harbour working is difficult to photo at any time of year. How we wish for a late afternoon trip out of the works! Other images include a super sunny shot over looking St Ives with 150102 on the branch, and the clay trains mid week are seen around the "Bermuda triangle" . Cheers for now, Craig Many thanks Craig Bulleid at Rattery Mike Morant A smashing shot of 34062 17 Squadron in action. Mike writes :- The immediately identifiable rolling stock are a Hawksworth coach leading whilst the third coach is a Collet 'special saloon' and as there are no headcode disc displayed I wondered if this is one of those Exmouth Junction route knowledge trips on the South Devon Main line which is confirmed by a viewer on the SEmG Yahoo group's mssage board who beleive that the loaction is on the westbound climb to Rattery to the east of the A385 bridge over the railway line looking back in the Totnes direction. The picture is courtesy of the Mike Morant Coll A Stoneblower at the terminus by Leslie Curnow Many Thanks Leslie Got a few minutes to spare More interesting websites to peruse. Dick Barry sends us two more excellent sites for you to peruse http://www.railwaystation.org/postersBR.html contains many interesting posters, and this one which is particularly useful as you can go into street view on the old maps and compare what it looks like now http://www.ponies.me.uk/maps/osmap.html Many thanks Dick Menadue Level Crossing Ron Westwater Remember Hornby USA Tank Andrew Jones Dear Keith, I refer to the excellent photo from Tony, of the 0-6-0 DS 234 USA at Meldon Quarry.
I am not sure how relevant this, but as a youngster, I and many of my age can remember, Meccano as a household name, as was Hornby Dublo. Both brands certainly influenced my interest in railways. Unfortunately like so many things in the 60’s, they were swept away, by so called progress and cost cutting. However it is not widely known, that Meccano continued producing in France until 1973 with the Hornby Acho range. The last locomotive released in 1969, by Hornby Acho was in fact the USA Tank loco. I have included a photo from my collection. It is much sought after by collectors. Incidently the French system designates the 060 wheel arrangement as 030 describing from one elevation, so 2-6-2 becomes 1-3-1. Best wishes Andrew Jones Many thanks Andrew 125 years ago Mike Roach Cornwall and Devon have just enjoyed a week of fine dry settled weather with some wind and lots of sunshine. It was very different 125 years ago in March 1891 when a blizzard raged across southern England and Wales relentlessly for four days. On 17 March 1891 a train struggled into Plymouth; nothing unusual in that except that it had left London 8 days earlier on the afternoon of 9 March 1891. The “Zulu” had left Paddington at 3.00pm that day and run into snowdrifts on the southern flank of Dartmoor near Brent the same evening. There it stayed until dug out by a force of 300 men. The clearance work was hampered by further snowfalls as the men worked to clear the snow. Many thanks Mike A Miscellany of trains alongside the sea shore in South Devon during early March, 2016 Weekend closure of the line from Plymouth to Exeter St David's brought in a number of engineering trains for work at Teignmouth Station. Roger Salter See more of this story on the Features Page Jan 2016 to June 2016 Four Signs at Calstock John Cornelius Last March (2015) I had trip on the Gunnislake branch and dropped off at Calstock to photograph the station and I was surprised to find four different style nameboards. Surely this must be a record for such a small station? Regards John Cornelius Many thanks for 'Halting' John. Ernesettle Narrow Gauge Roger Winnen In addition to the standard gauge loop and sidings there was a 2' 6" narrow gauge railway system serving various sheds within the depot together there were two branches, one of 700 yards to the ammunition bunkers. This line rose from near sea level to approximately an altitude of approximately 100 feet giving a ruling gradient of about 1 in 20. Its course took it from the main site out around the hill into which the bunkers were excavated. Another branch about four hundred yards long crossed the main standard gauge line by means of a bridge and dropped down to run out along a jetty. Various 4 wheeled diesel locos have served at the depot. Please click on this link for more information including Ernesettle Castle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernesettle To see this location on Google earth type in 'Royal Albert Bridge Inn' - the bunkers are about 400 yards NNW from here. Ernesettle Castle which is in the prohibited area is also seen in this view. For more pictures of Ernesettle and loop look at Devon Galleries - the southern main line. Delightful Dawlish Yesterday Ross Griffiths Ross out for a stroll in the spring sunshine picks out two of the procession. Thanks Ross Helston Railway Planning Appeal John Ball kindly forwarded this information concerning the latest appeal on the development of a station at Prospridnick. Thank you for your e-mail. You can find the documents