The English Riviera Express
Woking to Kingswear
Roger Salter
Woking to Kingswear
Roger Salter
1Z74 the 0556 Woking - Kingswear, 46100 Royal Scot with D1924 Crewe Diesel depot at Cockwood this morning.
Copyright Roger Salter
Copyright Roger Salter
Copyright Roger Salter
The returning English Riviera Express at Eastdon tonight. Copyright Roger Salter
The 6C53 15.11 St.Blazey - EXETER Exeter Riverside Clay working. Copyright Roger Salter.
Many Thanks Roger
High Seas at Dawlish today
Roger Salter
Roger Salter
HIGH SEAS AS HIGH TIDE HAS PAST AT DAWLISH TODAY
THE STATION INCLUDING THE NEWLY OPENED FOT/LIFT BRIDGE COMPLETELY COVERED BY SEA WATER .
HST CASTLES STILL MANAGE TO PROCEED WHILST THE EXMOUTH-PAIGNTON SERVICE TRAVEL WRONG LINE BECAUSE OF THE SEAS
THE STATION INCLUDING THE NEWLY OPENED FOT/LIFT BRIDGE COMPLETELY COVERED BY SEA WATER .
HST CASTLES STILL MANAGE TO PROCEED WHILST THE EXMOUTH-PAIGNTON SERVICE TRAVEL WRONG LINE BECAUSE OF THE SEAS
A Castle Class HST Departs Dawlish for Exeter etc. Copyright Roger Salter
A Class 150 on wrong line working to Newton Abbot no doubt using the crossover at Teignmouth to regain the down line. Copyright Roger Salter
Class 150 heading West. Roger" Did you have your morning swin this morning in the surf" at Dawlish. Copyright Roger Salter
Many Thanks for your efforts today Roger
NINTEEN SIXTY TWO
PART 47
Michael L. Roach
PART 47
Michael L. Roach
More Photos at Newport Station
Attached are some more photographs of trains at Newport Station on the South Wales main line taken around teatime on Thursday 6 September 1962 during which I was lucky enough to catch two of the huge 7200-class 2-8-2 tanks pass through the station on freight trains; plus a picture taken three years later of Modified Hall 7914 which we also saw earlier in the series at Laira Shed in Part 10. There were very few steam workings left in South Wales in Summer 1965 as the remaining steam sheds were closing almost weekly or becoming completely dieselised. I nearly missed 7914 as it passed through Newport on an empty stock train.
The facade of the large building in the second image was seen in the last part of this series. The building was constructed by the GWR in the 1920s soon after the grouping to house the staff of the Newport Division. The tentacles of the division spread up several of the South Wales Valleys; eastwards to Chepstow and Monmouth; and northwards to Hereford and then westwards to Brecon. In the 1920s the GWR was a very large organisation employing around 125,000 staff which is around half the number of people presently employed in the UK rail industry. It is instructive to realise that the GWR employed that huge number of people; bought or constructed and maintained large numbers of engines, coaches, wagons, motor vehicles, ships, buses, horses and even aeroplanes; track, buildings, utility services etc and was profitable most years throughout the 1920s and 1930s.
7200 – Class
The 4200-class 2-8-0 tanks were introduced in 1910 and were basically a tank version of the 2800-class 2-8-0 tender engines intoduced in 1903; at least that is what I thought until I started looking in detail and finding some differences. The 4200s boiler pressure was lower resulting in 11 percent less tractive effort. The class were built to haul coal trains from the valleys of South Wales to the ports along the Bristol Channel from Llanelly to Newport. When the numbering reached 4299 it resumed at 5200 to 5204. From 5205 onwards the cylinder diameter was increased by half an inch (12.7mm) giving a higher tractive effort midway between the 2800s and the 4200s tractive effort. Coal exports from South Wales peaked in 1913 and then commenced a long decline. The stock market crash of 1929 and the depression that followed meant that a batch of 20 of the 5205 class built in 1930 were not really needed for their intended purpose. By this time Churchward had retired and the CME was C.B.Collet and he decided to rebuild that batch of 2-8-0 tanks for a different purpose. The rear end was totally altered by extending the frames by four feet (1.22 metres); adding a radial truck; and extending the coal bunker substantially to hold 6 tons of coal. The purpose of this quite major rebuild was to allow the engines to haul long-distance main line freight trains rather than short-distance mineral trains. One of the places the engines worked to was Salisbury with heavy coal trains for the Southern Railway and later the Southern Region. The distance from the Rhondda to Salisbury is about 110 miles and the trip would have taken many hours because the average distance covered by a freight train in the 1930s was less than 10 miles in each working hour. The GWR quoted the following figures for 1929: 8.64 train miles per train hour for freight; and an average of 103.90 engine miles per day per engine in use. In the last image is a table from 1931 showing the average miles travelled per hour by freight trains in each Division of the GWR. It will be noted that the figures for the Newport, Cardiff and Swansea Divisions are only half that of the best Division, Chester. The possible reasons for this disparity are the sheer number of coal trains making their way down the Valleys; hopping from loop to loop to allow passenger trains to pass; and congestion and delays as the trains approached the docks.
