Western Times Issue 6

WE S T E RN T IME S ISSUE No.6 - SPRING 2023

The history periodical for students of the GWR and BR(W) £12.95

WT6 Cover.indd 1

ISSUE No.6 - SPRING 2023

07/03/2023 10:00

ISSUE No.6 - SPRING 2023

Contents Introduction

3

Hungerford Through Time

5

Western Standards: From the Archives of R C Riley

22

The Hawksworth Coaches: Part 2 - Suburban Stock & Auto-Trailers

28

GWR Employee Dishonesty

38

From the Archives: 2-6-2 Tank - No. 3902

40

Three Position Signals

42

Book Review

45

Off the Beaten Track

47

Modern Traction: ‘Westerns’ in Colour

50

West Country Clay Traffic: Part 2 - China and Ball Clay in Devon

by Stuart Malthouse

58

Tothill Cutting: The Challenges of a Civil Engineering Project

70

1953 Remembered: The Last Coronation Year

75

The Great Western Trust (GWT) - Bulletin No.5

78

The Guard’s Compartment

80

WESTERN TIMES

Above: Colour images of pre-Nationalisation Great Western motive power are a rare and treasured commodity. Early colour film was expensive and still had its technical limitations, which placed it beyond the means and abilities of the majority of railway photographers at the time. New Year’s Day this year marked the centenary of the implementation of the Railways Act 1921, whereby the majority of the railway companies in Great Britain were grouped together into what became known as the ‘Big Four’. The Great Western Railway was the only one of the quartet to retain its original operating name from 1923 to 1947, and many of the traditions of the ‘old company’ were proudly continued throughout this era. Some of that ethos is captured here, as Churchward 3150 Class 2-6-2T No. 3163 stands at Leamington Spa in 1938.

The Transport Treasury.

Front Cover: Proudly displaying its unique Golden Ochre livery, ‘Western’ Class diesel-hydraulic No. D1015 Western Champion awaits the right of way from Gloucester Central on 17 August 1963. No official explanation exists as to why this rather pleasing shade was bestowed upon the sixteenth member of the class, which it carried from new in January 1963 until a repaint into the more traditional maroon in November 1965. A further selection of Western liveries is featured later in this issue.

Douglas Twibell (50-35).

Rear Cover: In homage to the centenary of the Grouping we find ourselves at Derby, the heartland of the former Midland Railway.

There is a wealth of long-lost detail visible in this scene as the northbound ‘Devonian’ stands at Platform 1 in May 1964. Porters hurridly unload the luggage of holidaymakers returning from South Devon, from a Western Region set of maroon Mk.1 coaches.

More inter-regional movements of ‘western’ motive power appear on page 47, marking this notable anniversary.

P Botham.

© The Transport Treasury 2023.

ISBN 978-1-913251-44-4 First Published in 2023 by Transport Treasury Publishing Ltd. 16 Highworth Close, High Wycombe, HP13 7PJ. Compiled and designed in the UK. Printed in Tarxien, Malta by Gutenberg Press Ltd. The copyright holders hereby give notice that all rights to this work are reserved.

Aside from brief passages for the purpose of review, no part of this work may be reproduced, copied by electronic or other means, or otherwise stored in any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the Publisher.

This includes the illustrations herein which shall remain the copyright of the respective copyright holder.

Every effort has been made to identify and credit photographers where known.

2

ISSUE 6

INTRODUCTION icknames have long been prevalent in railway tanker? The company owned the chassis and running N terminology, often with their origins lost in the gear, painted in freight stock grey with the vehicle mists of time but they can form a useful descriptive number as entered in the relative Lot lists. The tank shorthand. ‘Saddle’ and ‘pannier’, possibly coined through common usage rather than official edict, neatly distinguish between design alternatives used to improve accessibility with boilers of differing types of firebox. Now they form an indelible component in the language of the GWR enthusiast.

carried the dairy’s name as the owner plus its serial number and usually advised the nature of the cargo.

The result was an excellent advertising medium for the dairy until the message became submerged beneath an anonymous all-over coating of grime. (Why the tank owners took great care over the internal cleanliness of their containers while ignoring the outside appearance has always seemed strange). Milk tankers succeeded brown-liveried vehicles and their duties theoretically placed them in that category but the daily reality was that they were anything but brown.

However, the acceptability of nicknames is a matter of personal taste. The use of ‘Night Owl’ as a moniker for the new 47xx build is a case in point. When and how exactly did this name embed its way into contemporary parlance, as there appears to be no historical precedence behind such a title for the class amongst enginemen or enthusiasts. Those of a certain age will recall that the appearance of a Churchward 47xx was always something of an event, not because there was anything unusual in their presence hard at work after sun up but simply because there were so few of them. An early editorial decision was taken that this class’s modern appellation is avoided in these pages on the grounds that it conveys a distorted message concerning the scope of its post-war duties.

Variations cropped up elsewhere. LORIOT was grey and visually similar to ‘passenger train’ HYDRA but differed in brake equipment, wheel type and sometimes load capacity. Was HYDRA always brown to highlight the important difference in the braking system as with TOAD in BR days? MICA in white made sense in view of the nature of the cargo although their usage made them honorary ‘browns’. FRUIT C and D were brown but why was PARTO, a specialised form of fitted MINK always grey when it fulfilled much the same sort of role in vegetable traffic? What at first sight seems straightforward becomes rather more confusing on examination. These examples might be only the tip of the iceberg which is why a request has been made for a knowledgeable correspondent to provide an article that provides a comprehensive list of the ‘browns and honorary browns’ with supporting explanation of the delineations. A response is hoped for soon.

How and why certain nicknames came about and the extent of their adoption can be intriguing. The logical division of LMS coaching stock into Periods I, II and III, apparently devised by the enthusiast community was later applied in official circles. A GWR parallel may be drawn with the term ‘brown vehicle’ which seems to have derived through common usage rather than from official sources. Like the LMS example, the term fills a useful need despite certain pitfalls as first came to notice with the concurrent purchase of two second-hand 7mm scale models – a MONSTER and a DAMO A. These types share the same structural style and probably they were often deployed on the same sorts of service.

The only drawback with these well-made models was that the DAMO needed a repaint from grey to brown.

With the paint tin already open, a last minute check with the records confirmed that the builder had indeed been correct and that it was the proud new owner who was in error. Apart from the salutary reminder always to check thoroughly before acting, this near-miss raised the question of when is a ‘brown vehicle’ not actually brown?

A final note on SIPHON which in its inside-framed ‘G’ version was still to be seen at Paddington in the 1980s. Most of the vents had been plated over, and brown had given way to rail blue but they still provided a proudly Great Western presence in West of England newspaper services. Some railwaymen still called them ‘milk vans’!

Informal titles plus nicknames have a role in the lingua franca of historical studies but newly manufactured terms that mislead should be discouraged.

--- o O o---

Milk has featured prominently in past issues and the traditional SIPHON was unassailably a brown vehicle but what of its long-term successor, the six-wheel milk

Editor: Andrew Malthouse Editorial Assistant: Jeremy Clements

To contact the editorial team please email: WesternTimes@mail.com For sales and back issues of Western Times please go to: www.ttpublishing.co.uk 3

WESTERN TIMES

Above: This is the earliest known image of Hungerford station, circa 1892 with an Up train approaching. There are several points of interest, such as the baulk road and that the footbridge has yet to be added. Notice also the narrower platform width with the buildings parallel to the edge, which changed following realignment of the running lines during the 1899-1902 rebuilding. The upper part of the West signal box visible behind the locomotive displays a roof style quite different to that of the second west box. Thus about 1900, either the structure was extended with a new roof, or a completely new building was provided, as discussed in the text.

The railwayman closest to the camera may well be the station master, and note to the extreme left the collection of enamel signs which includes the ubiquitous Sutton’s Seeds advert, the battered milk churns and the station barrow.

The late David Abbott.

Below: Steam Rail Motor No. 74 stands at the Up platform, likely between 1909-11. This was one of two then based at Frome and has probably arrived on a roundabout working by way of Devizes, Westbury, Patney, Warminster and Savernake to terminate and reverse at Hungerford. It is awaiting departure westward for Frome via Devizes, at some time between 1.50 and 2.07 pm. This information comes courtesy of John Lewis in his seminal work, Great Western Steam Rail Motors And Their Services (Wild Swan 2004). He also states that the livery was likely to have been the overall brown carried since 1908. This Rail Motor was a 59’ branch type of Diagram Q, built by Gloucester RCW in April 1906 and withdrawn June 1933.

John Allen collection.

4

ISSUE 6

HUNGERFORD THROUGH TIME in the west of Berkshire, Hungerford traces its about the opening, nor of the extension beyond the Las ocated history back at least to 1241 when it was described town in 1862. Contemporary records imply that a year a borough, although its name is omitted from the passed before freight was accepted. The reason for Domesday Book of 1086. The town started to achieve significance for inland transport with the development of the London-Bath road in the 17th Century and its evolution as a staging post for exchange of horses.

Further importance came in 1811 with the opening of the Kennet and Avon canal which passed east-west through the town. However, the importance of this artery started to decline with arrival of the railway in 1847 from Reading through Newbury to a terminus just east of the High Street.

this delay is unclear after opening but it must have displeased local commercial interests. It is speculated that locomotive and rolling stock deliveries had failed to match the speed of construction. The B&HR was absorbed through the GWR Act of 1846 even before completion of the new line which was laid to 7' 0¼" gauge.

Where the railway crossed part of Hungerford common, a low arch was provided to allow cattle access between the two tracts of land. Whether this arch was also used later by the tramway mentioned below is uncertain but seems likely. A short distance further west, the terminus was constructed and Henry Dyer was the first Station Master, or ‘Agent’ in the prevailing vernacular. The onesided station possibly had an overall roof that covered just the platform road and was a smaller version of that first used at Reading. The railway terminated where it would have otherwise crossed the High Street. Goods facilities when eventually established were west of the passenger station and close to the present day level crossing. The later replacement station was located further east.

The original plans for the Berks and Hants Railway (B&HR) envisaged routes from Reading to Newbury, and to Basingstoke. Additionally, Brunel had recognised the potential for extension of the Reading-Newbury connection to provide a direct route to the South West as an alternative to that via Bristol. The GWR directors presumably endorsed this vision as the company funded the notionally independent B&HR with Newbury as the westward terminus. Precisely when the 9-mile extension to Hungerford was agreed is uncertain.

Genesis of the B&HR thus fostered a lasting misnomer in railway geography as even today ‘Berks & Hants route’ commonly refers to the Reading-NewburyWestbury-Taunton line which has never penetrated Hampshire. The original B&HR only entered the county just south of Mortimer on what is known as the Basingstoke branch.

The prospect of Hungerford’s joining the railway was warmly welcomed by influential local landowners who saw the advantages in faster and cheaper movement of goods than either road or canal could provide.

With this support, land purchase was straightforward with capital £40,000 raised for the Basingstoke and Hungerford routes which more than covered the land acquisition, and without dissent over the proposed route’s dissection of part of Hungerford Common. In 1845, the requisite Bill was passed for a railway from Reading to both Newbury and Hungerford, to be completed within seven years.

Engineer Rowland Brotherhood of Chippenham was appointed as contractor to build the new lines, which encountered few major problems beyond tackling marshland in some areas and the building of numerous bridges. Hungerford was reached by following the Kennett valley in parallel with the canal. The 25½ miles of railway from Reading to Hungerford were opened on 21 December 1847, well within the authorised completion deadline and in contrast to the delays that plagued many other new ventures. Rather strangely there appears to have been no local press comment 5

WESTERN TIMES Five return passenger trains were provided Monday to Saturday between Hungerford and Reading (Saturday was treated as a weekday well into the 20th Century), and two return services on Sunday. Travel times were 25 minutes Hungerford-Newbury and 50 minutes Newbury-Reading. A journey from Hungerford to Paddington took over two hours and usually involved a change at Reading. (By 1902, the weekday passenger service was ten Down and eight Up trains. This remained more or less constant thereafter while the Sunday service stayed at a single return train morning and evening for many years).