on the Council’s website by using the original planning reference number PA15/02494. The documents can be found under the “Related Documents” tab. Please note the deadline for submission of representations on this appeal has passed but you are welcome to attend the hearing due to take place at 10:00 on 31 Mar 2016 at the Ceremony Room, Helston One Stop Shop, Isaac House, Tyacke Road, Cornwall TR13 8RR. You may also speak at the hearing at the Inspectors discretion. If you do wish to speak please notify the Inspector of your intent at the start of the hearing. We wish them well hoping they get the 'go ahead' they so richly deserve. Pantograph in Cornwall? Craig Munday Hi Keith Thank you for posting the NMT HST picture at Angarrack. If you look closely along the carriages you will see the train is fitted with a Pantograph. I wonder if this is the only train to ever visit Cornwall with one? The situation will change, of course, once the new GWR trains come on stream in a few years time. Could this train be a first? Kind regards Craig A good point Craig - glad you mentioned it. Redruth repaint Mike Roach Hi Keith, A few pictures of the Redruth Station downside building, recently repainted and looking very smart. I fancy that a slightly different shade of red has been used possibly. Regards Mike Many thanks Taking clay in the sun The Westwaters Guys, Making clay when the sun shines,with Cornwall getting the best of the High pressure weather we have stayed local, and bagged a few clay shots B rgds, Ron Thanks Ron and Jenny Thousands of Aerial views GO EXPLORE Dick Barry writes:-
You may find this web site very interesting, if you haven't seen it before. http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk Loads of old aerial pics, black and white, some go back to 1920s etc. Great ones of Plymouth, Tavistock (particularly good one of Tavistock Sth) and many other interesting places, loads of railway stuff. Regards Dick Barry Many thanks Dick - VIEWERS WILL FIND THIS EXTREMELY INTERESTING Modelling problems - St Erth Steve Martin (Auckland) Steve is making a very fine model of St Erth but is having problems - can anybody help? Since we last were in contact the footbridge is now firmly in place on the platforms and work continues to recreate the station environ as it would have been in the late fifties. I focused my attention on the stone waiting room on Platform One recently. In my research activities (including a lot of useful photos in the archives of the CRS site) I was surprised at the evolution of this humble and seemingly unaltered building. I had taken photos during my visits to St Erth in 2005 and 2007 with the intention of these being the basis of a model to be produced. However, once into the research phase I suddenly found that the building had actually been modified considerably in the last 30 - 40 years. I have attached a few photos which explain the situation. The first photo shows the former waiting room on platform 1 as it exists today. You can see how the wall at the end is nowadays constructed in dressed granite with the chimney housed within the outside walls of the building. The second and third photos are my from my 2mm scale model taken from a similar angle. One can see that I have had to model the building as it would have been in the 1950's through to some time (at a guess) in the 1980's. In this period the waiting room actually had a chimney of red brick construction on the outside of its end wall. This wall and the one at the rear were of rubble design and construction. There was also a canopy in place in the 1950's and it must have been removed sometime in the early 1970's as well. I'm unsure when the waiting room became redundant, it could be as early as when the large wooden shelter was built further along the platform adjacent to the footbridge sometime after the 1920's. This can be seen in my model shot as well. In one of the model photos a Hall locomotive can be seen drawing into the station with an up train comprising Hawksworth and Mk 1 passenger stock. For many years (I'm not sure of dates and to the best of my knowledge) it has been used as a storage room for gardening equipment etc. I'm fascinated that the railway would go to such lengths to preserve this redundant building at a time when perhaps costing cutting would have been the order of the day. I would guess that the rubble design wall was declining in condition and it's possible that the railway or a governing body determined that these had to be replaced and more importantly the building retained and preserved. I would be interested to hear from any readers who witnessed any of these modifications and could perhaps add a little more historical detail about when they occurred. Kind Regards, Steve Martin Major Works at Goonbarrow Gareth Thornton Hi Keith, Hope these shots are of interest. Currently Goonbarrow Junction is in the midst of some quite major work. The entire up side of the loop is being relaid with constant welded track on new steel sleepers and new ballast. We have some interesting plant here including the constant welding vehicle with its air conditioned cab, not to mention a mountain of ballast and stacks of sleepers placed next to the line in readiness. Will send more pics as work progresses. All the best Gareth (Signaller Goonbarrow ) Many thanks Gareth Roger Salter captures the scenes of the West Somerset Steam Gala on 11th and 12th March, 2016. 