NINETEEN SIXTY FOUR – PART 47
Dean Goods to Plymouth
Michael L. Roach
Willam Dean designed the 2301 class of 0-6-0 tender engine for the Great Western Railway. 260 were built between 1883 and 1889 and they became known as the “Dean Goods”, although they also hauled passenger trains on lightly laid lines. Withdrawals started in 1929 but there were still 54 to be passed to British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. The very last example, no. 2538, was withdrawn in May 1957 and cut up, but luckily no. 2516 withdrawn a year earlier was saved for preservation. It had spent its last few years working between Oswestry and Brecon. In that area, the Dean Goods were gradually replaced by 25 examples of the Ivatt 2-6-0 2MT engines built at Swindon during 1952-3. Comparative tests between the Dean Goods and the Ivatt 2-6-0s in the late 1940s showed that the older engines were just as good as the newer engines designed 60 years later, but the Ivatt 2-6-0s were good looking engines and popular with their footplate crews because of their enclosed cabs.
The 2301-class were always rare in Devon and Cornwall. Laira had one Dean Goods in 1925 number 2456. I do not know what good it was having just one of a class, unless it was kept for a specific purpose perhaps like hauling the Divisional Engineer's inspection coach.
Seventy years ago a fish train arrived in Plymouth most days around 12.30pm and sometimes the train brought a more unusual class of locomotive to Plymouth including the occasional Dukedog. In October 1952 the Railway Magazine reported that it was a Dean Goods that brought the fish train into Plymouth Station – no. 2445 of Bristol SPM Shed. The engine was withdrawn March 1953. I did not see it that day and have never seen a Dean Goods other than in a museum. The class were rare visitors to Plymouth and I don't think they ever worked into Cornwall. Their very low tractive effort meant they were no great use over the banks of South Devon main line, so there was no point sending them to Plymouth except with a lightweight train.
The journey home to Bristol for no. 2445 was if anything more interesting. The engine was rostered to return eastbound the next morning on a freight train for which it was totally unsuitable in view of the steep climbs of Hemerdon and Dainton banks. A powerful banker would have been provided on the banks likely to have been one of the large prairies 3186, 3187 or 5148 up Hemerdon Bank. Despite the banking assistance, 2445 only just made it to the top of Hemerdon Bank (two miles at 1 in 42), so would have been going very slowly as the banker dropped off somewhere around Sparkwell Bridge. By then 2445 would have been passing Hemerdon Box and powering along the near level past the goods loops and gently/smoothly stretching out the couplings between each pair of wagons of the rear half of the loose coupled train. But soon the engine would reach the points at the east end of the loops, pass over a low bridge over a minor road and start to go downhill at 1 in 197. This would be enough to make the rear wagons start buffering up to the wagons in front. But the downhill was only about a third of a mile long and as the driver hit the bottom of the dip he would have opened the regulator to climb the seven miles of gently rising gradients to Wrangaton Summit. Again he would be aware of the need to open out the couplings gently for fear of causing a “snatch” and breaking a coupling. It proved all too much for the driver and the little engine and he gave up the struggle and stopped the train at Brent. No. 2445 came off the train which was loaded to 54 wagons including the brake van. Drivers of loose-coupled freight trains used to say that the drivers of passenger trains had it easy with all their vehicles having screw couplings and continuous brakes, and with the train acting as one.
I would now like to outline the sometimes disastrous consequences of what happens when a coupling breaks with both examples being from Great Western territory. Most enthusiasts will know the basics of the head-on crash on the Cambrian main line between Abermule and Newtown on 26 January 1921 which was solely due to human error; there were 17 fatalities and 36 were injured. Sadly there was another head-on crash on the Cambrian main line as recently as October 2024, further west near Talerddig.
However, there was an earlier crash on the other side of Abermule Station on 24 July 1907. A special livestock train had departed from Aberystwyth at 8.15pm. All 16 vehicles had screw couplings and many had vacuum brakes, but they were not in use at the time of the accident. The total weight of the train was 157 tons. Near the front of the train were several livestock wagons and horse boxes with the horses being accompanied by grooms. The train passed through Abermule at 11.37pm where tablets were exchanged at 15mph and sometime afterwards the coupling broke behind the eight wagon on a down gradient of 1 in 287 and the front half of the train sped away and up the 1 in 547 after the dip. Meanwhile the rear half of the train was accelerating down the gradient and some five hundred yards after the dip the rear part caught up with and was in violent collision with the front half of the train.
Surprisingly many of the vehicles at the front and rear of the train stayed on the track and were undamaged, but it was disastrous for the horses and grooms. Two grooms died in the wreckage, two grooms were injured and the fireman was also injured. It is worth reading the full accident report in railwaysarchive.co.uk. The accident inspector was critical of the driver of the train for slowing down after eventually discovering the train had divided when he could have accelerated away from the runaway wagons and prevented the crash.