Devizes had been a railway town since 1857 through a connection from the west at Holt Junction between Chippenham and Westbury. The new B&HER was a ‘bolt on’ extension from the existing B&HR line which crossed Hungerford firstly via a bridge over the High Street which was approached from both sides by high embankments before continuing westward toward Bedwyn and beyond.

The line beyond Hungerford was broad gauge single track although most earthworks were constructed to allow for later doubling. With completion west from Hungerford, a new route was now available to Westbury and Bristol (with reversal to reach the latter point), although it would be decades before the concept of a faster route to the South West was realised. Following the railway’s opening, post-1847 the adjacent canal haemorrhaged both local and general traffic, and the extension advanced the pace of this decline. Its main raison d’être which was movement of goods between Bristol and London already been compromised by Brunel’s main line. The rundown canal was purchased by the GWR in 1852.

A plan of the early station layout from the archives of the late John Allen, shows the facilities existing in 1860.

The drawing’s origin is unknown but the route east of Reading appears as a single line whereas it was actually double from the outset. The plan (unfortunately unavailable for reproduction) shows locomotive facilities including an engine house and a 35’ turntable on the line’s north side. A goods shed plus wagon turntables were to the south. According to Messrs Lyons and Mountford (see bibliography), the allocation was probably a single tank engine out-stationed from Reading.

The B&HER was carried over the High Street at Hungerford by means of a single-track bridge supported by two intermediate pillars. Four more bridges were needed in the town environs for the new line together with a revised station. Conventional up and down platforms plus altered passenger accommodation were provided. While few details survive, it is fairly certain that improvements included a new platform and waiting shelter on the up side, but certainly not a full rebuild.

Also goods accommodation was moved east of the passenger station to the south side.

The first of three notable events over a 15-year period was the completion on 11 November 1862 of an extension westward to Devizes, under the auspices of the GWR Berks & Hants Extension Railway. (An extension beyond Hungerford to Frome with separate branches to Marlborough and Devizes had been mooted as early as 1847 as ‘The Berks and Hants Hungerford Extension Railway’). Politics would intervene and the B&HER only reached Devizes, The Marlborough branch opened in 1863 and an extension west off the B&HR to reach Westbury and beyond followed over thirty years later.

West of Hungerford, the normal weekday service comprised four trains each way. The turntable remained although the fate of the engine shed is unknown. The B&HER followed a tortuous route involving much curvature and varying gradients, some of which were eased from 1898 onwards in connection with building the Patney to Westbury section. Although arrival of the railway had been welcomed, local sentiment had changed by 1896 with growing antipathy towards the ‘unsightly bridge’ across the High Street. The council’s written complaint to the GWR about this alleged disfigurement of the town evoked no apparent response The second notable event occurred in 1867 with a fire at the original station. The local newspaper described this as affecting the Up side but investigation suggest this as unlikely. It was more probably meant that the former Up side building was destroyed, but of course located on the down side. ‘On Saturday morning 16 November 1867, after the 8.30 am train had left, a building on the down platform was found to be on fire.

The building which was composed chiefly of wood and canvas covered with paper, was old and dry, and as the wind at this time was blowing a perfect hurricane broadside upon it, there was no possibility from the start of saving any part of it.

Station Master (Mr Carpenter) and some of his staff circa 1905.

The eleven members present apparently includes two ‘lads’, and the remainder of the complement (such as the signalman) were probably at work elsewhere or off duty. The man sitting to the Station Master’s right would be the clerk.

6

ISSUE 6

Above: Looking west from the Newbury end of the Up platform, undated but likely to be soon after completion of the station rebuilding in 1902. The wider distance between the tracks and the position of the down starting signal beyond the new footbridge are evident, as mentioned in the text. There is quite a crowd awaiting the arrival of the train and plenty of luggage to be loaded. To the right is the dead-end refuge siding which trailed on to the Up line some distance behind the camera. Access to the station and goods yard was on the Down side only.

John Allen collection.

‘At the time of the outbreak there was no one about the premises except the company’s servants. Mr. Harper, the station master, was engaged in the office, and seems to be the first to discover the flames, running over the inside walls and ceiling of his office so rapidly, that he had no time to secure the whole of the cash from the drawers in the office, before he was compelled to quit the place for his life, without even being able to secure his hat.

station were totally destroyed, together with the whole of the fixtures, furniture etc. The money left in the drawers in the office was discovered upon careful search being made in the ruins after the fire was out, but of course greatly discoloured. There was little interruption to the trains.

‘Immediately upon the outbreak of the fire, a telegram was sent to Reading, and before 11am Mr Besant, the District Superintendent arrived in a special train, and assisted by Mr Sainsbury, inspector of the permanent way, and a staff of labourers, soon effectively cleared the site. Several absurd rumours have been in circulation with reference to the origin of the fire, but there is not a shadow of foundation for the supposition that it was the result of anything but pure accident, and the general belief is that it emanated from a flue in the booking office. Great numbers of people visited the spot on Sunday afternoon, many from a distance.’

‘An immediate alarm was given, and in less than 10 minutes, the police and a large number of townspeople were on the spot. The fire engine soon afterwards arrived. There was an abundant supply of water in the company’s tank close at hand, but as there were neither buckets nor suction pipe attached to the (fire) engine, the task of getting water into it was a tedious one. Meanwhile the fire, which had been increasing in fury, had enveloped the entire building in flames and presented a spectacle awfully grand in appearance, and not soon to be forgotten by those who witnessed it.

The position concerning station facilities for the next four years is uncertain, as a new building on the Down side to replace both the former structures was not completed until circa 1871 at a cost of £12,386 16s 6d.

It seems likely that the administration facilities were squeezed into the remaining accommodation.

‘The roof fell in with a tremendous crash, and soon burnt out, in fact from the commencement, the place was levelled to the ground in less than half an hour.

The whole of the company’s books and papers in the 7

WESTERN TIMES

Left and Above: The timetable for the GWR road motor service that commenced operation between Hungerford and Marlborough via Ramsbury in 1909. The omnibus is a 20 hp Milnes Daimler, first registered (AF 157) in Cornwall in August 1905 (note the solid tyres). The bus carried a crew of two (driver and conductor) and the service was identified as route No. 29.

The purpose of the ornate square post replete with pyramid shape finial on the roofline of the building is not certain. It appears too tall for a sewage vent and may instead have been a decorative telegraph pole.

Below: An earlier form of local transport without date or detail. The destination board on the side below the advert for MACDONALDS TEETH PAINLESS SYSTEM appears to read ‘HUNGERFORD RD & STATION’.

8

ISSUE 6 The third event of note was conversion from 7' 0¼" broad gauge to standard 4' 8½" gauge. This is amply described by the official GWR historian E T McDermot thus, ‘…there remained to be converted the line from Southcot (sic) Junction, near Reading, through Newbury and Devizes to Holt Junction, and the branch from Savernake to Marlborough, together about 62 miles, all on longitudinal timbers. This was commenced on Saturday, the 27 June (1874), the single line from Holt to Hungerford and the Down line thence to Southcot, as well as the Marlborough Branch, having been closed in the usual way by a special engine the previous night after all broad-gauge stock had been removed. The Up line between Hungerford and Southcot was then worked as a single line by pilot engines and men, with Newbury as the only crossing station, for a special service to and from Reading on the Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday. The Engineers having done their work, the last broad-gauge train left Hungerford and Newbury on the Tuesday night, and next morning, the 1 July, through narrow gauge trains began to run between Reading and Trowbridge, using the Down line only between Southcot and Hungerford.’

rearrangement of the station required Board of Trade approval which was requested on 2 May 1899. Work involved realignment of the running lines through the platforms, erection of a passenger footbridge to connect the platforms, construction of a horse dock, extension to the goods accommodation, provision of an up-refuge siding, and revised signalling. Waiting accommodation and conveniences were now provided on both platforms, presumably indicating those on the Up side had previously been rudimentary. A new larger 55 ft turntable was also installed on the Up side.

The refuge siding trailed back off the Up main and on the official plan from the 1920s was shown as capable of accommodating 42 wagons. This siding allowed nonpassenger trains to set back off the main line to enable faster services to overtake. This was an alternative to conflicting shunting movements across the Down line with resultant impediment to traffic. In 1914 it was proposed to convert the refuge siding into an Up goods loop but this did not proceed.

With completion of the new track layout, the ‘six-foot’ was wider than normal between the running lines at the station’s west end, to the east of the level crossing.

To compensate for the left-hand curve, the starting signal was placed there to make it more visible to Down trains. All available images show this to be a low height signal post although whether it ever had a tall co-acting arm is unconfirmed; sighting of the lower arm alone was possibly restricted by the new platform footbridge.

Unfortunately, a contemporary signal box diagram has not been traced.

Removal of broad gauge rolling stock included wagons which had been stored on the Down line in the vicinity of Kintbury. Single line working was thus in place between Newbury and Hungerford using the Up line and controlled by Train Staff. This was assisted by Block Telegraph to and from Newbury in the east and Bedwyn in the west as introduced in 1868. During service curtailment, a ‘road bus’ conveyed passengers between Hungerford and Devizes. (The canal also connected the same points but for goods only, and at a pace even slower than that by the road).

For the revised layout, the old East and West signal boxes were replaced. Whether the latter was totally rebuilt or simply extended is uncertain. At the east end, a new brick-built box was provided with a 39-lever frame to accommodate alterations and extensions to the goods yard. As before, only this box was provided with a block switch. The work was carried out in stages with the new East box opening in 1899 and the West box the following year (actual dates unknown).

Concurrently, the old facilities were removed. Also, a new brick goods shed was erected on the railway’s south side at the east end, possibly at the same time.

(The new goods shed was excluded from the Board of Trade inspection which was concerned only with public facilities and passenger services). During these changes, through and local services using the running lines and station facilities were maintained.

Fixed signalling probably existed at the station from early on, but it was at least 1877 before two signal boxes in the modern sense were provided. Hungerford East had 16 levers (6 signals, 5 points and one spare) and a block switch allowing it to be switched out of circuit while Hungerford West had 20 levers (6 signals, 7 points and 7 spare) and no block switch. This meant that the west box had to be manned continuously whenever the line was open, and its location was probably determined by the level crossing at the station’s west end.

Apart from the usual offices and passenger facilities, in 1896 Messrs W H Smith opened a ‘temporary’ book and newspaper stall, ‘…to judge if there was sufficient demand for permanent facilities.’ How long this remained is unknown, nor its precise position.

However, by 1935 there was a Wymans bookstall on the Down platform, just in front of the general waitingroom, which remained for several years.

Realignment resulted in the Down side buildings being no longer parallel with the platform edge which has led to the incorrect supposition that they dated from when the station was a terminus. The brick buildings actually dated from circa 1871 by which time the railway had already been extended west of Hungerford.

Notwithstanding those earlier improvements, access between the platforms had been solely by board crossing before provision of the footbridge in 1902.

Col H A Yorke, inspecting officer for the Board of Trade

Changes to the location including signalling were affected in the late 1890s and into the first two years of the 20th century. The line westward was doubled which required provision of two new spans for the second track over the High Street and other under bridges in the town were also widened for this purpose. Major 9

WESTERN TIMES Before leaving the 19th Century it is appropriate briefly to mention some schemes which contemplated Hungerford either as a junction or as a stopping place on a different railway. The first dated from 1831 with a proposed but unrealised railway to link Basingstoke, Newbury, Hungerford, Devizes, and Bristol in direct competition with Brunel’s London to Bristol route. Nevertheless, a legacy of this idea remains in the London-Southampton line which runs west to Basingstoke before turning south compared with a more direct course through Alton. In the 1860s/ 70s there was the idea for an Andover-HungerfordFarringdon route but without a connection to the Berks and Hants line. Another abortive proposal was a line from Lydney to Hungerford where there would be a fork, one branch going south to Andover and the other south-east to Basingstoke.

detailed these changes in his report dated 28 March 1902 (reference MT6/106/5) and in his concluding remarks stated: ‘There are two signal boxes viz, the West box which has been rebuilt, and the East box which is entirely new. The East box contains 39 levers, 29 in use and 10 spare, and the West box contains 11 levers in use, 4 spare, 1 gate wheel and 2 small levers for controlling the wicket gates. The interlocking being correct, I would recommend the Board of Trade sanction the use of the alterations at this place’.