The first of the new class appeared in August 1934 and by the end of that year all 20 had been rebuilt. The first of the class was numbered 7200 and went to Llanelly Shed where it would end its days at the same shed 29 years later in July 1963; but at the time of Nationalisation 7200 was based at Newton Abbot – 7220 was there as well. The class eventually numbered 54 examples and all were withdrawn between 1962 and 1965. British Railways rated the locos 8F and they must have been very useful during World War 2 when so many freight trains were heading for the ports along the south coast. The 7200s were big beasts weighing in at 92 tons and were unique as they were the only standard gauge 2-8-2 tanks ever built in Britain. Three examples of the class have been saved for preservation including 7200 itself. The 7200s were not the best looking of Great Western steam engines because the extended bunker gave them an ungainly appearance. On 6 September 1962 I was lucky enough to see two examples of the class pass through Newport Station in less than twenty minutes. At that time the whole class was intact but the first of the class was withdrawn two months later. As an aside the 2800-class 2-8-0 were capable of taking a mineral train of 100 loaded 4-wheel wagons from South Wales to London but whether the 7200s made the same journey is unknown.
MLR / 7 October 2023
Attached are some more photographs of trains at Newport Station on the South Wales main line taken around teatime on Thursday 6 September 1962 during which I was lucky enough to catch two of the huge 7200-class 2-8-2 tanks pass through the station on freight trains; plus a picture taken three years later of Modified Hall 7914 which we also saw earlier in the series at Laira Shed in Part 10. There were very few steam workings left in South Wales in Summer 1965 as the remaining steam sheds were closing almost weekly or becoming completely dieselised. I nearly missed 7914 as it passed through Newport on an empty stock train.
The facade of the large building in the second image was seen in the last part of this series. The building was constructed by the GWR in the 1920s soon after the grouping to house the staff of the Newport Division. The tentacles of the division spread up several of the South Wales Valleys; eastwards to Chepstow and Monmouth; and northwards to Hereford and then westwards to Brecon. In the 1920s the GWR was a very large organisation employing around 125,000 staff which is around half the number of people presently employed in the UK rail industry. It is instructive to realise that the GWR employed that huge number of people; bought or constructed and maintained large numbers of engines, coaches, wagons, motor vehicles, ships, buses, horses and even aeroplanes; track, buildings, utility services etc and was profitable most years throughout the 1920s and 1930s.
7200 – Class
The 4200-class 2-8-0 tanks were introduced in 1910 and were basically a tank version of the 2800-class 2-8-0 tender engines intoduced in 1903; at least that is what I thought until I started looking in detail and finding some differences. The 4200s boiler pressure was lower resulting in 11 percent less tractive effort. The class were built to haul coal trains from the valleys of South Wales to the ports along the Bristol Channel from Llanelly to Newport. When the numbering reached 4299 it resumed at 5200 to 5204. From 5205 onwards the cylinder diameter was increased by half an inch (12.7mm) giving a higher tractive effort midway between the 2800s and the 4200s tractive effort. Coal exports from South Wales peaked in 1913 and then commenced a long decline. The stock market crash of 1929 and the depression that followed meant that a batch of 20 of the 5205 class built in 1930 were not really needed for their intended purpose. By this time Churchward had retired and the CME was C.B.Collet and he decided to rebuild that batch of 2-8-0 tanks for a different purpose. The rear end was totally altered by extending the frames by four feet (1.22 metres); adding a radial truck; and extending the coal bunker substantially to hold 6 tons of coal. The purpose of this quite major rebuild was to allow the engines to haul long-distance main line freight trains rather than short-distance mineral trains. One of the places the engines worked to was Salisbury with heavy coal trains for the Southern Railway and later the Southern Region. The distance from the Rhondda to Salisbury is about 110 miles and the trip would have taken many hours because the average distance covered by a freight train in the 1930s was less than 10 miles in each working hour. The GWR quoted the following figures for 1929: 8.64 train miles per train hour for freight; and an average of 103.90 engine miles per day per engine in use. In the last image is a table from 1931 showing the average miles travelled per hour by freight trains in each Division of the GWR. It will be noted that the figures for the Newport, Cardiff and Swansea Divisions are only half that of the best Division, Chester. The possible reasons for this disparity are the sheer number of coal trains making their way down the Valleys; hopping from loop to loop to allow passenger trains to pass; and congestion and delays as the trains approached the docks.
