Early Temple Meads
Mike Morant
Mike Morant
Many thanks to Mike Morant for this very early view of Bristol Temple Meads from a post card.
Picture postcard from the Mike Morant Collection.
St Erth Station mostly in the late 1950s and 60s Photographs by Peter Radford
600101f 4560 and 4564 in the St Ives bay platform at St Erth having just arrived with a service from St Ives. Jack Gill is the driver looking out of the cab. Copyright Peter Radford
600101d 4566 Awaits to join its train at St Erth. 4567 is seen arriving with a train from St Ives. Copyright Peter Radford collection.
600101b D6311 and D6308 are seen working as a pair at St Erth, from the photograph it would suggest that the corridor connection between the two engines is in use. Copyright Peter Radford collection.
780801a This photograph taken in the mid 1970s shows the last member of the class Built as D1111 and renumbered 47528 in February 1974, pulls away from the down refuge sidings at St Erth with a train for Penzance conveying a light load of four minis! 30 mins later the engine returned to St Erth for shunting duties. Copyright Peter Radford collection.
Wivelscombe Latest Info
Neil Phillips
Neil Phillips
The very recent publication of a BR Leaflet dated 30th January 1961 concerning a derailment at Wivelscombe tunnel has resulted in further information to which we are indebted to Neil Phillips, many thanks Neil.
The derailed train at the east end of Wivelscombe tunnel.
Neil writes :- Hi Keith,
I read the 1961 ‘Earth Slip Near St Germans’ report with interest, because the location and date rang a bell. The train in trouble was the 2C74 05.10 St Austell – Plymouth local hauled by NBL Type 2s D6302 and D6324 working in tandem (not in multiple due to different control systems between Pilot Scheme and Production locos). Both locos were damaged badly enough to require returning to NBL in Glasgow for repair. They came back later that year – D6324 in October and D6302 in December – sporting those rather ugly Mark I headcode boxes in lieu of discs, the first WR hydraulics to be so converted, but still devoid of yellow warning panels since these only started appearing from January 1962 (ignoring D845’s experiment). D6302 gained the yellow panels during a visit to Swindon Works the following August but it’s not clear how long D6324 ran without them. Both locos received oversized yellow areas compared to the rest. Interestingly they remained the only converted members of the class for around 3 years, rebuilding of the other disc-fitted Type 2s commencing from late 1964. This makes it possible to identify the loco approaching Shepherds station in John Thorn’s photo dated September 1962 (posted last year to the Chacewater – Newquay branch image collection) as D6324.
To illustrate how far ahead these two rebuilds were, the 13 D8xx Warships were converted between 9/63 and 9/65, and the D6xx Warships between 12/64 and 5/67 (2 ½ years to do 5 locos.….these Far West exiles were clearly not a priority!)
Best regards,
Neil Phillips
I read the 1961 ‘Earth Slip Near St Germans’ report with interest, because the location and date rang a bell. The train in trouble was the 2C74 05.10 St Austell – Plymouth local hauled by NBL Type 2s D6302 and D6324 working in tandem (not in multiple due to different control systems between Pilot Scheme and Production locos). Both locos were damaged badly enough to require returning to NBL in Glasgow for repair. They came back later that year – D6324 in October and D6302 in December – sporting those rather ugly Mark I headcode boxes in lieu of discs, the first WR hydraulics to be so converted, but still devoid of yellow warning panels since these only started appearing from January 1962 (ignoring D845’s experiment). D6302 gained the yellow panels during a visit to Swindon Works the following August but it’s not clear how long D6324 ran without them. Both locos received oversized yellow areas compared to the rest. Interestingly they remained the only converted members of the class for around 3 years, rebuilding of the other disc-fitted Type 2s commencing from late 1964. This makes it possible to identify the loco approaching Shepherds station in John Thorn’s photo dated September 1962 (posted last year to the Chacewater – Newquay branch image collection) as D6324.
To illustrate how far ahead these two rebuilds were, the 13 D8xx Warships were converted between 9/63 and 9/65, and the D6xx Warships between 12/64 and 5/67 (2 ½ years to do 5 locos.….these Far West exiles were clearly not a priority!)
Best regards,
Neil Phillips