In the context of safe working, an accident occurred on an unspecified date in 1900, when one Tom Scarlett, possibly a goods porter, fell from the open flap of a goods truck. From the limited information recorded it appears this may have resulted from the propping open of a wagon door which subsequently fell. This practice was discouraged but never completely eliminated.

Below: Probably taken from the vantage point of the West Signal Box, the train is clearly a Down service that terminated at Hungerford. The engine has run round and is standing on the wrong road ready to depart, and would cross to the Up on return eastward. Without access to a contemporary signal diagram, it is difficult to confirm the presence of a starting signal for Up trains from the Down platform. This would seem likely as reversals were normal practice.

John Allen collection.

10

ISSUE 6 ROYALTY VISITS HUNGERFORD STATION Top and Middle Right: There is a wealth of detail in these two views connected with the visit of H.M. King George V to Hungerford on 21 October 1912.

It seems probable that the photographs were taken before or after his arrival as judging by their attire most of the personnel in view would have been excluded from the official reception committee.

They appear to be railway staff of varying grades with one official in a suit and bowler hat and another in a frock coat (presumably the station master).

The remainder are in normal working attire and one character is even wearing a flat cap and apron. In both images the assembly is on the ‘inside’ of the Down platform.

Surrounding detail includes the square post mentioned previously (the height of which appeared to increase over the years), various signs, the unusual canopy valance, the all-important station clock, vending machines against the wall, and a glimpse into the Ladies Waiting Room. The station building was constructed in red brick with segmental arches in yellow brick over the doors and windows. The canopy was supported on brackets having an ‘ear of wheat’ motif. One of the main station chimneys may have been taller around the turn of the 19th century and possibly incorporated a clock whose height would have enabled it to be seen from the station approach.

Below: This ‘public’ timetable card shows the itinerary of His Majesty’s special train on 21 October 1912. A similar card was produced for the return journey on Saturday 26 October, the latter departing the station at 10.40 am. The Down service was timed at one hour ten minutes to cover the 61.4 miles at an average speed of 52.6 mph.

Above: The wet weather on the day of the return Royal working discouraged a large crowd from turning out. This is a useful view of the station approach; the goods yard entrance was in the middle distance beyond the passenger station. Similar flags and bunting were displayed in the town itself. The Royal train is standing on the ‘wrong road’ awaiting departure.

All images this page courtesy of the John Allen collection.

11

Hungerford in the 20th Century

often inadequate and most were closed or sold off. (It is intended to provide a fuller review of GWR omnibus services in a later issue).

Traffic Patterns

Opening of the direct line to Taunton naturally increased freight operations. Through goods workings were often destined for Westbury where re-marshalling took place while milk traffic from the west to London was significant. The station also handled churns from local farmers for onward transfer and there were the normal local goods services, supported by GWR road motor services.

The period up until World War 1 is regarded as the railways’ golden age and with the Monarchy at the peak of its popularity, Royal patronage was highly prized.

There were extensive celebrations during the visit of King George V to Hungerford on 21 October 1912 on his way to Chilton. The town was suitably en-fête for the occasion with abundant decorations and the event was fully reported in the contemporary Great Western Magazine.

Another locally-sourced traffic was water cress harvested from 14 acres of beds at Ramsbury, four miles west of Hungerford in the Kennet Valley. Every evening during the peak season (spring/ early summer) vans arrived at the station with cress in 7 lb ‘chips’, 28 lb ‘flats’, and 56 lb ‘hampers’ bound for London, the Midlands, Manchester and South Wales. Up to six or seven tons were handled weekly, despatched by passenger train. The importance of this traffic was sufficient to warrant an article on pages 369/ 70 of the Great Western Magazine for 1933.

With opening of the direct line to the West Country via Castle Cary in July 1906, services could at last benefit from the shorter route and service frequency through Hungerford increased substantially. Apart from trains to Taunton and beyond, there was through traffic to and from Weymouth, Devizes and Bristol, plus local connections to Reading, Newbury and Westbury.

As mentioned earlier, a temporary ‘road-coach’ was instituted during gauge conversion but a more substantial service was provided by the GWR as early as 1909 to connect Marlborough, Ramsbury and Hungerford, operating each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The service was advertised as ‘Road Motor Cars with accommodation for Luggage, Parcels, and Light Goods….. condition of roads permitting’. The journey took an hour and twenty minutes with a single fare of 1s 6d.

Despite road competition, goods facilities were expanded about October 1934 with a new timber warehouse within the yard for Messrs T Pratten & Co. Corn was another traffic despatched, and some shipments were even destined for Glasgow. There was also mushroom traffic which was sent by passenger train. Livestock in the form of cattle and pigs was moved to market from the nearby farm of the financier, retail and property magnate and philanthropist, Sir Charles Clore. Other outgoing commodities in the 1920s were sheepskins, seed, animal hides and hay.

For an important rural centre, shipment of horses was surprisingly infrequent. Other traffic opportunities were explored as with the possible establishment of an oil depot at the station prior to World War 2. As late as 1966, a bulk petroleum storage facility was under consideration but this never materialised.

GWR road services in the Hungerford area as fully developed were as follows:

Route

Started Ceased

Marlborough-Ramsbury-Hungerford

02 Oct 09 30 Sep 11 24 Jul 24

09 Jul 27

Hungerford-Ramsbury-Aldbourne-Swindon

02 Oct 11

13 Jul 12

Hungerford-Newbury

20 Jun 27

24 Aug 27

Calne-Marlborough-Ramsbury-Hungerford

11 Jul 27

24 Aug 27

Calne-Marlborough-Ramsbury-HungerfordNewbury-Kingsclere-Reading

25 Aug 27 31 May 28

Calne-Marlborough-Ramsbury-Hungerford

08 Jul 29

21 Sep 30

Marlborough-Ramsbury-Hungerford

22 Sep 30

07 Feb 32

Marlborough-Froxfield-Hungerford-Newbury

12 Dec 27

23 Sep 28

Marlborough-Froxfield-Hungerford

01 May 29

06 Feb 32

Hungerford-Shalbourne

12 Dec 27

06 Jul 29

Hungerford-Shalbourne-Andover Junction 24 May 28

22 Sep 28

During 1909, Messrs. Collier & Catley (Reading-based contractors who also undertook work for the GWR), were engaged to improve Hungerford’s mains sewage and drainage systems. To transport materials delivered by rail, a temporary 2-foot gauge tramway was installed from the east end of the goods yard to the contractor’s site of work on the common south of the railway, most likely by way of the previously mentioned low arch.

Details of what might have constituted the tramway’s ‘motive-power’ are unknown.

Domestic coal was handled in the yard. The Hungerford Coal & Coke Co. acted as agent for Messrs Alexander Bros (whose yard was beyond the railway boundary by the west signal box), L Beard & Son, Giles Bros, W Lewington and T D Barnes. Lewington made deliveries by horse and cart, and grazed his horse on the common. He was from nearby Aldbourne but collected his supplies from Hungerford as his closest station.

Some operated on certain days only but it is believed that all called at Hungerford station. The scheme hoped to entice or retain traffic that might otherwise be lost and to act as a feeder for areas not served by railway, as with the Hungerford-Andover Junction connection. With the advance of road competition generally, the service was essentially a defensive exercise but receipts were 12

ISSUE 6 A timber shed used by Beard as an office in the goods yard was destroyed by fire on 15 January 1936, as described in the local newspaper: ‘At 1.30 am (yesterday, Wednesday) morning, the fire alarm rang and in the east there was a big glare visible through the fog. The outbreak was in the Goods Yard of the GWR station and the building involved was a tarred timber shed formerly used as an office by L Beard & Sons, coal merchants. The fire was discovered by PC Robinson who rang the fire bell, but within a few minutes the building was a mass of flame and practically burnt out when the fire brigade arrived.’

Beard subsequently moved into a small brick building at the west side of the yard weighbridge, the coal office managed by Bill Jepp for many years. Installation of the weighbridge had been proposed in June 1925 at an estimated cost of £306. It had a 20-ton capacity and as the only such facility in the area was available for nonrailway use on payment of the appropriate fee.

Alexander Bros. had at least one private owner wagon, shown as No 37 in the image (right). However, this may not mean that there were others as a fictitiously high number was often applied to PO vehicles to give the impression that operator’s fleet was larger than was actually the case. Merchants were allowed limited time to unload without incurring demurrage; coal and coke received in 1903 totalled 1,692 tons (1937-1,024 tons). An assumed average load capacity of 10 tons gives an indication of the number of wagons handled annually. Wagons labelled ‘Bolsover’ were regularly seen carrying supplies from that colliery. Occasionally wagons arrived with the load so firmly wedged in place that on opening the side door a deliberate ‘rough shunt’ was needed to loosen the coal.

Above: The solitary private owner wagon definitely known to have belonged to a Hungerford coal merchant. There may well have been others.

John Allen collection.

Official GWR track plan (circa mid 1920s) with the numbers representing the wagon capacity of each goods road. The weighbridge of 1925 is shown but the footbridge of 1902 is omitted, as is the position of the yard crane which was near the end of the 26-wagon capacity siding. This is believed to have been of five-ton capacity while a one-ton crane was mounted on the platform within the goods shed. A replacement (for which is unclear) is mentioned in official minutes of 24 July 1930 and then again on 31 October. No costs were quoted but the capacity of the replacement(s) was six and eight tons.

13

The approach to Hungerford from the east with the bridge carrying a road from the edge of the common towards Lower Denford.

The curvature characteristic of the B&H railway is well illustrated with the broad-gauge origins confirmed by the width of the bridge’s span. The down distant signal, then worked from the East box was probably slotted from the West box due to the short intervening distance. The arm is painted red and displayed either a red or green light as yellow distant signals only came into use in the late 1920s. The height allowed for a clear view of the board against a sky background. Note the permanent way hut in the lee of the bridge. In later years this overbridge marked the start of the Down goods loop installed during World War 2.

Hungerford West Signal Box on an unspecified date. The cast nameplate was ordered on 4 May 1899 but it was noted that the entry was deleted from the register of signal box nameplates although the plate was cast and fitted as seen. A plate for Hungerford East was ordered on the same day. With the 1939 signalling rationalisation, a new plate stating simply ‘Hungerford Signal Box’ was ordered for the extended box. This was noted in place on 11 March 1938, and also on that day a smaller plate ‘Hungerford Ground Frame’ for the east end. The reversed ‘T’ plate (black letter on white background) was a notice to guards of passing trains that the services of a telegraph lineman were required.

John Allen collection.

Hungerford East Signal Box had a relatively short life from 1902 to 1939. In the case of both signal box images, the small corrugated hut alongside was used for filling and cleaning the signal paraffin oil lamps. The May 1931 GWR Sectional Appendix gave specific instructions relating to the east end of the station where an electric bell was installed to enable the shunter to communicate with the signalman as follows: ‘Hungerford Electric Bell Communication with East Box. An electric bell has been fixed on the Down Starting Signal Post for the East Box affording communication with the East Box. The code of signals to be used in working the Bell is: To set points for Down Siding To set points for Goods Shed Road To set points for Main line Work finished and train ready to leave

1 beat 2 beats 3 beats 2 pause 1

The only person authorised to use these bell signals is the man in charge of Shunting. The bell box is locked with an ordinary carriage lock, and the Shunter will be responsible for locking the Box after the work has been completed.’ John Allen collection.