The first of the new class appeared in August 1934 and by the end of that year all 20 had been rebuilt. The first of the class was numbered 7200 and went to Llanelly Shed where it would end its days at the same shed 29 years later in July 1963; but at the time of Nationalisation 7200 was based at Newton Abbot – 7220 was there as well. The class eventually numbered 54 examples and all were withdrawn between 1962 and 1965. British Railways rated the locos 8F and they must have been very useful during World War 2 when so many freight trains were heading for the ports along the south coast. The 7200s were big beasts weighing in at 92 tons and were unique as they were the only standard gauge 2-8-2 tanks ever built in Britain. Three examples of the class have been saved for preservation including 7200 itself. The 7200s were not the best looking of Great Western steam engines because the extended bunker gave them an ungainly appearance. On 6 September 1962 I was lucky enough to see two examples of the class pass through Newport Station in less than twenty minutes. At that time the whole class was intact but the first of the class was withdrawn two months later. As an aside the 2800-class 2-8-0 were capable of taking a mineral train of 100 loaded 4-wheel wagons from South Wales to London but whether the 7200s made the same journey is unknown.
MLR / 7 October 2023
1315 7232 passes through Newport with an iron ore train from Newport Docks to Llanwern Steelworks banked by 5250. Copyright Michael L. Roach.
1316 7211 heads through Newport with a lengthy general freight train. Copyright Michael L. Roach.
7475 The GWR's official photograph of the first of the 7200 class taken at Swindon on 27 July 1934. Copyright Michael L. Roach.
7503 7914 Lleweni Hall of Bristol Barrow Road Shed passes through Newport Station just after 5.35pm with an ECS train on 31 July 1965. The passengers could be waiting to catch the 16,20 Swansea High Street to Paddington (due 20.15) Copyright Michael L. Roach.
Many thanks Michael for Part 47, meticulously prepared, as usual not a detail missed. We look forward to Part 48.
A Last Photo of the First CDA Wagon (Part 2!)
Neil Phillips
Neil Phillips
Hello Keith,
Yes, I’m glad I came along on Saturday, well worth the effort! And good to chat (briefly!) too. Oh, while I think of it, when you next see Christine would you please let her know that the ‘welcome pack’ arrived this morning (Tuesday) and message re subscription read and understood. Many thanks!
Regarding the images, gosh, strange how one can make one mistake then things go from bad to worse! Heaven knows what the problem was, I’ve had a new phone since late July and I’m sure I’ve sent you images directly from it between then and now without issues.
Anyway, let’s have another go, via the laptop this time - fingers crossed then but they look OK at this end……..
Images attached:
First-built CDA 375000 in St Blazey yard on 4th October 2023, its last day in one piece.....
Second-built CDA 375001 awaiting its turn. 4th October 2023
CDA wagon bodies on the left with their severed chassis on the right. 16th October 2023
A clearer view of the severed CDA chassis. 16th October 2023
A view of the scrapping area from St Blazey Road. 16th October 2023
Best regards,
Neil
Yes, I’m glad I came along on Saturday, well worth the effort! And good to chat (briefly!) too. Oh, while I think of it, when you next see Christine would you please let her know that the ‘welcome pack’ arrived this morning (Tuesday) and message re subscription read and understood. Many thanks!
Regarding the images, gosh, strange how one can make one mistake then things go from bad to worse! Heaven knows what the problem was, I’ve had a new phone since late July and I’m sure I’ve sent you images directly from it between then and now without issues.
Anyway, let’s have another go, via the laptop this time - fingers crossed then but they look OK at this end……..
Images attached:
First-built CDA 375000 in St Blazey yard on 4th October 2023, its last day in one piece.....
Second-built CDA 375001 awaiting its turn. 4th October 2023
CDA wagon bodies on the left with their severed chassis on the right. 16th October 2023
A clearer view of the severed CDA chassis. 16th October 2023
A view of the scrapping area from St Blazey Road. 16th October 2023
Best regards,
Neil
1 - First-built CDA 375000 St Blazey Yard 4th October 2023. Copyright Neil Phillips.
2 - Second-built CDA 375001 St Blazey Yard 4th October 2023. Copyright Neil Phillips.
3 - CDA scrapping at St Blazey 16th October 2023. Copyright Neil Phillips.
4 - CDA scrapping at St Blazey 16th October 2023. Copyright Neil Phillips.
5 - CDA scrapping at St Blazey 16th October 2023 Copyright Neil Phillips.
Thanks very much indeed Neil.
Howard Sprenger
takes a look around
Padstow 1972/9
takes a look around
Padstow 1972/9
Padstow 1972 Copyright Howard Sprenger.
Padstow 20th August 1976 Copyright Howard Sprenger.
Padstow 20th August 1976 (1) Copyright Howard Sprenger.
Padstow 31st July 1979 including Western National 377 (CVF 842) Copyright Howard Sprenger
Padstow 31st July 1979 WN 377 (CVF 842) (2) Copyright Howard Sprenger.
Many thanks Howard - these views will rouse memories of those in the area on those dates - any idea of the fate the bus?