NINETEEN SIXTY FOUR – PART 30
DIDCOT to SWINDON
Michael L. Roach
On 7 February 2025 Ken Mumford related how he took his young grandson to Ashbury Crossing to watch trains. The location is just half a mile east of the location of Shrivenham Station which closed to passengers on 7 November 1964. For the record these are the mileages of the key locations in the area:
Didcot Station 53m 10c
Uffington Station 66m 43c
Knighton Crossing 69m 00c
Ashbury Crossing 71m 05c
Shrivenham Station 71m 42c
Highworth Junction 76m 28c
Swindon Station 77m 24c
Ken's mention of this area rang a bell with me as I had written an article about this length of railway some years ago. It is a real-life story which may be of interest to one of our readers – Dave Letcher the well-known Cornish enthusiast and photographer. The article was first published in the Welsh Railways Research Circle's Newsletter No. 161 for Winter 2019 (website wrrc.org.uk) and is reproduced here unchanged. For the record it may be more than 24 miles from Didcot to Swindon but today's passenger trains regularly complete that leg of their journey in 16 minutes start to stop.
Didcot Station 53m 10c
Uffington Station 66m 43c
Knighton Crossing 69m 00c
Ashbury Crossing 71m 05c
Shrivenham Station 71m 42c
Highworth Junction 76m 28c
Swindon Station 77m 24c
Ken's mention of this area rang a bell with me as I had written an article about this length of railway some years ago. It is a real-life story which may be of interest to one of our readers – Dave Letcher the well-known Cornish enthusiast and photographer. The article was first published in the Welsh Railways Research Circle's Newsletter No. 161 for Winter 2019 (website wrrc.org.uk) and is reproduced here unchanged. For the record it may be more than 24 miles from Didcot to Swindon but today's passenger trains regularly complete that leg of their journey in 16 minutes start to stop.
THE MYSTERY of the MISSING PASSENGER
Michael L. Roach
Michael L. Roach
It sounds like the title of an Agatha Christie novel but its actually a true story based on a newspaper report from the same era that many of Christie's detective novels were set in; i.e. the 1930s. The actual title of the newspaper report was “Mystery of Missing Passenger on the G.W.R.” and it appeared in the Western Mail of Friday 23 December 1938. I came across the report by accident while looking for something else in December 2018 some 80 years after it first appeared. It was doubly interesting because the missing man was also a railwayman. The report was very brief because the newspaper was hitting the streets just 12 hours after the man disappeared, and went as follows:
The 7.45pm train from Paddington to Cardiff on Thursday night was stopped at Didcot when a signalman saw a carriage door open. Upon examination of the carriage a bag belonging to Mr. WTG was found. A search of the train was made but Mr. G could not be found, so the line was being searched as well. Later reports said that the train was the 7.55pm from Paddington to South Wales and that it was stopped at Highworth Junction, Swindon and not as reported earlier.
Walter Thomas Griffiths was born on 25 December 1883 at Griffithstown, Pontypool between the suburbs of Pontymoile to the north and Sebastopol to the south. The area was named after Henry Griffiths the first station master of Pontypool and New Inn station. Beginning work at the age of 13 as a baker's boy, Walter would later work at the steelworks at Panteg before joining the Great Western Railway at Pontypool Shed on 30 April 1901 as a cleaner earning 2 shillings and 4 pence a day [11.7p in decimal]. He progressed through 3rd class, 2nd class to 1st class fireman via postings at Dock Street (Newport), Ebbw Junction, Dowlais, Reading, Dock Street again and Ebbw Junction again. On 19 October 1928 WTG was granted 12 months leave without pay while he served as Mayor of Newport, and he was allowed to purchase first class privilege tickets during this period. A year later he was allowed to work in the Dock Street link so that he could continue his work as a Councillor for the County Borough of Newport.
WTG must have had a great sense of public duty as he was also rising through the ranks in the National Union of Railwaymen, and on 24 December 1936 he was granted 12 months leave of absence without pay for 1937 in order to carry out his duties as President of the NUR. Two years later he was granted an extension of 12 months covering 1939, that was on 1 December 1938. The final entry in the GWR records reads “22/12/38 Deceased – Accident off duty” So how did Walter Thomas Griffiths come to fall from the Paddington to Cardiff express two days before Christmas 1938.
Walter Griffiths body was found beside the track between Knighton Crossing and Uffington in Wiltshire at 8.40am the day after he had fallen from the train, and Uffington was where the inquest opened on Saturday 24 December 1938. The inquest was adjourned for the Coroner and the jury to inspect the coach, the door and its door fastenings, and for inquiries to be made of who had actually stopped the train. A friend confirmed that there was no reason for Mr Griffiths to take his own life. At the resumed inquest the following Friday a travelling companion called Maurice Brunnock gave evidence that Mr Griffiths was sober, in good spirits and looking forward to his birthday two days later on Christmas Day when he would be 55 years old. Both Mr Griffiths and Mr Brunnock went to sleep full length on the bench seats of the compartment. When Mr Brunnock awoke it was because he was cold. The outer door was open and his travelling companion was gone; the guard was fetched and it was he who stopped the train.