Watercress in 7 lb ‘chips’, 28 lb ‘flats’, and 56 lb ‘hampers’ is awaiting despatch to various destinations. Due to its delicate nature and limited life, it always travelled by passenger train in order to secure the fastest route to market.

Hungerford circa 1927 looking east from the end of the Down platform beside the engine inspection pit which was identical to that at the Newbury end of the Up platform. The Up side building was a basic GWR design dating from the turn of the century.

The accommodation comprised a gentlemen’s lavatory at the west end (note the raised glass ventilation), a general waiting room, and finally a ladies waiting room with lavatory at the east end. There were two flues within the chimney venting open fires in the waiting rooms.

This view of an Up train at the station is undated but is probably of the Edwardian period. The original locomotive facilities and turntable were positioned to the right of the Up platform. By 1922 the turntable had disappeared while two additional sidings were in place in the goods yard. Locomotive identification is a challenge, as it appears to be a 2-4-0 carrying one of the comparatively few Type BR0 (Belpaire domeless) boilers, mostly associated with the Barnum/ 3232 Class. The tender still retains coal rails and there is no evidence of locomotive brass having been painted over. The train comprises a motley collection of about eight vehicles as would be found on secondary mainline services about that time.

John Allen collection.

Personnel and Rationalisation

Having previously worked at Windsor, Archie Allen arrived at Hungerford in 1926 as Goods Clerk and ten years later was promoted to Station Master. In reporting his promotion, the Marlborough Times noted that it was unusual for a man to be promoted to this level at the same station. Allen was keen on first aid and formed his own Railway Ambulance team in the 1930s. His son John later recalled that on Sundays he would accompany his father to replenish stocks in the chocolate and cigarette machines on the platform. In early 1939, Allen was assisted by two booking clerks (one was Derek Stoneham). Fred Cox as senior porter was responsible for the Parcels Office, assisted by two junior porters. One of the latter was Reg Knight who later left to join the services.

Some information has been traced concerning staff employed at Hungerford. Listed below are known Station Masters and relevant dates: Name

Dates served as Station Master

Henry Dyer

by 1850

Mr Harper

by November 1867

Mr Carpenter

circa 1898

Frank Hunt

Appointed 1908 departed 13 December 26

P C Pyke

13 December 1926 to 31 December 1936 (retired)

‘Archie’ J Allen

November 1936 to 3 April 1939 (died in harness)

C Redman

April 1939 to ?

L Green

November 1953 to February 1960

S Knapp

January 1960 to September 1960

Relief staff

Sept 1960 to December 1960

W R Gregory

December 1960 to September 1964 (last post holder)

Left: John Allen, son of Archie, started at Hungerford as a junior clerk on 5 December 1939, splitting his time between the booking and goods offices which were both heated by coal fires. Towards the end of winter with stocks running low, it was a regular task for the ‘lad’ (junior porter) to approach local train crews with two empty fire buckets and ask for a top-up which request was usually granted. Each day a ‘balance’ had to be prepared correct to the nearest one penny.

Unofficially, a small tin was kept containing a few coins in case of a shortfall. This was quickly hidden upon the arrival of an auditor.

The junior clerk had to learn the working of the booking office, the issue of tickets and how to deal with telephone enquiries.

Hours of work were 7.00 am to 4.00 pm or 12 noon to 9.00 pm, each with a one-hour break. When he had ‘taken-on’, this included a split shift on Sunday 8.00 am to 11.30 am and 6.30 pm to 9.00 pm. John later moved to Thatcham and subsequently worked at Newbury and Reading. He retired from the railway after 50 years’ service.

John Allen collection.

Above: Fred Cox, station master Mr C Redman, and Bert Humphries. The view is undated but would be post April 1939.

John Allen collection.

The position carried considerable status in the town.

Frank Hunt, who energetically cultivated his contacts within and outside the railway, was the incumbent during the Royal visit of 1912. He was apparently well acquainted with Felix Pole, General Manager who was a frequent visitor to the station. At his retirement in 1926, the contents of his office were described in a local newspaper report. These included a signed photograph of Felix Pole, a canary, a quaint horn, a life preserver, a monster watch inscribed to him by US President James Garfield, and a truncheon of the type issued to policemen who in the early days had guarded the works of the railway!

Staff outside the goods shed, circa 1937. Left to right: Edward Franklin clerk, Archie Allen station master, Fred Didcock lorry driver, Bill Hiscock (later signalman Burghclere), Harry Buxey, and Bert Humphries.

John Allen collection.

16

ISSUE 6 Other personnel from those times included Bruce Richardson who travelled daily from Mortimer and was clerk in charge at the goods depot. Harry Buxey was a checker and Bert Humphries a goods porter. Fred Didcock drove the station’s lorry and handled small parcels traffic between there and outlying villages.

Completing the traffic establishment were three signalmen – Harry Bennett (who passed away at age 50 in 1956 while on duty in his signal box), Fred Liddiard and Harold Prout. This establishment changed in April 1939 with the unexpected death of Archie Allen following an operation; he was succeeded by Mr Redman from Sutton Scotney.

Staff Complement

1903

1938

15

14

Total Wages

£

923

2,256

Total Receipts

£

16,868

15,226

The short life of the road motor services had exposed the limited opportunities for increased passenger custom and coupled with rising wage costs, there was a growing case for rationalisation of the Hungerford establishment. This commenced in 1939 when control of the station was put under the charge of a single signal box by extending that at the west end which now had 37 levers compared with 15 previously. This change was affected around January 1939 and the East signal box was then closed. The latter had controlled the yard and refuge sidings, and these functions thereafter were worked by a 3-lever open air ground frame, electrically released by the West box. Electric points were installed for the west end of the down refuge siding.

Increased traffic through Hungerford meant extra work for the signalman at both boxes. On 19 September 1919, an application was made by signalmen W J Lane and D Kelly of the West box to Inspector Percy at Newbury for promotion from their Grade 5 classification. They stated that four passenger trains from Reading terminated daily at the station and trains were also shunted from ‘main to main’ to allow passage of other services. This application was unsuccessful but regrading to Class 4 with consequent increase in wages was effective from 19 January 1928. At that time, the box was open daily from 6.00am to 10.00pm with each man working an eight-hour shift.

Rationalisation of signalling was under way at many locations around this time. West of Hungerford, the layout at Savernake Low Level was proposed for control from a single box but this was not done. (In the early days there was a distance limit beyond which points could not be mechanically operated, hence the need for signal boxes at both ends of a station site. One of the few remaining examples on the former GWR is at Bewdley where North and South boxes control the station and also what had once been diverging routes at either end. As mechanical signalling developed and with its remote operation by electricity, it became commonplace to operate turnouts over a half-mile or more from the box by use of a hand generator.)

Records of staff numbers, wage costs, passenger and freight receipts attributable to the station are available from 1903. Figures for that year compared with 1938 show how the relationship between labour costs and trading receipts had deteriorated. These figures excluded sixteen locally-based men who formed the two permanent way gangs.

Right: Hungerford Signal Box (the former west box) as extended in 1939 with the join in the timber wall apparent. The view was taken during the war when with fears of invasion, the words ‘Hungerford Signal Box’ had been painted over although the cast plate remains. Access to the operating floor was by the end door, immediately after which was a staircase hugging the left-hand wall which then turned through 90°. Inside, the lever frame faced forward. The interlocking equipment was on the ground floor with access from a separate door at the far end.

Clearly there was a stove provided and from the vent pipe, possibly an interior toilet. What is probably the signalman’s motorcycle is leaning against the lamp hut and just to the right is the coal bunker. During the war, the nearby Kennet & Avon Canal had been designated as a ‘stop-line’ in the event of invasion.

In Berkshire alone there were over 150 pill boxes along this stop-line plus tank traps etc.

John Allen collection.

17

WESTERN TIMES Top: Goods facilities have now been withdrawn rendering the yard and shed derelict. The office at this end which had originally accommodated clerical staff was too small to handle heavy traffic during World War 2 so the checkers’ office at the far end of the shed was extended and the clerks moved in there in April 1943. The office in view was then taken over by the checkers.

The shunting bell mentioned in an earlier caption is mounted at the top of the post standing in the middle foreground. Note also the recycled rails on posts sunk into the ground to protect the ground signal on the right. Behind the goods shed, the painted timber building was a store. Sean Bolan.

Middle: An afternoon study of the station looking west. Flat bottom track is now present on the main lines and with the level crossing gates closed across the railway nothing stirs. Note the missing valance from part of the footbridge. The Down starting signal is still between the running lines albeit now mounted on a BR(W) metal tubular post.

Sean Bolan.

Bottom: Looking east from the Bedwyn side of the level crossing. A wicket gate provided for foot passengers can just be discerned. The trailing crossover was used when westbound trains terminated and the engine had to run round. The text mentions a signalman’s application in years past for a job upgrade – and with it an increase in wages. Signal boxes were graded, ‘1-5’ plus ‘Special Class’, based on the work done. The grades were determined by the number of actions a man would be required to undertake on a shift. To check, the auditor recorded one mark for every time a lever was pulled or returned, a bell answered, an instrument operated, the telephone answered, an entry made in the register, gates opened or closed etc. The greater the total, the more chance of promotion.

Unsurprisingly signalmen either side would assist by sending unnecessary bell codes and extra telephone messages to help the score. A change in the 1950s was provision of track circuits at the east end of the station covering the leads to the goods yard and Down loop. Sean Bolan.

18

ISSUE 6 During World War 2

An early sign of drastic cuts came in 1962 with removal of the footbridge roof which was deemed unsafe. Two years later the unthinkable happened when except for one porter and the signalmen, staff were withdrawn with most leaving railway service. The downside station buildings were closed and demolished with indecent haste in April 1964. GPO mails by passenger train which had been a staple traffic were withdrawn. From then on, guards became responsible for collection of passenger fares, a practice considered by all to be unsatisfactory.

During the 1939-1945 period, the station handled increased goods traffic including timber felled in Savernake Forest, and ready-cut pit props for the South Wales mines. The Government’s ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign meant increased inward shipments of fertilizer as well as general feedstuffs. The fertilizer was stored in the open in sacks near the cattle pens until needed. It was destined for John Adams & Sons, and also James & Co. of the Great Western Mills (no connection with the GWR). Agricultural implements were also received for Oakes Bros and I Bennet & Son. Numerous additional passenger trains handled the movement of locally-based British and American troops, the operation of which locally was recalled by John Allen:

The remaining porter was in charge in the goods yard, supervised by the Area Manager’s office at Newbury.

Goods to Hungerford were transferred to the ‘zonal’ system which was centred on Newbury and involved daily deliveries by lorry from there. In addition, Bedwynand Swindon-based lorries would similarly make deliveries. The porter had little by way of staff comforts although conversion of the former upside Ladies Room or the redundant weighbridge office into a messing facility was considered. All upside passenger facilities had been closed but remained standing. As an unstaffed station the official classification of ‘Hungerford Halt’ was adopted but the suffix was dropped around 1969.

‘The usual arrangement for weekend leave trains was for the Army Transport Officer to telephone the station requesting a special train. One recalled was for 300 troops to Blackpool leaving Hungerford early on a Friday morning and returning Sunday evening. Having received the request, the Station Master would first contact the Reading Traffic Office for the necessary locomotive and stock. Once this was confirmed it was the clerk’s duty to write paper tickets for each man with the date, destination and route. Much overtime was thus achieved.’

Some new investment took place over two weekends commencing 29/30 May 1966 with replacement of the bridge over the High Street. This, the third to span the thoroughfare, formed the prototype for similar fully welded structures. Built in Wellington, Shropshire, it is 81 feet long and weighs 136 tons.