The second example is from Shrivenham and occurred at about 5.24am on the cold and frosty morning of 15 January 1936. A mineral train had left Aberdare at 10.30am (note the time) the previous day with 2-8-0 no. 2802 hauling 54 wagons again (just like the Dean Goods earlier) carrying 625 tons of coal in a train with a total weight of 1,108 tons. The drawbar parted between the 48th and 49th wagons at mileage 73m 51c. The six wagons behind the break weighed 121 tons and ran for 1m 31c before coming to a halt on the 1 in 834 falling gradient as the rolling resistance brought them to a halt on the main line. The main part of the train was put into a loop, with the signalman failing to spot that the train was not complete. The guard in the brake van of the mineral train failed to react quickly enough to put down detonators.
Meanwhile, the signalman at Shrivenham accepted the next train from the next box at Marston Crossing. So bearing down on the stationary wagons, and running under clear signals, was the previous night's 9.00pm sleeping car express from Penzance to Paddington of nine coaches hauled by King-class engine no. 6007 running at 50 to 60mph. The King came into violent collision with the stationary wagons at mileage 72m 20c about three quarters of a mile west of Shrivenham Station, with the King turning onto its right hand side. The driver and one passenger died and 10 passengers were seriously injured. The Inspecting Officer was critical of the Shrivenham signalman for failing to spot that the train was not complete; and also critical of the guard of the mineral train for failing to be alert, to realise that the train had divided, and to start putting down detonators to warn the driver of the express. The amount of detail in the accident report is quite exceptional and worth reading.
The 2301-class were always rare in Devon and Cornwall. Laira had one Dean Goods in 1925 number 2456. I do not know what good it was having just one of a class, unless it was kept for a specific purpose perhaps like hauling the Divisional Engineer's inspection coach.
Seventy years ago a fish train arrived in Plymouth most days around 12.30pm and sometimes the train brought a more unusual class of locomotive to Plymouth including the occasional Dukedog. In October 1952 the Railway Magazine reported that it was a Dean Goods that brought the fish train into Plymouth Station – no. 2445 of Bristol SPM Shed. The engine was withdrawn March 1953. I did not see it that day and have never seen a Dean Goods other than in a museum. The class were rare visitors to Plymouth and I don't think they ever worked into Cornwall. Their very low tractive effort meant they were no great use over the banks of South Devon main line, so there was no point sending them to Plymouth except with a lightweight train.
The journey home to Bristol for no. 2445 was if anything more interesting. The engine was rostered to return eastbound the next morning on a freight train for which it was totally unsuitable in view of the steep climbs of Hemerdon and Dainton banks. A powerful banker would have been provided on the banks likely to have been one of the large prairies 3186, 3187 or 5148 up Hemerdon Bank. Despite the banking assistance, 2445 only just made it to the top of Hemerdon Bank (two miles at 1 in 42), so would have been going very slowly as the banker dropped off somewhere around Sparkwell Bridge. By then 2445 would have been passing Hemerdon Box and powering along the near level past the goods loops and gently/smoothly stretching out the couplings between each pair of wagons of the rear half of the loose coupled train. But soon the engine would reach the points at the east end of the loops, pass over a low bridge over a minor road and start to go downhill at 1 in 197. This would be enough to make the rear wagons start buffering up to the wagons in front. But the downhill was only about a third of a mile long and as the driver hit the bottom of the dip he would have opened the regulator to climb the seven miles of gently rising gradients to Wrangaton Summit. Again he would be aware of the need to open out the couplings gently for fear of causing a “snatch” and breaking a coupling. It proved all too much for the driver and the little engine and he gave up the struggle and stopped the train at Brent. No. 2445 came off the train which was loaded to 54 wagons including the brake van. Drivers of loose-coupled freight trains used to say that the drivers of passenger trains had it easy with all their vehicles having screw couplings and continuous brakes, and with the train acting as one.
I would now like to outline the sometimes disastrous consequences of what happens when a coupling breaks with both examples being from Great Western territory. Most enthusiasts will know the basics of the head-on crash on the Cambrian main line between Abermule and Newtown on 26 January 1921 which was solely due to human error; there were 17 fatalities and 36 were injured. Sadly there was another head-on crash on the Cambrian main line as recently as October 2024, further west near Talerddig.
However, there was an earlier crash on the other side of Abermule Station on 24 July 1907. A special livestock train had departed from Aberystwyth at 8.15pm. All 16 vehicles had screw couplings and many had vacuum brakes, but they were not in use at the time of the accident. The total weight of the train was 157 tons. Near the front of the train were several livestock wagons and horse boxes with the horses being accompanied by grooms. The train passed through Abermule at 11.37pm where tablets were exchanged at 15mph and sometime afterwards the coupling broke behind the eight wagon on a down gradient of 1 in 287 and the front half of the train sped away and up the 1 in 547 after the dip. Meanwhile the rear half of the train was accelerating down the gradient and some five hundred yards after the dip the rear part caught up with and was in violent collision with the front half of the train.