The Coroner reported that he had travelled in a similar coach the day before in the dark and he found that the outer door reflected the door of the compartment. It was possible for a man just waking from sleep to open the wrong door, and they knew from their own experience that passengers did attempt to do so. The Jury suggested that the railway company should consider abolishing inside door fastenings. We know from subsequent events that passengers continued to fall from railway carriage doors until the introduction of central locking more than 50 years later. The Jury returned a verdict of “Accidental Death.” This was a sad end for a man who had risen from humble beginnings to be a major player in the public life of Newport and of the trade union movement.
I used to enjoy travelling in the same type of railway carriage that was involved in this tragedy, because they had a door to every compartment on both sides of the train. If you were travelling alone, or with other enthusiasts, you could have the windows down on both sides of the train and look out almost continuously as the train rounded the curves, by dodging from side to side, and even sit down occasionally when there was nothing to see. This style of coach was very common up to about 1960 but then disappeared rapidly as they were replaced by BR Mark 1 coaches.
The 7.45pm train from Paddington to Cardiff on Thursday night was stopped at Didcot when a signalman saw a carriage door open. Upon examination of the carriage a bag belonging to Mr. WTG was found. A search of the train was made but Mr. G could not be found, so the line was being searched as well. Later reports said that the train was the 7.55pm from Paddington to South Wales and that it was stopped at Highworth Junction, Swindon and not as reported earlier.
Walter Thomas Griffiths was born on 25 December 1883 at Griffithstown, Pontypool between the suburbs of Pontymoile to the north and Sebastopol to the south. The area was named after Henry Griffiths the first station master of Pontypool and New Inn station. Beginning work at the age of 13 as a baker's boy, Walter would later work at the steelworks at Panteg before joining the Great Western Railway at Pontypool Shed on 30 April 1901 as a cleaner earning 2 shillings and 4 pence a day [11.7p in decimal]. He progressed through 3rd class, 2nd class to 1st class fireman via postings at Dock Street (Newport), Ebbw Junction, Dowlais, Reading, Dock Street again and Ebbw Junction again. On 19 October 1928 WTG was granted 12 months leave without pay while he served as Mayor of Newport, and he was allowed to purchase first class privilege tickets during this period. A year later he was allowed to work in the Dock Street link so that he could continue his work as a Councillor for the County Borough of Newport.
WTG must have had a great sense of public duty as he was also rising through the ranks in the National Union of Railwaymen, and on 24 December 1936 he was granted 12 months leave of absence without pay for 1937 in order to carry out his duties as President of the NUR. Two years later he was granted an extension of 12 months covering 1939, that was on 1 December 1938. The final entry in the GWR records reads “22/12/38 Deceased – Accident off duty” So how did Walter Thomas Griffiths come to fall from the Paddington to Cardiff express two days before Christmas 1938.
Walter Griffiths body was found beside the track between Knighton Crossing and Uffington in Wiltshire at 8.40am the day after he had fallen from the train, and Uffington was where the inquest opened on Saturday 24 December 1938. The inquest was adjourned for the Coroner and the jury to inspect the coach, the door and its door fastenings, and for inquiries to be made of who had actually stopped the train. A friend confirmed that there was no reason for Mr Griffiths to take his own life. At the resumed inquest the following Friday a travelling companion called Maurice Brunnock gave evidence that Mr Griffiths was sober, in good spirits and looking forward to his birthday two days later on Christmas Day when he would be 55 years old. Both Mr Griffiths and Mr Brunnock went to sleep full length on the bench seats of the compartment. When Mr Brunnock awoke it was because he was cold. The outer door was open and his travelling companion was gone; the guard was fetched and it was he who stopped the train.
The Coroner reported that he had travelled in a similar coach the day before in the dark and he found that the outer door reflected the door of the compartment. It was possible for a man just waking from sleep to open the wrong door, and they knew from their own experience that passengers did attempt to do so. The Jury suggested that the railway company should consider abolishing inside door fastenings. We know from subsequent events that passengers continued to fall from railway carriage doors until the introduction of central locking more than 50 years later. The Jury returned a verdict of “Accidental Death.” This was a sad end for a man who had risen from humble beginnings to be a major player in the public life of Newport and of the trade union movement.