Improved facilities for main line traffic were considered on 21 August 1942 including conversion of the Down refuge siding into a loop which was commissioned between 17 and 24 October 1943. (No Up loop was provided although there was such a facility, also for wartime needs, at Enborne west of Newbury).

In 1971 the Up platform buildings were demolished leaving only the goods shed and associated offices remaining but these succumbed the following year.

Goods services had been withdrawn entirely from 30 June 1970 with Hungerford traffic then handled from a railhead at Reading. The latter was unsatisfactory as undue delays could result. A minor improvement in 1972 was provision of a small hut housing a ticket machine on the Up platform. Passenger traffic westward had always been limited and the only remaining stations as far as Westbury were Bedwyn and Pewsey. Devizes had by then closed.

The railway at Hungerford emerged basically unscathed during this time, although on 28 November 1943 the derailment of five wagons was reported on the Down main ‘very close’ to the station. Although not specifically mentioned, women were employed at the station during the conflict. Work chargeable to the Government continued post war until 30 April 1947 in respect of a local, unspecified Ministry of Works project.

British Railways Western Region From the 1950s trains started to appear in BR livery and Western Region colour schemes gradually appeared on fixed assets, but much stayed the same. However, passenger and goods receipts continued to decline under competitive pressure from private and public road transport in common with other country stations.

Despite careful scrutiny of and concern about reducing income levels, maintenance continued on a rotational basis with a full station repaint in 1954. Perhaps the final infrastructural investment to be considered was the proposal for a new concrete shovelling strip in the yard as late as September 1958.

In this view of the west end of the Down platform, a BR(W) totem has been affixed and chocolate and cream painting style applied.

Note the platform lamp remains gas lit. John Allen collection.

19

WESTERN TIMES Hungerford made the headlines for all the wrong reasons on Wednesday 10 November 1971, when an early morning Westbury-Theale train comprising 41 wagons conveying 1,000 tons of stone was derailed due to a hot axle box. With no intermediate signal boxes for several miles and hence no signalman to observe its passage, the defective wagon together with a further 27 were derailed on approach to the level crossing and signal box, blocking both lines. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries although the signal box was wrecked and signalman Bob Bowden from Southcote (Reading) was trapped in the remains until freed by rescue services after around 30 minutes. Nearby properties were showered with flying stones and ballast caused by the derailment. Following removal of damaged vehicles and completion of necessary repairs, the line was reopened probably with through block working between Kintbury and Bedwyn pending provision of a new signal box. The level crossing was manned by a gate-keeper with telephone communication to the signal boxes on both sides. (Ironically, confirmation of the method of operation for the months from November 1971 forward has proven harder to establish than events that occurred decades earlier).

Above: Yard weighbridge hut and attendant notice. At the east end of the yard near the cattle pens was a garage for the station’s motor lorry. The hut to the right is unidentified but may have been the office for one of the coal factors.

The ’new’ but second-hand signal box, with recycled lever frame came from Bristol East depot and was commissioned on 19 March 1972. This contained 38 levers and was positioned as before on the north side of the line but now to the east of the level crossing. As per prevailing WR practice, the lever frame was rearfacing to give an unobstructed view of passing trains.

It remained in use until Multiple Aspect Signalling from Reading was introduced to this section of the B&H from 17 July 1978. Lifting barriers were installed at the level crossing, controlled remotely from a ground frame at Kintbury.

Above and Left: The aftermath of the crash on the morning of 10 November 1971. The train of 4-wheel steel mineral wagons developed a faulty bearing enroute between Woodborough and Hungerford.

It was then the practice to have one long block section between these points at night even if it meant perhaps 30 minutes or more of running time in what was ‘long-section’ working. Unfortunately, the defect occurred during this time and eventually caused the wagon to derail taking much of the following train with it on approach to Hungerford. Worse followed at Hungerford itself as just before the signal box there was a trailing crossover, which caused complete derailment of the train with wagons colliding with and partly demolishing the wooden box. Recovery and replacement of damaged track took some time during which the little used west end trailing crossover was removed. The box was deemed beyond repair and a replacement was commissioned a few months later as described opposite.

The last and shortest-lived signal box at Hungerford (1972-1978).

Plain track now exists west of the station with almost the last remnant of the old era being the cast metal running-in board.

The curtains provide a degree of privacy!

Post 1978 the station survives as a simple stopping place, retaining two platforms with bus-shelter type waiting facilities on both. Evidence of other railway facilities has long been swept away; the goods yard has been partly redeveloped with light industrial units and with the remainder now a car park. The station enjoys a reasonable and regular passenger service, although through trains are few and most journeys involve at least one change.

20

ISSUE 6 Acknowledgements / Bibliography Grateful thanks to the late David Abbott, the late John Allen, Chris Allen, Colin Dawson, Peter Rance and Roger Simmonds.

• • • • • • • • • • •

It is planned in a later issue of WT to analyse train services in greater detail and to evaluate the financial history of the station as a trading entity. In this context, Hungerford was an example in microcosm of the decline of country stations across the GWR network.

An Illustrated Survey of Great Western Engine Sheds 1837-1947. E Lyons and E Mountford. OPC 1979/ 1986.

Track Layout Diagrams of the GWR and BR WR: Section 23 Berkshire. R A Cooke.

Signal Box Diagrams of the Great Western and Southern Railways Volume 20. GWR Berks & Hants Line. G A Pryer.

Signal Box Register: Vol. 1 Great Western. Signalling Record Society 2011.

A Historical Survey of Great Western Stations Layouts and Illustrations Vol 1. R H Clark. OPC 1976.

A History of the Berks and Hants line, Reading to Westbury. Peter Simmonds. Noodle Books 2014.

Great Western Signal Box Nameplates. Michael V E Dunn. Kidderminster Railway Museum 2004.

Signal Boxes, People and Trains on the Berks and Hants Line. D E Canning. Ravenswing Publishing 2000.

The Newbury Weekly News.

The Marlborough Times.

The Great Western Magazine.

Left: An unidentified ‘Western’ disturbs the peace and tranquility heading a Paddington-Penzance service, sometime prior to the 1971 accident. An unkempt appearance now prevails with bushes, weeds and grass where once all had been neatly tended.

Traditional spear fencing still remains around the rear of the platforms. John Allen collection.

Below: The local services west of Hungerford were gradually pared back, even more so when Devizes closed in 1966.

In consequence, a two-car DMU was sufficient for passenger traffic as seen here with a Reading-bound train entering the platform. The Gloucester RCW-built set (TOPS Class 119) comprises Driving Motor Brake Composite Nos. W51053 and W51061, allocated to Reading in 1964.

John Allen collection.

WESTERN TIMES

WESTERN STANDARDS FROM THE ARCHIVES OF R C RILEY he early motive power plans of British Railways were The new locomotives were generally well received T built around creation of a fleet of steam locomotives on five of BR’s six regions. Unsurprisingly perhaps that would be easy to maintain, efficient to operate, and given the GWR’s long continuous corporate history, with all lines capability. The last-named criterion had particular reference to the ex-Great Western network whose motive power maximised the opportunities offered by the generous loading gauge inherited from the 19th Century. The design process for the new fleet was led by the engineers from the LMS whose fleet was the most modern of the Big Four, courtesy of Stanier’s massive re-stocking programme pre-war.

there was some reticence among locomotive crews on the Western Region. The picture became more confused with later boundary changes but some of the new classes were omitted entirely from the original allocations, specifically 4-6-2 8P No. 71000, 2-6-0 classes 76xxx and 77xxx, 2-6-4T 80xxx and 2-6-2T 84xxx.

The coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II took place on 2 June 1953, but Dick Reilly was at Cardiff General rather than in his native London area on that memorable day. Canton’s Britannia Class No. 70026 Polar Star has just started away from Platform No. 2 with the 7.30 am Carmarthen-Paddington, named the ‘Red Dragon’. This was the prestige service between South Wales and London, and the locomotive was nicely presented on this special day. The name board carries the addition of a crown and a pair of ‘ER’s.

Thirteen Britannias numbered 70017-29 were initially allocated to the Western Region where early reports of their performance were mixed. The first eight were allocated to West of England services, spread between Old Oak Common, Newton Abbot and Laira; Nos. 70025-9 went straight to Cardiff Canton where they remained shedded throughout their time on the Western Region. They seemed to do well in the hands of Canton’s crews and between December 1956 and July 1958, the original eight were concentrated at that shed. No. 70017 moved to Trafford Park, LMR in July 1958 and remainder were dispersed to that region in October 1961. The original Canton quintet stayed together on transfer to Aston.

Despite being an important train, its composition follows the time-honoured practice of mixing types and vintages of coaching stock. The first vehicle is a Collett Brake Third of Diagram D83 or D90, appropriately known as South Wales Corridor Stock. The internal layout was similar for both but D83 was 70’ long with flat ends while D90 was 8¼” longer with one bow end (at the lavatory end). [This dimension conforms with physical measurement of the depth of the bow on preserved Collett stock at Didcot]. The second coach might be a late Collett All third of Diagram C77 or C81.

R C Riley (RCR 3887).

22

ISSUE 6

Above: Class 8P No. 71000 Duke of Gloucester spent some months in 1954/ 5 on the Western Region in connection with road trials and with testing on Swindon’s stationary plant but its normal service was based on the LMR. Further, this engine apparently escaped Dick Riley’s camera both on and off the Western Region so how about a Clan at Old Oak Common? Type 6P No. 72005 Clan MacGregor of Carlisle Kingmoor shed was there on a murky 1 December 1963. The class was mainly associated with duties in Scotland and north west England but this engine is known to have worked south on 9 July 1960, when it reached Bristol Temple Meads on the 8.45 pm from Bradford. By the end of 1963 Nos. 72000-4 had already been withdrawn and the days for the remaining five were clearly numbered. This example was the first of the remaining batch to be withdrawn in May 1965. Its presence at OOC was possibly in connection with a rail tour working although there is no sign that it had been cleaned for a special occasion. The photographs were taken poor light conditions. The engine is not in steam and was apparently drawn into the open by the prairie for Dick to take his pictures, which must have reflected his influential relationship with shed management.

(RCR R17457).

Below: The largest BR Standard 4-6-0 was Class 5 numbered, 73000-171. In physical size and the range of their mixed traffic duties, they were akin to GWR Halls/ Modified Halls, LNER Class B1 and naturally, the LMS Stanier Black 5. Smartly presented No. 73054 was in Swindon works yard on 6 September 1959 following a spell ‘inside’. Built at Derby in 1953, this engine started its career at Holbeck in June of that year, moved to Derby MPD in August 1955 and then on to Bristol Barrow Road in May 1957. During this works visit, it was repainted in the lined green livery that suited the class very well. This engine’s final allocation was Bath Green Park from April 1961 until withdrawal in August 1965.

(RCR 14244).

23

WESTERN TIMES When the standard construction programme was prepared, the ex-LMS team leading the project judged that the typical duties of a Type 4 4-6-0 could be covered by a 2-6-4T or a 2-6-0 of similar power rating. The ex-GWR camp begged to differ, based on the knowledge that a 2-6-4T would have insufficient operating range for some services e.g. the Cambrian main line where axle loading precluded use of the Class 5 4-6-0. Other regions supported the WR case as a means of replacing ageing locomotives of comparative size in their fleets.

This type was inspired by the ‘Manor’ Class but once in service, crews reportedly considered the ex-GWR design to be superior.