2 days were spent photographing the railway between Minehead and Blue Anchor together recording the failure of 34098 'Templecombe' running dry at Blue Anchor. See more on the Features Page January to June 2016 More about Milk Andy Richards The recent article and pictures from Brian Pibworth on the operation of the milk depot at Chard has generated much interest in the delivery of our ‘pintas’ in the old days. The question arose, ‘At Chard they had a small shunter loco to move the tankers – but what happened at our local depot – St Erth? The answer, which came from Andy Richards, is most interesting. St Erth Milk Depot Vivian and Andy Richards (Father and Son) Andy writes:- I started working at St Erth in 1981 unfortunately by then the milk trains had long gone and if I remember correctly St Ivel had started to rip the track out. I have had a chance to talk to my dad (Vivian Richards) regarding the loading of milk trains at St Erth, it was quite a busy operation in its day. My dad was employed on the milk tanker loading during the 70's. After a long conversation with him and a lot of reminiscing on his part here is a summary of the going on's at St Erth. The primary purpose of the milk tanker loading operation at St Erth was to despatch milk to the larger dairies. Typically milk would be sent to places such as Wood Lane, Vauxhall and Ilford - all in London. Occasionally St Erth would also receive surplus milk from the larger dairies for further processing. St Erth had two sidings which were connected by a head shunt (the dairy end), the head shunt was two tanker lengths and was not easily visible to the public. Both sidings had a slight downhill incline towards the St Ives branch, I'm assuming there must have been a catch point. All loading took place in the siding directly adjacent to the dairy, this siding could accommodate 13 tankers. Any tanker movements in the sidings once the mainline loco had gone would be carried out by an electric pulley system. Interestingly, the motor for the pulley system was originally steam driven. There were two loading points which were approximately three tankers lengths apart. One loading point we can clearly see in the picture with the gentleman on top of the tanker, the other one was further back towards the St Ives branch. If you look at the picture of the gentleman (Harry Worth who I had the pleasure of working with) standing next to the electric pulley motor there is a "No engine and wagons past this point board", just to the left of that board is the second loading point. All tanks were cleaned by climbing down inside of them on a rope ladder and manually scrubbing them. In later years an automated cleaning system was put in place. A typical day's operation would be:- Early in the morning a light loco would deliver empty tankers to the dairy which would have been ordered late in the afternoon the day before. The loco would split the tankers between the loading siding and the holding siding. In the loading siding there would be enough tankers to make up the 1pm departure. The tankers for loading would be pulled right back into the head shunt by the pulley system. Then two tankers would be uncoupled from the rest of the tankers and free wheeled forward. The two tankers would then be split and place under the two loading points and loaded. There were no flow meters, they used a dipstick to measure when the tank was full. Both full tankers were then sealed and then free wheeled down the loading siding as far as possible and coupled back together again. This operation was repeated until all tankers were loaded. All tankers were set in motion by putting a pinch bar under one of the wheels and pushing, the only way to stop them was with the hand brake. A rule was introduced that when a tanker was ‘free wheeling’ someone had to be adjacent to the handbrake handle (by walking beside the tanker) at all times. If orders went up prior to the 1 pm departure empty tankers would be pulled from the holding siding into the headshunt, freewheeled forward, loaded and then coupled to the rest of the train which was ready for collection. At 1 pm a loco would arrive with more empty tankers and drop them in the holding siding. The loco would then draw forward and then back onto the full tankers. Once coupled up the loco and the full tankers would draw forward, reverse back onto the empty tankers and then drop enough empty tankers into the loading siding to make up the 5 pm departure. If the train was running late quite often the empty tanker move to the loading siding would not take place. This would result in the dairy having to take two tankers at a time from the holding siding and move them to the loading siding via the head shunt using the pulley system. The whole loading process would then start