I used to enjoy travelling in the same type of railway carriage that was involved in this tragedy, because they had a door to every compartment on both sides of the train. If you were travelling alone, or with other enthusiasts, you could have the windows down on both sides of the train and look out almost continuously as the train rounded the curves, by dodging from side to side, and even sit down occasionally when there was nothing to see. This style of coach was very common up to about 1960 but then disappeared rapidly as they were replaced by BR Mark 1 coaches.
Thoughts on diesel preservation
Tom Lloyd
Hi Jon. Thank you once again for publishing my photos. The excitement that everyone felt when seeing the recent visits of class 37's to Cornwall made me really think about the great work of the Bodmin Mainline Diesel group, who keep a very special group of engines running, and in particular 37142.
It's thanks to them that people like me (who were born too late to see BR steam or even diesel hydraulics!) can still see what all the fuss is about.
I was lucky to volunteer with the BMDG a good few years ago now, and took these pictures with permission on a typical day out on the line. In my imagination, 37142 is just about to go to Boscarne Jnc to pick up some clay hoods.
Thank you to the Bodmin Mainline Diesel Group for what they do.
It's thanks to them that people like me (who were born too late to see BR steam or even diesel hydraulics!) can still see what all the fuss is about.
I was lucky to volunteer with the BMDG a good few years ago now, and took these pictures with permission on a typical day out on the line. In my imagination, 37142 is just about to go to Boscarne Jnc to pick up some clay hoods.
Thank you to the Bodmin Mainline Diesel Group for what they do.
37142 stands on the curve at Bodmin Parkway. Copyright Tom Lloyd.
50042 outside the shed at Bodmin Parkway with 37142 on the curve. Two of Cornwalls 'full time' English Electric residents. Copyright Tom Lloyd.
Many thanks indeed, Tom. Fully agree that what the chaps at Bodmin do is incredible - Cornwall would be a far less interesting place to be a railway enthusiast without their efforts.
Mid-Cornwall Metro update
John Roberts
The project is reporting that the hourly service is delayed from “May” or “Summer” to “later this year”, although it doesn’t say why.
It also refers to a quarter-mile of track to be replaced near St Blazey to allow trains to pass there, although track renewal by itself doesn’t create a crossing point. Can our local spies clarify?
Click here for a project update
There’s also a short video worth watching.
It also refers to a quarter-mile of track to be replaced near St Blazey to allow trains to pass there, although track renewal by itself doesn’t create a crossing point. Can our local spies clarify?
Click here for a project update
There’s also a short video worth watching.
Many thanks, John
Lelant & St. Ives
Dennis Clarke
Hi Roger, Keith, Jon,
Good to see you last Saturday.
Here are a couple of pictures of 150249 at Lelant and St Ives today.
The day trips to the Isles of Scilly are advertised at the station. Having been on the Scillonian a few times before, I highly recommend it,
Regards,
Dennis
Good to see you last Saturday.
Here are a couple of pictures of 150249 at Lelant and St Ives today.
The day trips to the Isles of Scilly are advertised at the station. Having been on the Scillonian a few times before, I highly recommend it,
Regards,
Dennis
150249 arriving at Lelant on 14.02.2025. Copyright Dennis Clarke.
150249 arriving at Lelant on 14.02.2025. Copyright Dennis Clarke.
150249 arriving at St. Ives. There are a number of passengers, even on a cold and wet weekday in February. 14.02.2025, copyright Dennis Clarke.
St. Ives Sprinter. 14.02.2025, copyright Dennis Clarke.
Advertising for Isles of Scilly day trips at St. Ives. 14.02.2025, copyright Dennis Clarke.
Many thanks, Dennis - good to see the line so busy.
Taunton to Westbury
Part 4
Roger Winnen
16.04.1981 - A Class 47at Clink Road Junction hauls a short freight, crossing from the down main over to the up main to gain access to the Frome single line. Copyright Roger Winnen.
16.04.1981 - Frome Station. Copyright Roger Winnen
17.04.1981 - Westbury Station frontage. Copyright Roger Winnen
17.04.1981 - The generator train Mk3s hauled by a Class 47 rounds the curve at Hawkridge Junction. The generator provided power for the coaches as the HST Power Cars were unavailable. Copyright Roger Winnen.
17.04.1981 - Westbury before the resignalling. Copyright Roger Winnen
17.04.1981 - An HST approaches Heywood Road Junction on its run into Westbury. Copyright Roger Winnen
17.04.1981 - Diversions at Hawkridge Jun as a Paddington-Bristol gets the through route avoiding Westbury during closure between Swindon and Chippenham. Copyright Roger Winnen
21.04.1981 - Castle Cary with a Weymouth Train coming off the branch. Copyright Roger Winnen
21.04.1981 - A Class 31 comes off the Weymouth Line at Castle Cary. Copyright Roger Winnen