This is hard to reconcile with the comparative trials on the Swindon stationary plant where a Class 75xxx achieved a maximum steaming rate almost double that of the Manor in original condition – but that particular episode is a subject for consideration on another occasion. The adverse view of the Class 75xxx might have stemmed simply from embedded dislike of ‘foreign’ designs, notwithstanding that Swindon had participated in the design process and that all eighty locomotives had been assembled there. Performance comparisons aside, the result was an attractive, well-proportioned locomotive and arguably the most stylish member of the new fleet. Despite the WR’s original demand for the type, only Nos. 75000-9 (delivered in 1951) and Nos. 75020-9 (1953/ 4) went to the region. Later, following the LMR’s assumption of control over the Cambrian lines, the type was used in greater numbers there, as by then that region had ironically received the largest allocation. In this view, Tyseley’s No. 75005 was coasting into Winchester Chesil with a SouthamptonNewbury service on 5 March 1960, the final day of passenger services between this station and Newbury. This locomotive entered service in September 1951 and was withdrawn in November 1965.

(RCR 14512).

Above: To prove the mixed traffic credentials of the Class 4 4-6-0, here is the doyen of the type, Swindon shed’s No. 75000 near Banbury with the Swindon-Grimsby fish empties on 30 April 1956.

(RCR 7210).

24

ISSUE 6 Right: The Class 3 2-6-2Ts (8200044) were a compromise design for use on routes where the Class 4 2-6-4T was too heavy for bridge loadings, but train loads were greater than those with which the BR Class 2 2-6-2T could adequately cope. Designed and built at Swindon, a shortened version of the Standard No.4 boiler was used in what could be regarded as a modernised version of Class 31xx (of 1938) with outside valve gear. The class was closely associated with the BR(W); Nos. 82000-9 went first to Tyseley and all of Nos. 8203044 started at Barry except for Nos. 82033/ 4/ 8 (Newton Abbot) and No. 82037 (Swansea). On 14 December 1952, Nos. 82004/ 6/ 5 (l to r) were together at Tyseley; all three had entered service the preceding May. In 1953, Swindon also built twenty members of Class 77xxx which were a tender version of these 2-6-2Ts. They undertook test running on the Western Region before despatch to Scotland and the North East. No. 77014 returned south in March 1966 for rail tour duties on the Southern Region. It was formally allocated to Guildford and also used in ordinary service until withdrawal in July 1967.

(RCR 3833).

Below: No. 82004 was delivered new to Tyseley on 14 May 1952, before allocations to Barry, Newton Abbot, Wellington (twice), Shrewsbury and finally Bath (Green Park) in October 1959, at which shed it is seen resting on 24 June 1962. These locomotives entered service in BR lined black livery as displayed in the preceding photograph but several later received the green treatment.

Details for No. 82004 are imprecise, but it was probably painted lined green around April 1957. It was noted as returned to plain green by early 1962 bearing a large crest, the condition seen here which it retained until withdrawal on 1 October 1965.

(RCR 16607).

The standard fleet’s smallest tender locomotives were Class 2 2-6-0s Nos. 78000-64, which were virtually identical with Ivatt’s 2-6-0s, introduced in 1946 for the LMS. Both types were intended for secondary and branch mixed traffic work. The BR-design version was built at Darlington and the first ten were initially allocated to WR, with the remainder going to the London Midland, North Eastern and Scottish regions. Worcester’s No. 78008 was approaching Oxford North with an Up service from Kingham on 15 August 1959.

The B-set is either diagram E140 or E145 but as the bogies appear to have a 7’ wheelbase, the former is the more probable.

(RCR 14092).

ISSUE 6 Right: A familiar location from an unfamiliar angle shows Swindonbuilt and one month-old doublechimneyed Class 9F No. 92208 of Laira passing through Teignmouth on 13 July 1959 with the Up 12.30 pm Penzance Milk. The inaugural issue of Western Times displayed the best known member of this class on its front cover and with good reason. Any reservations that may have been held by BR(W) personnel concerning the new standard BR fleet were truly dispelled with these marvellous locomotives. They were the epitome of the qualities that had been sought in the programme with expectations for operational versatility far exceeded in practice.

Milk has featured quite prominently in earlier issues with some discussion about the excessive load factor exerted by a full laden 6-wheel tank wagon. It seems quite likely that the 9Fs were the locomotives best suited to these duties.

(RCR 13861).

Above: Oxford was a location where motive power representative of all the Big Four, plus the BR standards, could be seen in one day. On 15 August 1959, single-chimneyed Crewe-built Class 9F No. 92133 of Wellingborough (LMR) was trundling southward on an Up inter-regional freight. The first wagons are somebody else’s version of Macaws, loaded with what appears to be track equipment.

In this image the term ‘Western Standard’ more appropriately applies to the locomotive which the 9F was passing. The Stanier Class 8F was the War Department’s Standard Consolidation type during the earlier stages of World War 2 and No. 48440 was built at Swindon under Lot No. 353 in 1944 as part of that programme. Note also the group to the right, their presence validated by a one (old) penny platform ticket, equipped with notebook and pencil, and probably nourished by Tizer and a pork pie, they were feasting upon a day in sunlit heaven.

(RCR 14096).

Editors Footnote:

career (September 1951 to April 1966), No. 92208 the shortest (June 1959 to November 1967) and that their average working life was 12 years and 11 months.

British Railways’ family of standardised designs was synonymous with the spirit of hope, reconstruction and re-invigoration that heralded the start of the Elizabethan era. It is salutary to note that of the twelve locomotives featured above, No. 75000 enjoyed the longest working

It is the country’s good fortune that the ‘working life’ of the Elizabethan era was substantially longer, for which we must all be truly grateful.

27

WESTERN TIMES

THE HAWKSWORTH COACHES PART 2 - SUBURBAN STOCK & AUTO-TRAILERS SUBURBAN STOCK (all non-corridor) iesel railcars had been built in modest numbers up to D 1942 but there was no sign of post-war resumption of this programme, although as described in the Experimental column of Western Times Issue 3, there remained enthusiasm for the concept. Continuation of locomotive-hauled suburban services was therefore a necessary stop-gap. Like their main line counterparts, Hawksworth’s coaches adhered to the principle of standardised body dimensions, all types being 63’ ¾” x 8’ 11”. Seating was exclusively in compartments, there being no saloon accommodation and no toilets.

While there was a need for new suburban stock, the urgency was rather less intense and production did not commence until May 1947. By October 1954 when construction ceased, the following types and quantities had entered service.

Type

Number Built

All Third

241

Brake Third

121

Composite

36

Brake Composite

32

The torrent of BR diesel multiple units that commenced in the later 1950s meant that the working careers of Hawksworth’s non-corridor coaches were even shorter than their mainline counterparts. All were withdrawn in 1962/ 3 and none were rescued by the fledgling preservation movement.

The individual types by diagram were as follows:

Above: Sonning Cutting with No. 6141 (Old Oak Common) leading a five-vehicle matched set of Hawksworth suburban coaches on an Up train on 19 May 1956. The symmetrical composition is Brake Third D132/ All Third C83/ Composite E166/ All Third C83/ Brake Third D132.

R C Riley (RCR 7227).

All Third Diagram C83 [10 compartments/ 100 seats/ weight 30.8 tons]

These were comfortable vehicles compared with their BR Southern Region contemporaries. The production series Electric Multiple Unit 4SUB Trailer Third accommodated 120 passengers in 10 compartments, within a body of 61’ 11” x 9’ 0” dimensions. The difference in body length was insignificant but the Southern used six-aside seating. (The Trailer Thirds of the first series of 4SUBs had 11 compartments seating 132 within the same body dimensions).

28

Lot No.

Build Dates

Nos.

1693

May-47 to Nov-48

374-413

1712

Apr-49 to Sep-49

2002-2016

1726

Jul-50 to Sep-50

1840-1859

1739

Apr-50 to Aug-50

2017-2026

1745

Sep-50 to Jun-51

2601-2720

1748

Mar-51 to Nov-51

2797-2832

ISSUE 6

Above: The archetypal BR(W) suburban service of the immediate pre-DMU era with one of Old Oak’s ‘61s’ No. 6135 leaving Paddington on 29 August 1959. The train seems to consist of six coaches or more, of which the first three are Hawksworth’s Brake Third D132, All Third C83 and Composite E166.

R C Riley (RCR 14189).

Left: A pair of Diagram C83 All Thirds are seen at Banbury in 1950, still carrying the last style of Great Western coach livery. The vehicle nearest is No. 387, built at Swindon in July 1947 as part of Lot No. 1693. It was to remain in traffic until withdrawal in December 1962. The slab sided profile of the Hawksworth suburban stock with all windows and droplights in symmetrical alignment is clearly evident in this image.

Below: The Swindon line-drawing of a Diagram C83 All Third, showing principle dimensions and the ten compartment configuration that gave a seating capacity for 100 passengers.

29

Brake Third Diagram D132

[6 compartments/ 60 seats/ guard’s compartment/ van space/ weight 30.35 tons]

Lot No.

Build Dates

Nos.

1694

Mar-48 to Oct-48

414-438

1713

Aug-49 to Apr-50

2087-2106

1746

Feb-52 to Jul-52

2721-2765 2776-2790

1764

May-53 to Jul-53

4126-4131 4133-4137 4139-4142 4152

Above: Official photograph of Brake Third Diagram D132 No. 2721, the first of Lot No. 1746 which was delivered into service February 1952.

British Railways.

Composite Diagram E166

[5 x first & 4 x third class compartments/ 40 first class & 40 third class seats/ weight 30.55 tons]

Lot No.

Build Dates

Nos.

1762

Mar-52 to Apr-52

7173-7182

1767

Jan-53 to Aug-53

7183-7208

Brake Composite Diagram E167

[2 x First & 5 x Third Class compartments/ 16 first class & 50 third class seats/ guard’s compartment/ van space/ weight 30.1 tons]

Lot No.

Build Dates

Nos.

1750

May-52 to Oct-52

7081-7090

1775

Feb-54 to Apr-54

7386-7397

1777

Sep-54 to Oct-54

6276-6285

Middle: On 11 October 1958, Brake Composite Diagram E167 No. 6276 was standing in the Up platform road at Totnes together with Newton Abbot’s Class 14xx No. 1427 forming the Ashburton branch train. The usual motive power for the branch was No. 1470 in partnership with an auto trailer. On this occasion, first class accommodation was on offer. Some of this diagram (Lot No. 1750) were apparently fitted with two end windows in the van section but obviously not those of Lot No. 1777. No. 6276 was the first of a batch of ten; No. 6285 completed in October 1954 was the last coach built to a GWR design. Peter W Gray.

Bottom: Official photograph of Composite Diagram E166 No. 7201; this coach was completed July 1953.

Suburban usage would normally require set formations between three and five vehicles. With completion of this diagram, brake vehicles totalled 36% of the total non-corridor coach construction which appears a more reasonable proportion than the situation with their main line corridor counterparts. The van space within the N/C Brake Third was generous and perhaps part could have been given up to allow insertion of another compartment making for better use of space. The need for the Brake Composite type is unclear. Lot Nos. 1750

British Railways.

and 1775 were intended to operate as individual ‘filler’ vehicles whereas Lot No. 1777 was scheduled to work as six two-coach B-Sets. During their short careers it is uncertain whether all were deployed in this fashion which by 1954 was a ‘dated’ and somewhat unpopular concept. One source has even described B-sets as ‘notorious’, perhaps based on their use on quite lengthy cross-country services. The coaches of Lot No. 1777 were the last to be built to a GWR design.

30

ISSUE 6 Right: Lot 1775 comprised 12 vehicles Nos. 7386 to 7397, intended to run as six 2-coach B-sets but they seem to have been camera shy and it is uncertain whether or for how long they ran as pairs. No views have been traced so this photograph taken at Kingsbridge on 20 May 1956 must substitute showing two of Diagram E167 working solus. One brake composite is standing with a Southern GUV in the siding. The other forms the first coach behind Class 4575 No. 5533 (Newton Abbot) on the 2.10 pm to Brent.

The second coach in this formation is another Brake Composite, albeit of Collett vintage. The slight difference in end profile provides the clue.

Peter W Gray.