again resulting in a full train of tankers ready for collection at 5pm. The light loco would arrive, couple to the full tankers and depart for the main line via the St Ives branch. Interestingly the 5pm loco would not deliver any empty tankers, the empty's would be delivered the following morning and the whole process would start again. I hope the above article explains the going on's for you at the St Erth milk loading sidings in enough detail. My dad was saying if that operation survived into todays world the health & safety people would have a field day. Especially with fully loaded tankers running around with nothing to stop them but a bloke pushing down a handbrake handle. P.S. From Andy I never really thought about how the tanks got cleaned as today in modern cleaning systems for road tankers (milk & Cream) everything is automated and a sealed system. I'm still working in dairy but dairy desserts at Evercreech (an old Unigate/St Ivel site). Many thanks Andy. A view looking down onto the facility showing the two sidings which were on a slight grade towards the connection with the main line in the distance. As mentioned in the article by Andy Richards the tanks were cleaned by a man climbing in through the narrow filler hole in the top. Picture taken by the late John Fill Copyright. Underground stores Roger Winnen Enesettle M.O.D. (Quote Wikipedia) The facility was built to allow ships to be resupplied with ammunition whilst moored in Plymouth Sound, removing the need for munitions to be handled within Devonport. If you look at the site, there is a jetty at the end nearer to the sea - this received and dispatched ammunition via a narrow-gauge railway which passed under the L&SWR line, before serving the various ammunition bunkers, and transhipment facilities with the standard-gauge sidings. (The narrow gauge railway has long been dismantled)
The West Somerset Spring Steam Gala With photographs from John Ball and John Cornelius See the features page January to June 2016 for further photographs from John Ball and John Cornelius Inverness TMD operations Paul Rundle Hi Keith, I had a couple of shifts with 37025 over the weekend, here's a few pics of the move . Firstly seen at Tavi junction light loco, then at Exeter on route to Exmouth Junction, then the following day at Goodrington. Regards Paul Many thanks Paul A Polite Notice. The West Somerset Gala has produced a whole crop of excellent pictures for which many thanks, however we cannot put them all in the news section or they will swamp out other news and information. We are putting some samples in the news section but the remainder will have come under features (Jan to June 2016) - please look there. Thank you for your timely contributions. Spring at Angarrack Jenny amongst the Daffs Ron and Jenny Westwater have been admiring the daffodils from the public road which overlooks that magnificent viaduct. Interesting Labels Julian Stephens Julian was recently looking through an old book and between the pages found several paper labels such as destinations like Buckfastleigh, Lydford and Plymouth (North Road). These images have been 'stuck' in the relevant places on this website, however four remain which deserve showing and here they are :- Many thanks Julian. Where was it & Where is it? This photograph, one of the very large Roger Winnen collection is rare in that apart from being taken on a CRS minibus tour in Devon in the Kingsbridge area he doesn't know where it is. The date is the 3rd May 1981. Ham Mill Halt was actually on the Golden Valley line between Kemble and Stroud, it opened in 1903 and closed in 1964. But where did he see this sign and where is it now? Copyright Roger Winnen The Tre Pol and Pen Railtour London Euston to Carne Point-Plymouth Friary-Meldon and Okehampton Photographs by Roger Winnen and Andrew Triggs Photographs of the West Somerset Spring Gala taken on Friday 11th March,2016 by Leslie Curnow An incident happened at Blue Anchor where 34098 Templecombe ran out of water, they had forgotten to refill it at Minehead. The passing train in the loop hauled by 44422 and 53809 hauled it back to Minehead behind its train leaving the 15.45 to Minehead stranded with no engine. 34070 was summoned to the rescue after turning from the previous train. After an hour wait at Blue Anchor the train finally departed to Bishops Lydeard arriving at 18.30 instead of 17.13 Many Thanks Leslie 160311h 92214 Stands in the background as 34053 Sir Keith Park poses as 34098 Templecombe alongside 4836 Kinlet Hall and 7828 Odney Manor with their chimneys covered. It reminded me of Long Rock depot in the 1950s and early 60s with engines being stored by the coal stack near Long Rock level crossing. Copyright Leslie Curnow. Westbury chord line services reply by Nathan Stockman Hi Keith, This is the only passenger train scheduled to use the line in question: Realtime Trains | 1C90 1706 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads Realtime Trains provides live realtime running information for the full Great British railway network using open data. View on www.realtimetrains.co.ukPreview