Items added on the 5th August 2016 Those added most recently come first

57603 Tintagel Castle stands alone at Penzance
Andrew Triggs

160803a 57603 at Penzance, following a return run from Laira (via Penzance with 5Z77 defective power car move. Copyright Andrew Triggs

Craig Munday
Goes home to Hayle

Hi Keith
Bumped into our own Roger Winnen in Hayle this evening as I visited my home town to see the Man Engine paraded in Foundry Square as part of the 10th anniversary. 150247 provided some up to date entertainment on the viaduct as the Man Engine "strutted his stuff" below. Very impressive it was too. 
43148 in the attractive Bristol livery glided over the viaduct with the flowers in bloom & a high tide, making a very colourful sight. Other trains during the evening are also featured. Such clear light - a perfect end to an August evening.
Earlier in the day 66023 departed Lostwithiel with 6G07. 
Kind regards, Craig 
Many thanks Craig- this came in a little late for yesterdays news.

A very pleasant scene at Hayle - Penpoll Terrace. 4th August 2016 Copyright Craig Munday.

Sometime later from the opposite bank. 4th August 2016 Copyright Craig Munday

Underneath the arches. A GWR 150 crosses Hayle viaduct, but hey, what's that beyond the arches? 'THE MAN ENGINE' 4th August 2016 Copyright Craig Munday.

A fine view of the 'Man Engine' against a perfect sky. 4th August 2016. The puppet, now the largest in the world is said to be as high a three double decker buses. Copyright Craig Munday

And finally the GWR liveried 150 returns across Hayle Viaduct making a fine sight in the evening light. 4th August 2016

Bull Point Query
Ross Griffiths

Hello all,
As always, thoroughly enjoying the site.

Having a peruse of the Bull Point branch page today and something caught my eye - the picture that is captioned 'A class 22 with a long freight Copyright Sid Sponheimer' struck me as unusual as there's something about the nose of the locomotive that doesn't seem quite right for a 22 - on closer inspection I think this may actual be a Class 41? Which makes the picture even more of a gem as only 5 were produced so quite a rare loco to spot!

According to Wikipedia all five Class 41's were eventually based at Laira and towards the end of their working life were largely constrained to only working West of Plymouth, which would correlate with the location in the picture.

Be interesting if we could narrow down the exact number but alas that may be a stretch too far. Can anybody help?

Hope this is of use - if in fact I'm correct!

Best regards, Ross.

Another chance for us to see this Gem from Sid Sponheimer - any error in the caption is mine - KJ.   The Bull Point branch in the foreground. Thanks for your query Ross.

A class 41 heads a lengthy freight past St Budeaux Junction. Copyright Sid Sponheimer

Bodmin Road Query
Andy Kirkham

​Good day

I wonder if you would be able to answer a question about Bodmin Road station.

In this picture taken by me:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/52554553@N06/10419625864/in/album-72157636828119615/
(and also on one picture on your own site showing the opposite end of the station) it is apparent that the nameboard has a sliding panel which presumably conceals some text intended to be visible only intermittently.

Do you have any idea what the text was? I posted the question on www.rmweb.co.uk/, but nobody knew the answer for certain. Someone suggested it might be "For Lanhydrock House"; someone else, more romantically inclined, suggested "For the Lost Land of Lyonesse".

I would be very interested to know for sure.

Best wishes  Andy Kirkham
Many thanks to Andy for his letter and suggestions - can anybody help please.  See below.

Within minutes here's a reply from Roy Hart (Rangoon) - many thanks Roy.
Dear Keith,
After the closures of the mid-sixties there was an attempt by BR to reduce the number of stops in Cornwall, in order to speed up services. One wheeze was to run Newquay services to and from Bodmin Road. This would avoid some main line trains stopping at Par. The Newquay DMU would run up to Bodmin Road (thus serving Lostwithiel as well) and terminate there. Between trains, the DMU was shunted into the up refuge (today's Bodmin and Wenford exchange siding).
The nameboard at Bodmin Road was adjusted according to whether there was a Newquay connection at that time. The mystery words are
AND NEWQUAY
Roy

Chard Junction
The runaway train
John Cornelius

Chard Junction - the runaways call for a pint! From the John Cornelius Collection of newspaper cuttings - the original picture taken by David Wheadon . Further pictures taken some time after the incident by Brian Pibworth can be seen in our section covering Chard Junction.

Reference the above a 20 ton brake van and a wagon which escaped from a shunting operation at Chard Town in 1962 and survived the runaway journey, over several miles of curving downhill track, to hit the blocks at Chard Junction Branch station at about 35 mph. The wagons demolished the blocks, careered across the road and the van embedded itself in the side of the Chard Road Tavern.  The tracks remained in the tarmac for several decades but those across the road have now gone and the pub and car park are now part of a private house.  A full account of this incident (which had no casualties apart from the wagons and pub wall) can be found on pp 82/83 "Working the Chard Branch"by Derek Phillips and R Eaton-Lacey pub Fox & Co. Yeovil. From an earlier entry by Brian Pibworth.

Exmouth Junction shed
Mike Morant

LSWR Drummond T9 'Greyhound' class 4-4-0 no. 30712 at the side of Exmouth Junction shed on 28/5/57. No. 30712 had been allocated to EJ since December 1950 and would remain there until withdrawal in November 1958.
I actually rode behind this loco on a railtour in terrible weather that took us around the LSWR route to Plymouth.
[Mike Morant collection