Middle: Weymouth’s No. 5997 Sparkford Hall was leaving Tilehurst with an Up service on 19 May 1956. In this case, a five-vehicle matched Hawksworth set (Brake Third D132/ All Third C83/ Composite E166/ All Third C83/ Brake Third D132) has been augmented by a Collet All Third at the front. The best estimate is a 55’ 3” Diagram C66 [of 1936] or C75 [of 1940]; note the different end profile and the manner in which the slab-sided Hawksworth coaches turned in only slightly towards the solebar.

R C Riley (RCR 7262).

Bottom: British Railways built 15xx Class 0-6-0PT No. 1505 at Royal Oak on 30 May 1957 with a suburban rake, the first coach of which is Diagram D132 No. W430W. The locomotive which is also of Hawksworth design, was one of a trio of the ten strong class to be adorned in mixed traffic lined black livery. This was reputedly in an attempt to make them look more presentable for their duties in and around Paddington and No. 1505 retained this livery along with the early crest until withdrawal in May 1962.

R C Riley (RCR 10364).

31

WESTERN TIMES

AUTO-TRAILERS

These vehicles followed the time-honoured auto-trailer design concept. However, they differed by introducing a new body length, and by the nature of certain fittings e.g. the windows were of modern BR design. Although externally the four diagrams were identical, the seating configuration varied and hence the tare. These vehicles were required for replacement of older purpose-built auto trailers and steam rail motor conversions, some of which had been in service for around 40 years. Their introduction was an extension of the stop-gap steamhauled policy rather than based on any intent to expand the auto train network.

design and the enclosed list is approved.’ The terms appear ambiguous, suggesting that an alternative set of names might have been considered previously.

The letter also implies that the remainder of Diagram A38 should be named once the modification (i.e. to Diagrams A39/ A40) had been completed, which work was never done. The list mentioned only eleven names for the fifteen vehicles: Blackbird, Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Jackdaw, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Skylark, Starling, Thrush, Wren. (It might be relevant that all but Lapwing, Thrush and Wren had been carried by the then recently deceased ‘Bird’ series of Bulldog 4-4-0s).

Nos. W220 and W221, then working on Ealing/ Greenford services, were named Thrush and Wren respectively in 1952. A letter from K.W.C. Grand (Chief Regional Officer, Paddington) dated 12 May 1952 regarding ‘PUSH AND PULL UNITS’, indicates that following reconsideration ‘it would be desirable to revert to the suggestion that names of birds be adopted for future push and pull units of modified

The GWR had named a few coaches but only examples intended for more grandiose clientele than would normally be found in an auto trailer. Many push-pull trains were largely community facilities in the nature of the areas they served, and in the layout of the open saloons. With their internal arrangements affording panoramic window space, they have understandably proved popular on heritage lines.

Auto-Trailers Diagrams A38/ A39/ A40/ A43 All-third seating in two open saloons/ driving cab/ guard’s compartment/ van space/ body dimensions 63’ ¾” x 8’ 11”

Diag.

Lot No.

Build Dates

Nos. 220/ 1 §

A38

1736

May-51 Jun-51 to Aug-51

222-234

A39

-

Feb-52

220 §

A40

-

Mar-52

221 §

A43

1766

Jun-54 to Sep-54

235-244

[Seating accommodation and weight according to diagram]

Diag.

Seating

Weight (tons)

A38

68 + 4 emergency

31.05

A39

64

32.20

A40

74

31.85

A43

68

31.65

§ Modified seating fitted and new diagrams issued.

Left: Auto-trailers Nos. 220 & 221 named Thrush and Wren respectively, entered service in May 1951 as the first of a new design to Diagram A38 and thirteen more followed between June and August 1951. In February and March of the following year, Nos. 220 & 221 were fitted with revised seating arrangements and re-designated as A39 and A40 in the same order. Another ten with another seating revision under Diagram A43 followed in 1954.

All 25 were externally identical except for the names carried by the original pair. No. 221 Wren in carmine and cream livery was standing in the bay at Greenford on 15 June 1952. The locomotive’s centre splasher is just discernible and judging by its size, it was a member of Class 54xx.

32

ISSUE 6

Above: Collett 54xx Class 0-6-0PT No. 5420 was taking on water at Bicester on 28 July 1961 in company with No. 221 Wren, now reduced to plain maroon.

R K Blencowe.

Below: On 2 July 1963, Auto Trailer A38 No. 233 propelled by Class 14xx No. 1471 was entering Cadeleigh with an Exeter-bound service from Dulverton on the Exe Valley line. Built in August 1951, this coach survives in preservation.

R C Riley (RCR 17202).

33

WESTERN TIMES

Above: Diagram A43 trailer No. W240W is pictured at Seaton Junction in February 1965, wearing the final livery variation of lined maroon. Note the differing position of the overhead electric warning flash compared to the vehicle in the previous photograph.

The Conclusion At the Grouping, Herbert A. Walker who had been General Manager of the London & South Western Railway since 1913 inherited an unusual rolling stock problem on becoming GM of the newly-formed Southern Railway. He was an interesting character whose technical competence was complemented by formidable entrepreneurial flair, an unusual quality in the higher echelons of an industry typified by a conservative management culture.

driving cabs and traction motors as required to existing coaches and by wiring intermediate trailing vehicles.

Walker thus inherited a grouped company operating two incompatible traction systems. The decision to standardise on the ex-LSWR third rail system was pragmatic, determined by this network being the larger in route mileage. The transition process from overhead to third rail supply was completed in September 1929, with all the LBSCR EMUs converted to third rail. Stock supplied before World War 1 thus had their working lives extended and some examples remained in service until the 1940s and 50s.

In December 1909, the London Brighton & South Coast Railway had commenced an electrified service between Victoria and London Bridge via Denmark Hill, marketed as the ‘Elevated Electric’ using 6,600 volts ac overhead supply. In 1915-6, the LSWR commenced its own suburban electrification scheme that drew 600 volts dc from the third rail. Both systems quickly proved satisfactory and were well patronised as a viable alternative to tramways and omnibuses.

In 1945, the Southern Railway confronted coaching stock problems similar to those facing the GWR i.e. ageing vehicles in rundown condition. Walker had retired in 1937 but remained a director of the Southern until nationalisation. His principles of careful asset management of the coach fleet prevailed in an exercise generically known as the 3SUB Augmentation Programme. The objective was to add extra vehicles to traditional 3-car units through a mixture of refurbished units, manufacture of new vehicles, and recovery of old chassis on which new bodies were mounted.

The LBSCR had purchased new vehicles/ trains units for its electrified routes as their non-bogie coaching stock was dated and typical of the previous century.

In contrast, the LSWR had a substantial steam-hauled bogie fleet that was relatively young. This allowed the heavy cost of electrification to be mitigated by fitting 34

ISSUE 6 Adaptation of steam-hauled coaching stock was also applied successfully in dieselisation programmes. The independently owned Great Northern Railway (Ireland) enthusiastically embraced diesel multiple unit trains for their Belfast-Dublin express services by converting steam-hauled coaches to operate in this mode with power equipment supplied by British United Traction.

The BUT trains were assembled as two car units i.e. every second car was powered ensuring that the power to weight ratio stayed more or less constant with 4, 6, or 8, coach trains. Further, operating flexibility was maximised by inclusion of the following vehicle types: Buffet Car, Dining Car, Brake First Corridor, Corridor Composite, Brake Second Corridor, Second Open, Brake Second Open. The BUT trains, which included coaches from pre-war days, worked with great economy until about 1975, neatly overcoming a disadvantage with fixed formations i.e. lack of flexibility when facing variable traffic demands.

nonetheless recognised key obligations regarding the latter, especially the LMS NCC line from Belfast to Londonderry. With a policy of early dieselisation, a programme in conjunction with Leyland Motors Ltd and Self Changing Gears Ltd saw introduction of a new generation of DMUs classified MPD (for Multi-Purpose Diesel) from 1957. These combined high-powered engines and advanced transmission technology that permitted the running of express services at speeds up to 80 mph. At the other end of the scale, pairs of MPD power units successfully handled freight trains and also engaged in shunting. Freight haulage eventually took its toll in over-stressed engines and the MPD fleet was withdrawn entirely between 1977 and 1980. However, the crucial points were that MPDs (i) worked with a similar level of operational flexibility to that achieved by GNR(I) with its BUT trains and (ii) were created out of converted steam-hauled passenger stock [both power cars and trailer units].

Lest this careful husbandry of financial resources be attributed solely to private enterprise pragmatism, it is important to remind that British Railways did not hold a monopoly ownership of the United Kingdom’s nationalised railways. The Ulster Transport Authority was formed in 1949 to assume control of the networks of the LMS Northern Counties Committee and of the Belfast & County Down Railway plus sundry bus operations. The UTA favoured road over rail but

The London & South Western, Southern and Great Northern (Ireland) railways plus the publicly-owned Ulster Transport Authority could not all have been wrong in their management of major transitional programmes in motive power. The issues were broadly similar in each case and optimised use of limited financial resources was a common theme. It is in this context that the fate meted out to the Hawksworth coach fleet should be judged.

Above: Later in their careers, dispersal of Hawksworth coaches to mundane, secondary duties was commonplace as in this Down local near Hinksey on 15 August 1959. Large Prairie No. 4103 is heading a mixed rake consisting of a maroon-liveried Brake Third D131/ 133, then a similarly-styled Collett All Third C54, a blood and custard Hawksworth Brake Composite E164, and finally an unidentified auto trailer.

R C Riley (RCR 14121).

35

WESTERN TIMES In the normal course, it was reasonable to expect a main line coach to have a viable working life of 25-35 years, although there were plenty of examples of longer careers. Based on the summary below, there would appear to have been justification for at least another 10-15 years’ service: Diag.

Type

Average Life (yrs)

A23

All First

14

C82/84/85

All Third

18

D131/133

Brake Third

19

E164

Brake Composite

17

E163

Composite

18

Regarding the suburban fleet, the distortion was even more extreme: Type

Average Life (yrs)

C83

All Third

13

D132

Brake Third

12

E166

Composite

9

E167

Brake Composite

9

•

Conversion of brake vehicles to non-powered driving units which with intermediate trailers would be electronically connected to a separate diesel locomotive of a size similar to (and hopefully more reliable than) Class D63xx, thus operating in pushpull fashion.

Hawksworth’s Class 94xx 0-6-0PTs have been criticised for their construction in unnecessarily large numbers.

However, it is contended that the greater waste was incurred through early eradication of the Hawksworth coach fleet. A simple comparison illustrates the point:-

Even a passing assessment of the opportunities offers three alternatives for the extended working life of 430 suburban coaches of recent construction: •

Conversion of brake vehicles to driving motor brake thirds retaining passenger accommodation (i.e. similar to the Southern Region’s Hampshire sets) and the piping of other coaches to work as intermediate trailers.

As mentioned in Part 1, three Hawksworth Corridor Composites Nos. 7254, 7804, 7813 were belatedly modified for use in fixed formation diesel-powered trains in September 1961. They were equipped with jumper cables for through control and painted in a slightly different shade of railcar green. No. 7813 was inserted into a three-car Gloucester RC&W Cross Country DMU (NB records state the conversion date as October 1961 but the photograph below indicates otherwise). This exercise was a reiteration of the simple, low cost adaptation of hauled coaches to increase the capacity of the GWR’s Railcar pairs Nos. 35-8, as described in WT Issue 3. The BR DMUs so augmented were deployed on Paddington-Westbury services and also sometimes Paddington-Oxford. This logical, commercially realistic exercise sadly came too late in the day and all three were withdrawn in March 1968.

These were modern, stylish vehicles whose appearance might have been at odds with the glamorous (?) corporate image sought through the BR Mark 1 coach. Nonetheless, their marshalling into fixed sets together with some internal modifications to create some externally compatible catering vehicles would surely have been a cheaper course than premature destruction of the fleet and substitution by yet more Mark 1s.

Diag.

