Items added on 9th February 2017 Those added most recently come first

​*   Don't forget this coming Saturday   *
    Our speaker for this month - we welcome.
         John Saville
                        Fleet Manager West for GWR
      Maintaining the Great Western fleet​
The speakers are John Saville, Fleet Manager West, Great Western Railway and his colleague Jim Humphries. They will provide a detailed look at how the GWR fleet of trains, especially the "West" units that provide our local services in the south west, are maintained and prepared for service at the two main depots for these trains, Exeter and St Phillip's Marsh, Bristol. These trains are quite elderly and very intensively worked covering both long distance routes such as Cardiff to Brighton and local services on branches in Devon and Cornwall. Keeping them in good condition and ensuring that they are ready for service every day, with often only limited time overnight to carry out necessary maintenance, is a significant challenge. Our speakers will tell us how it's done.
​Saturday 11th February 2017 at 18.30 in the Wesley Memorial Hall Redruth   For further details click here

Oil lights
Bodmin Road
Andrew Jones

Many thanks to Andrew Jones for this nostalgic picture at Bodmn Road taken in 1968. Seems a very different age now doesn't it? The pointwork and the buildings have gone. Copyright.

An hour at Whiteball Summit 
8th February 2017
Andrew Triggs

170208a XC Voyager emerging from the tunnel working the 1S43 Penzance to Glasgow. Copyright Andrew Triggs

170208b 45163 Visit Plymouth leading the 1C04 Paddington to Paignton. Copyright Andrew Triggs

170208c Class 1501 working 2U12 Penzance to Cardiff. Copyright Andrew Triggs

170208d GWR HST working 1A78 Penzance to Paddington. Copyright Andrew Triggs

Langstone Rock
John Cornelius

A powerful shot, many thanks to John Cornelius. Copyright.

Westbury Freight
David Andrews

​Good morning all,
During 2011, and 2012 I was a Depot Operations Manager for Network Rail.
My duties included checking Weekend Engineering Trains were all formed up correctly.....a hard life but someone had to do it!
My Cornwall connection - Great, Great, Great uncles were born in Antony when the Railways were being built. We 3 brothers moved up to London and worked on the PWay and Signalling, the other brother went over the Tamar and joined the Navy.
I had 36 years in British Rail, Railtrack, Network Rail and Balfour Beatty. and I still undertake some passenger counting surveys.
​I have a passion for Railway photography and I loved the Westerns.
                   Many thanks or your story and pictures.

59206 in Westbury yard taken at 1500 on the 27th July 2011 Copyright David Andrews

59202 and 66109 in Westbury yard at 1005hrs on the 14th October 2011 Copyright David Andrews The distinctive outlines of Westbury station buildings fix the location.

 A different kind of tank!
Nigel Tregoning

Looking at the website recently, I noticed something interesting in the colour picture of Cashmores yard on the St Ives page.  If you look closely at the bottom of the picture, you can see at least two (possibly four) Churchill tanks, which would have dated from around 1941-1945, being in service up to 1952.  So that means they would have been there for some years. ​  

4570, 4567, 6320. are seen in the distance Cashmores in August 1964 Copyright Sid Sponheimer

​It is possible they are some other type of tank, but this is my best guess.  The number of wheels is correct, the tool boxes on the side are in the same place and the turret shape is very close.  I guess these may have changed slightly with each variant.  So what does this little snippet tell us?  Nothing life changing, but it does illustrate how the world of business has changed.  Preservation was not big on the agenda in 1964, so was this a visionary who was hoping to sell them on as museum pieces?  Or maybe the need to turn a quick buck on his investment was not an issue, where as today he'd buy it one week and sell the scrap metal to a recycling plant the next.  In other words, tanks today, fridge freezers tomorrow!  
        Many thanks Nigel for your interest, research and comment.

Further feedback on Cashmore Tanks
John Root

​Hi Keith At least 6 Churchill tanks of various types in that picture and maybe 7? The rear of another off to the left. These are actually a mix of the tank version with a 6 Pdr gun and what look like the AVRE, armoured engineer, assault gun – recovery vehicle. All the weapons of course have either been removed or the gun barrel cut off. This line up in 1964 would make sense as the tank went out of service in the 50’s after being replaced by the Centurion tank. Specialist vehicles would have stayed in service longer and gradually be replaced as they wore out and as spares ran out. One of them in the foreground looks complete, even with the pioneer tools of spades, shovels crowbars etc still strapped to the hull...The Churchill had a bewildering variety of marks and upgrades which are completely beyond the scope of a railway page! John Root
                     Many thanks for your observations John.  I think with that we'll have to leave the subject, after all, we're really about railway 'tanks' as opposed to military tanks.

More on the military tanks.
David Critchlow

Hi Keith
 They are Churchills (on enlargement possibly 6 with the nearer 2 having the turret removed).  The shape of the turret indicates they are probably MkVII (the MkVIICS had a similar turret but few were made).  They may have been hauled off one of the Cornwall/Devon military training areas (after use as targets) though their condition would indicate dry firing (blank ammo) targets
Carry on the good work, everybody
 Regards Dave Critchlow  (Scottish Borders)
                                Many thanks David - well spotted.