Items added on the 28th October 2016 Those added most recently come first

Carn Brea Query
​John Root

Hi Keith
I was playing with the picture you have of the quarry and the strange trail of smoke.
 Looking at it hard through a very big enlargement you can see:
a)  The steam plume is flattened as the equipment is moving, ie a long flat plume dispersing in the wind as seen in many classic steam loco photographs.
b) The photo shows the very top of a chimney and the base of a loco (I think) with a cloud of dust or smoke obscuring most of it.
I thought the plume was too high for a loco on the track until I saw this photo of an SDR loco and saw how high the body an chimney were, at least twice the height of the guy leaning against the frames.
If you do a crude scaling then the height of the plume works for the top of one of the very tall old locos.
 Perhaps maybe? John Root

In the foreground can be seen the tower of St Euny Church. the lane in the foreground is Church Lane which was at this time separated from Trevingey Road which ran alongside by a Cornish hedge. In the distance we see Carn Brea complete with the castle and monument. To the left of the Church tower can be seen the plume of smoke or steam.

An enlargement of the picture above reveals wagons standing in from the the quarry. The source of the steam or smoke seems to be well up above the wagons.

Finally tweaking as much as is possible I really don't think that is from a loco chimney. The area beneath the 'emission' looks too much like the rest of the landscape in the area. There is also a dark shape which vaguely resembles a human form, but it is too big when compared to the wagon on which IT is standing. I think maybe it is a film fault or a dark shape on the ground behind?

This is a picture of the loco of the type which John suggests - you can see that copies of the man on the ground have been pasted in to give a scale to the chimney.

I'm afraid that I'll have to leave this one up to our viewers.  The smoke or steam could have come from some form of quarry machinery or even from the burning off of bracken or gorse. There is frequently a westerly wind around that corner of the Carn which would take the smoke away as shown.  The end of the line is to the left within yards of the left of the wagons - the loco certainly couldn't have worked up any speed. N.B. I understand that some of these SDR locos were re-gauged to standard gauge which would have meant that operation of this type might have been possible as it is thought the branch was standard gauge.

Taunton
​John Cornelius

She was rescued by the Dumbleton Hall Preservation Society in 1974 and restored at Buckfastleigh. Having worked on a number of lines, she is now awaiting overhaul. Previously too heavy to work on the South Devon Railway, 4920 will be able to work on the line in future as the SDR has recently been upgraded for use by heavier locomotives.

Merehead
Mike Morant

On the 27th June 1998 Foster Yoeman celebrated its 75th Anniversary with an open day at the quarry.
A rail shuttle service to Cranmore was provided from Westbury via Witham. From Cranmore a fleet of vintage buses provided a service to the quarry.  A number of steam and diesel locomotives were on display and in action.
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Here we see D821 Greyhound at Merehead 28th June 1998 Courtesy Mike Morant Collection