by Yahoo Note the calling pattern in that it doesn't call Westbury. The line will remain, it is notice of removal of a passenger service over a route. So I'm sure there will still be diverts in emergencies, engineering work over the chord. (Note if you copy the above link onto your website it will only work for 7 days).... N.B. The train to use this chord was the 1C90 17.06 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads. Nathan Many thanks Nathan Par to Newquay 1968 Video from Cornish Memories David Tozer kindly sent in the link below to a feast of nostalgia. Travel along the branch to Newquay and back viewing the scene from the front of a heritage DMU - what wonderful things they were! See all the signal boxes and railway staff. Ride into platform 1 at Newquay, see the freight on the line, the class 22's. Marvelous stuff compliments to A.C. May. http://cornishmemory.com/item/MISC_260_06 14 minutes of joy. H & S on the WSR David Tozer Five from the 'Westwaters' Ron and Jenny Westwater have returned from hotter climes and bring us five colourful pictures from east Cornwall Many thanks to both of you. Statutory Notice Mike Roach Hi Keith The Department of Transport has issued a Public Notice dated today 10th March 2016 indicating that FGW has proposed to discontinue the experimental passenger service that operates on the line between Westbury East Loop Junction and Hawkeridge Junction. The service will cease to operate from 15 May 2016. Mike Thanks Mike PS I wonder how many trains use this loop at present? Can anybody from Network Rail tell us what this experimental service is please? Surely it is short sighted to remove this handy diversion route? Spring was certainly here as the Yellow Network Rail Measurement train arrived in West Cornwall Roger Winnen and Andrew Triggs Just to prove Sping is here The perfect match - Craig Munday Here's the Networkrail Measurement train dropping down past Angarrack viaduct on 11th March 2016. The County is now part of the train's GW programme so should soon be a regular sight. KJ Comment - what an incredible picture, the flowers and train colour - a perfect match - well done Craig, Copyright Craig Munday Spring is here Craig Munday March 10th was a busy day. First down to Penzance for a precaution against high seas across Mounts Bay. Once the tide abated there was time to grab a picture of the down sleepers from Mr William's daff field in Hayle. Visiting 57310 makes a fine sight heading the train away from the station stop. An added bonus was GWR liveried 57602 on the rear. (Permission given for these two shots). Then followed the bridge bash at Tregoss Moor - reported yesterday. Finally, a lovely Spring like shot of 66169 ready to depart St Blazey with the 6C53. Many thanks Craig. Mikes Maritime Collection Mike Morant If you click on Mikes website you'll find it covers not only railways but other forms of transport as well - below is an example.
Serious 'Bridge Bash' Craig Munday Craig Munday reports - then called to a bridge bash at Tregoss, (Goss Moor). A curtain sided lorry had rattled the bridge and caused serious damage. 153370 working 2N05 is seen passing over the bridge at caution whilst the Bridge Examiner carries out investigations. The other 'Western Empire' On Monday 29th February 2016 Roger Winnen presented a slide show to the Plymouth Railway Circle entitled 'Winnen's Wandering Ways'. This was a much appreciated feast of nostalgia of west country railways. Amongst the pictures shown was the one below of 'Western Empire' parked outside Plymouth station, this raised great interest amongst all and in particular of the gentleman concerned who was present. The 'Western Empire' was the well known chariot of Bernard Mills a devoted fan of the Westerns. - and here is 'Western Empire; parked outside Plymouth station, no doubt Bernard was on duty at the ticket office at the time. It is rumoured that in the office Bernard counted his 'pound notes' in packs of 52 symbolic of the class number of the Westerns!! This picture 30th August 1976 N.B The Westerns had about six months to go! Copyright Roger Winnen. Upwey and Broadwey Mike Roach Mike brings us two fascinating views of the station at Upwey and Broadwey which was the junction for the Abbotsbury Branch. The Abbotsbury branch which opened in 1885. Although great hopes of mineral traffic drove the original construction of the line, these failed to materialise and after a quiet existence carrying local passengers and agricultural produce, the line closed in 1952. Many thanks Mike Pinkson Creek 2 - Cornish Cream 4 Mike Morant The above sounds more like football score doesn't it? However it brings us to the end of Mikes current Bodmin - Padstow collection. Tomorrow a nautical item. Maunsell'N' class mogul No. 31853 on freight duty is about to cross the little bridge spanning the entry to Pinkson Creek between Wadebridge and Padstow. 31853 was an Exmouth Junction engine form March 1959 until withdrawal in September 1964. Caption and photograph courtesy of the Mike Morant Collection |
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