9th February 2021

Welcome back to Roger who returned home yesterday and also to the return of the St Ives branch to service.

Past memories of walking the
St Ives Branch
Laurence Hansford

Anyway, before interest in the goings-on along the St Ives Branch wanes, I have been digging out a selection of photos taken between St Ives and Carbis Bay back in the days when we/I had no compunction to walk along the line and use it as a short-cut, as required. To do it safely (or what we deemed to be safely) required a good knowledge of the timetable, whether there was an engine "lurking" in St Ives, which direction the last train had been going and, above all sharp ears and eyes. In reality, back in the days of steam you always got plenty of warning out on the cliffs. Of course the train crews knew what we were up to but we were always careful to have scrambled either to the bottom of the embankment or the top of the cutting by the time the train went past. Depending upon who was on the footplate you would either get a cheery wave or a scowl. The one place we avoided was the deep cutting at Carrack Gladden. Being on a continuous fairly sharp curve would have given very little warning and even we thought it was potentially dangerous! We walked along the top instead!

We start with a view from Draycott Terrace, but with one taken from the top floor of my parent’s house on the 26th April 1963. It shows the Branch shuttle , consisting of a Bubble Car and Driver Trailer just leaving for St Erth. Waiting to go is the daily (afternoon) goods, headed by a D63XX diesel, having done its shunting. On the end of the platform can be see the Signalman walking back to his box after handing the token to the Driver and you can just make out the roofs of the pair of Camping Coaches parked in the siding to the Goods Shed. I guess you might be wondering what was in all those covered trucks. Well, the answer is quite surprising: one of the very few manufactured items ever mass produced in St Ives – cardboard boxes full of Rodark motorcycle panniers! These were made by an engineering firm (if my memory is correct, called J & J Couch) with a factory at the top of Fish Street in Downalong and were in high demand when most young men’s ambition was to own a motorbike. Copyright Laurence Hansford.

SC100 Almost all the following photos were taken during August 1964, after the signalling system had been removed and this one shows a late afternoon 6 car DMU arriving to take the day-trippers back home. Porthminster Beach is now nearly empty but notice all the holes left behind. Copyright Laurence Hansford,

This shot taken from the Malakoff shows the same train arriving in the station with the waiting throng. It is possible to make out that the train is composed of two 3-car sets, the nearer one being a Swindon Cross Country set. Copyright Laurence Hansford.

The train has come to a standstill and a ticket-collector is now waiting beside the gate to do his job. The little white blob in the bottom left corner against the wall is actually Milepost 325¼. The Station was already being used as a car park!. Copyright Laurence Hansford

Again a 6-car train with Class 116 Driver Motor Car 50887 at the head. This might be the same train but I can tell from the shadows that this is an early morning shot. The Driver, a St Ives man, is about to get in his cab and the Signalman, also a St Ives man, who has been having a chat with the Guard, is just behind him with the Token in his Left Hand. In the foreground are the Camping Coaches, more or less where the end of the line is now. Copyright Laurence Hansford.

SC135 The same 6-car DMU in charge of 50887 just starting to cross the viaduct which was just 10 years old and still looked quite new. The cars are parked in the Car Park belonging to Trevessa Hotel. Copyright Laurence Hansford.

Here is a view of the Engine Shed area, (taken not long after the Signalling was removed, which happened immediately after the end of the 1963 Summer Timetable) which shows the full extent of the head-shunt, which I think was 80 ft long. It was certainly long enough for a pair of 45XXs coupled together, which I did see occasionally in the 1950s. Usually there was a coal truck (sometimes two) parked up against the buffer-stop and which would be drawn back into the shed at the end of the day to make coaling-up easier. Milepost 325- is beside the Signal Post on the sea side. Copyright Laurence Hansford.

Virtually the same view taken about a year later, by which time the lines to the shed had been lifted. Most of the rest of the infrastructure was still evident, except for the water tank, which had presumably been taken for scrap. I am sure that today one of the enthusiasts’ lines would have been pleased to get their hands on it! Copyright Laurence Hansford.

This is a head-on view of the Engine Shed (built to very commodious Broad Gauge proportions) which I took to show the masonry of the front wall but have deliberately brightened-up so that we can see inside. Note the door at the back leading to the little office which was a stone-built structure with its own slate pitched roof. Note also how the lines and the pit are offset, showing how at the gauge conversion they just moved the Right Hand rail inwards. I remember you could actually see where the original rail had been. Another thing to note are the two large blocks of stone (one partially hidden by ivy) either side of the portal and roughly level with the top of the arch which held the top hinge-pins for a monumental pair of timber doors which for most of the 1950 continued to be closed once the engine had been put to bed. This I found most frustrating as it meant that I could never get at the engine on a Sunday during the winter when there was nobody about. However, without repairs, the doors were getting progressively decrepit and eventually around 1958 they gave up and could no longer be closed, after which they didn’t bother. This was great as it meant that we could climb all over the engine as well as underneath and I am now prepared to admit that I have been through the pit from one end to the other with a torch, on a number of occasions! I must add, though, that we were always very careful to make sure we never did any damage. Copyright Laurence Hansford.

Many thanks to Laurence - if only one could do as you did nowadays. 
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Do not trespass on the railways.

Spring in the air
Craig Munday

I hope you and the rest of the CRS followers are well. This truly has been the most few months many will remember. I count myself fortunate that I get out and about with work. The railways are ticking along, with very little variety to report. The clay traffic is running - with some lulls in deliveries to Carne Point, and the Stoke clay is running Wednesdays and Thursdays regularly. There is some interest coming up with two bridge replacements in the coming months. The road bridge at Trewoon near Burngullow is up for renewal, as is the upside river bridge at Lostwithiel. The first requiring a possession blocking both lines whilst the latter will see trains running single line (SLW) between Par & Lostwithiel using the Down main. The downside yard at Lostwithiel is being transformed ready for a massive crane to lift out the structure. The St Austell blockade sees up to 10 engineers trains visiting the area. 

Some limited brightness this last week saw some opportunites to grab a picture or two. The vegetation clearance around Coombe village revealing some views not seen for many a decade. 

Lantyan on the Fowey branch 6G09 66018 5th February 2021 Copyright Craig Munday

66018 St Blazey arrives back at 6th February 2021 Copyright Craig Munday

66018 at St Blazey en route to Goonbarrow. 6th February 2021 Copyright Craig Munday

Coombe - HST in the valley. 6th February 2021 Copyright Craig Munday

Coombe a sylvan view of the fields beyond as a class 158 heads past on a local service. 6th February 2021 Copyright Craig Munday

Many thanks for your pictures Craig. - Nice bright days but very cold.

Oxford with
Alan Peters

I have noticed that the Cornwall Railway Society now covers to Oxford, so I have dug out a couple of early Blackberry phone pictures at Oxford including Chiltern Railways Class 121 bubble car 960014 ex-55022 in the former parcels bay on the 13/04/11 and 35028 'Clan Line' with support coach standing on the Oxford Turbo Diesel Sidings Spur after working the 1Z64 VOSE from Victoria to Oxford on 13/08/11 - Alan Peters 

Oxford Chiltern Railways Class 121 bubble car 960014 ex-55022 in the former parcels bay on the 13th April 2011 Copyright Alan Peters

35028 'Clan Line' with support coach standing on the Oxford Turbo Diesel Sidings Spur after working the 1Z64 VOSE from Victoria to Oxford on 13th August 2011 Copyright Alan Peters

History now - Many thanks Alan.