Surprisingly many of the vehicles at the front and rear of the train stayed on the track and were undamaged, but it was disastrous for the horses and grooms. Two grooms died in the wreckage, two grooms were injured and the fireman was also injured. It is worth reading the full accident report in railwaysarchive.co.uk. The accident inspector was critical of the driver of the train for slowing down after eventually discovering the train had divided when he could have accelerated away from the runaway wagons and prevented the crash.
The second example is from Shrivenham and occurred at about 5.24am on the cold and frosty morning of 15 January 1936. A mineral train had left Aberdare at 10.30am (note the time) the previous day with 2-8-0 no. 2802 hauling 54 wagons again (just like the Dean Goods earlier) carrying 625 tons of coal in a train with a total weight of 1,108 tons. The drawbar parted between the 48th and 49th wagons at mileage 73m 51c. The six wagons behind the break weighed 121 tons and ran for 1m 31c before coming to a halt on the 1 in 834 falling gradient as the rolling resistance brought them to a halt on the main line. The main part of the train was put into a loop, with the signalman failing to spot that the train was not complete. The guard in the brake van of the mineral train failed to react quickly enough to put down detonators.
Meanwhile, the signalman at Shrivenham accepted the next train from the next box at Marston Crossing. So bearing down on the stationary wagons, and running under clear signals, was the previous night's 9.00pm sleeping car express from Penzance to Paddington of nine coaches hauled by King-class engine no. 6007 running at 50 to 60mph. The King came into violent collision with the stationary wagons at mileage 72m 20c about three quarters of a mile west of Shrivenham Station, with the King turning onto its right hand side. The driver and one passenger died and 10 passengers were seriously injured. The Inspecting Officer was critical of the Shrivenham signalman for failing to spot that the train was not complete; and also critical of the guard of the mineral train for failing to be alert, to realise that the train had divided, and to start putting down detonators to warn the driver of the express. The amount of detail in the accident report is quite exceptional and worth reading.
Many thanks, Michael - another interesting and well-researched article.
For more of Michaels work, please click here.
For more of Michaels work, please click here.
'The Britannic Explorer'
Test run to the west
Guy Vincent
The first leg of a special working due to reach Penzance today (Sat 7th) as 5Z21 0917 Fairwater - Penzance (1401 arr). 57310 heading west with a mixed bag of 12 Eastern Rail Services Mk 3 coaches with class 66 loco 66751 at the back. The train was 5Z20 1548 London Victoria - Taunton Fairwater. These workings are reportedly in connection with the soon-to-be-launched Britannic Explorer luxury rail cruise excursion programme. See Real Time Trains for details. No doubt this working will prove popular with photographers in Cornwall! 06.06.2025, copyright Guy Vincent.
Many thanks, Guy!
Times for this train in Cornwall over the weekend are:
5Z21 0917 Fairwater Yard to Penzance (07.06.2025)
5Z22 1413 Penzance to Penzance T.& R.S.M.D. (07.06.2025)
5Z23 1653 Penzance T.& R.S.M.D. to Penzance (07.06.2025)
5Z24 1730 Penzance to Fowey Dock Carne Point (07.06.2025)
5Z25 0906 Fowey Docks Carne Point to Bruton (08.06.2025)
Times for this train in Cornwall over the weekend are:
5Z21 0917 Fairwater Yard to Penzance (07.06.2025)
5Z22 1413 Penzance to Penzance T.& R.S.M.D. (07.06.2025)
5Z23 1653 Penzance T.& R.S.M.D. to Penzance (07.06.2025)
5Z24 1730 Penzance to Fowey Dock Carne Point (07.06.2025)
5Z25 0906 Fowey Docks Carne Point to Bruton (08.06.2025)
Memories of the Heathfield 'Logs'
Tony Shore
56302 being fuelled at Newton Abbot before working light loco to Teigngrace to collect a loaded train of logs for Chirk. 24.04.2014, copyright Tony Shore.
The road fuel tanker replenishing 56302. 24.04.2014, copyright Tony Shore.
The log train waiting at Teigngrace on the Heathfield branch. 24.04.2014, copyright Tony Shore.
56302 works the 0955 Teigngrace - Chirk. The loco would run round in Newton Abbot station. 24.04.2014, copyright Tony Shore.
After running round, the train passes Shaldon Boat Yard. 24.04.2014, copyright Tony Shore.
Many thanks, Tony. A sorely missed freight flow from our region.
Class 56s in Somerset
Guy Vincent
DC Rail's two class 56s, 56301 and 56103 on the Frome avoiding line with 6V23 1034 Willesden DC Rail Sidings - Merehead empties, a working these locos have now seemingly settled on each Friday. 06.06.2025, copyright Guy Vincent.
56301 and 56103 heading the 6M18 1624 Merehead - Willesden DC Rail Sidings loaded stone eastbound at 1645. 06.06.2025, copyright Guy Vincent.
Many thanks, Guy. Great to see these veterans still earning their keep.
'Castles' in the countryside
Jon Hird
43004 and 43092 pass by Restormel with 2C26, the 1340 Plymouth - Penzance. The set, GW07, now back to 4 coaches. 06.06.2025, copyright Jon Hird.