•

Diagram E167 Brake Composites (7396/ 7); withdrawn Dec 62, working life 8 years 8 months.

Diagram A8 Corridor All First (8316); withdrawn Jan 53, working life 49 years 10 months.

Supply of new driving motor units to top and tail fixed sets comprising existing stock, suitably wired to accept DMU control systems.

Right: A seven-car DMU train forms the 3.45 pm Oxford to Paddington service east of Didcot on 22 September 1961. The leading set is a threecar Gloucester RC&W with Diagram E165 Composite No. 7813 inserted immediately behind the driving vehicle.

Adaptation to work in this form was carried out in September 1961, so it was in ex-works condition in this view.

Michael Mensing.

36

ISSUE 6

Above: Swindon-built Hawksworth 94xx Class 0-6-0PT No. 9404 heading a Collett E159 Brake Composite plus two Hawksworth coaches (All Third C82/ C84 and Brake Third D131/ 133) at Newbury on 16 May 1959.

John Bailey.

Below: On cessation of Slip Coach services in June 1960, converted Hawksworth D164 Brake Composite Nos. 7374-6 had their special equipment removed and were then based at Taunton for branch line duties. No. 7374 survived until February 1963 while the other two lasted until July and March 1966 respectively. This undated image shows No. 7375 at Chard Central. A separate article describing the trio is planned for a future issue.

George Smith.

37

WESTERN TIMES

GWR EMPLOYEE DISHONESTY t is tempting to look back to the days of the Great the shareholders, and in consequence to keep costs ISparking Western with an obvious rose-tinted perspective. down and so run its whole operation as efficiently as engines and coaches running along steel rails possible. Consequently, this meant an eye had to be where a weed would never dare shows its leaves and through stations where pill-box hatted station masters smiled and adjusted the carnation in the buttonhole of their jacket lapel.

kept on all aspects of the business and whilst probably 99% of employees were honest, sadly there were the occasions when temptation reared its head.

What follows is a verbatim report compiled by either the Superintendent of the Bristol Division or certainly someone in his office and sent to Mr J Morris the Superintendent of the Line at Paddington on 6 June 1910.

If this is the vision of the GWR an individual wishes to perceive absolutely fine, although we should not forget that the GWR was in reality a business. A business whose duty it was to provide a dividend to its investors,

Dear Sir, Parcel Porter Harold Kempster absconding, Lawrence Hill.

I am very sorry to have to bring to your notice another case of a servant of the company in my division retaining money belonging to the Company.

It was reported to me that Parcel Porter Kempster of Lawrence Hill absented himself from duty on Tuesday 31 May. He was due to commence his work at 11.30am and, finding that he did not turn up at 2.00pm without giving any information as to the cause, the Station Master sent to his house for an explanation, when the man’s wife stated that her husband had left his home at 8.30am and promised to be home for dinner at 1.30pm. She appeared surprised that he had not gone to his duty and could give no account of his whereabouts.

At 6.00pm the same day his wife called to see the Station Master and told him that her husband had collected 9/9d from a Mr Godwin, who keeps a fish shop in Barton Road close by. This he did about 9.30am on 30 May and gave a receipt for the sum dated 30 August 1910. It was found that the amount had not been paid in to the Company. A receipt was given to Mr Godwin by Kempster for the money.

I may say that some of the accounts rendered from Bristol Parcels offices are at times paid in at Lawrence Hill for the convenience of our customers.

From what Kempster’s wife has said, it appears that the man had become involved with another woman and the climax of his difficulties speedily being reached, he absconded on 31 May. I have had an examination of the parcels work at Lawrence Hill made, and I anticipate that some other cases of his having withheld small amounts during the past two months will arise, as inaccuracy sheets are being received from the Audit Office in respect of bills which cannot be traced; they have probably been destroyed by Kempster to cover for these irregularities. Up to now the amount which required explaining is £3 7s 10d.

You will see that Kempster has been in the service since December 1901; he is 22 years of age and has nothing recorded against him. It is pretty clear that his lapse is of quite recent date and is accounted for by what I have referred to above. I think drastic steps should be taken in this case, and it would seem that Kempster might be arrested on the case of withholding the 9/9d referred to.

If you approve perhaps you will ask Mr Saunders to take the matter in hand accordingly.

I need hardy say how annoyed I am to have to report so many of these cases in so short a period of time, notwithstanding the continual efforts which are made to prevent them.

38

ISSUE 6 There was a conclusion a while later, when on 25 June 1910 the local newspaper reported Harold Kempster had appeared at Bristol Police Court charged with embezzling 9s 9d belonging to the GWR. The story reported under the heading ‘Great Western Railway Clerk’s lapse – a sad story of temptation’ (clearly the newspaper could not differentiate between a Parcel Porter and a Clerk – or did embezzlement by a clerk make for better ‘copy’?). Kempster pleaded for another chance, citing he had so many bills and was heavily in debt earning just 22/- weekly. The Chairman, Mr A H Ford, treated the case as leniently as he could but said an example had to be made. Kempster was sent to prison for one month.

the GWR Magazine at intervals, no doubt intended as a deterrent to those who might otherwise be tempted. On the converse side, examples of honest and positive behaviour were also given, sometimes showing a reward might have been bestowed upon a particularly deserving individual. Notwithstanding the last sentence, Peter Rance of the Great Western Trust has informed the writer that the Trust recently acquired a blank standard GWR Office of the Chief of Police form ‘Proposed Prosecution of….’, It is dated 1926, with the print reference inferring 5,000 such sheets were printed. It has sections on ‘the facts’; ‘Solicitor’s opinion’; ‘General Manager’s Instructions’; ‘Result of Prosecution’. Naturally being an official form, it was numbered as ‘4732’. Somewhere or possibly destroyed must be the massive ledgers containing used/ completed forms. What tales could they tell we might wonder?

In total the GWR had something in the order of 80,000 thousand employees in 1910, the vast majority of which were scrupulously honest throughout their careers.

Odd examples of indiscretions were mentioned in

The station at Lawrence Hill was opened by the Bristol and South Wales Union Railway in 1863, to serve the Bristol suburbs of its namesake and nearby Easton. Originally comprising a single line and platform, it was doubled with the opening of the Clifton Extension Railway in 1874 and further expanded to the four platform layout seen above by the Great Western Railway in 1891. In a much rationalised form it remains open today.

39

WESTERN TIMES

FROM THE ARCHIVES:

2-6-2 TANK - No. 3902 the year 1907 when Churchward’s modernisation arrangement on the books so there were plenty to Ihisnprogramme was in full flight and the familiar outline of spare. Deans Goods Nos. 2491-2510 built under Lot standardised designs was becoming a trademark No. 104 between August and December 1896 were everyday feature of the system, something rather unusual emanated from Swindon. Nos. 3901/ 2 entered service in February of that year, the first two locomotives of a new class of prairie tank with inside cylinders and an awkward, high set superstructure. The design, not new in the accepted sense, was manifestly at odds with the rather graceful styling of the growing two cylinder fleet. No. 3902 was a makeshift adaptation of existing components to meet a particular traffic requirement and the result was an oddity.

earmarked for the project.

For the most part, the 0-6-0s were rebuilt in pairs using locomotives as they fell due for major repairs while the resultant 2-6-2Ts were numbered sequentially as they entered service. Thus Nos. 3901/ 2 used parts from withdrawn 0-6-0s Nos. 2491/ 2498 respectively; the resultant creations were denied a new allocation of works numbers. The Dean Goods frames were discarded and longer replacements cut to accommodate the pony and trailer trucks. Driving wheelbase, driving wheels, cylinders, rods and motion were transferred to the new frame sets. The Standard No. 5 boiler was fitted as used with the contemporary and more familiar 2-6-2T Class 45xx. Redundant re-usable components, principally tenders and Class 2301 boilers (No. 2498 still carried its original round-topped S4 type), would have gone into the respective pools of spares.

In the early part of the 20th Century, there was growing demand for more powerful tank locomotives for Birmingham area commuter traffic. In earlier times perhaps the local works could have satisfied the local need but Lot No. N3 comprising small prairies Nos. 2161-80 (later Nos. 4500-19) built between October 1906 and April 1908 marked the end of Stafford Road’s new build activity. The task thus fell to Swindon although with much else going on, it would take almost three years to deliver Nos. 3901/ 2 and their 18 companions in a programme of moderate priority.

At the time, the Swindon machine shop was working full tilt so manufacture of new motion parts was out of the question. The solution was a transformation that was more typical of the radical rebuilding exercises of the early days of steam in a fusion of Dean Goods mechanical parts and the Standard No. 5 boiler. Use of Dean Goods components made sense as the most modern design of the company’s 0-6-0s. As at 31 December 1906, there 678 engines of this wheel Basic dimensional comparison with Classes 44xx & 45xx:

44xx

45xx

39xx

Introduced

Apr-04

Oct-06

Feb-07

Cylinders

16.5” x 24”

17” x 24”

17.5” x 26”

Driving Wheel Diameter

4’ 1.5”

4’ 7.5”

5’ 2”

Boiler Pressure (lb/ sq in)

165

180

200

Boiler Pitch

7’ 6”

7’ 9”

8’ 3”

Tractive Effort - lb (85%)

18,515

19,120

20,155

Total Weight (tons)

55.75

57.00

62.20

Overall Wheelbase

26’ 6”

26’ 10”

28’

Water Capacity (gallons)

1000

1000

1500

40

ISSUE 6

Driving wheel diameter was significant. The small size on Class 44xx was a Churchward standard that was little used while Class 39xx retained a diameter that was rather large for duties typified by continual stopping and starting. The clear star of the trio was Class 45xx whose sparkling performance is reputed to have inspired awe among crews and observers alike. Timing was often critical in locomotive histories and here the introduction of 39xx was premature or alternatively 45xx arrived too late. Swindon was committed to processing the 20 Dean Goods before the impressive performance of the 4’ 7½” engines was fully recognised. A few months’ difference might have resulted in the programme proving unnecessary as 45s could have met the traffic need.

in July 1917 with Nos. 3908/ 9/ 20. In contrast, superheating of the forty members of Class 45xx built in saturated form commenced in January 1914 and fifteen still awaited attention in January 1920 with the last (No. 4530) processed in October 1926. Focus on an interim type with limited career expectancy at the expense of a versatile, efficient performer destined for a long working life seemed a strange order of priority.

Most of Class 39xx were initially deployed on commuter work in the Birmingham area but five went straight to the Neath division and a couple to Gloucester/ Worcester.

More emigrated to South Wales later. Single examples were at Westbury and Taunton in the mid-1920s and the class was displaced by large prairies in the Birmingham area in 1929 leading to dispersal in the Neath and London divisions. Mileages as 2-6-2Ts varied between 400,000 and 500,000; in their previous existence as 0-6-0s they had averaged 250,000-300,000. No. 3902 started life as an 0-6-0 in September 1896 and was withdrawn in August 1932. Class 39xx became extinct in November 1934.

Class 39xx’s styling reflected its makeshift background.

Whether a tank capacity 50% greater than 44xx/ 45xx was needed seems questionable, particularly as it helped make access to the motion difficult. The hole-inthe-wall might have eased the problem but working on the motion must still have been uncomfortable. Pannier tanks were then in their infancy but partial adoption of that brilliant innovation at the front end might have produced a better result.

A point of detail concerns No. 3902’s early livery. That invaluable tool for every enthusiast, Great Western Way by John Lewis and the HMRS Stewards (Historical Model Railway Society, 2009) states on Page 24 ‘In 1903…the monogram on the tender…was replaced by the Garter Crest between the words GREAT and WESTERN. Tank engines followed suit in 1906 but without the Garter Crest. The lettering on the tank sides however always provided spacing for the crest to be added if required.’ The image states otherwise but this was an official photograph and No. 3902 presumably worked in ordinary service without this decoration.

Changes to the class followed the contemporary developmental progress applied across-the-board.

The earlier photograph above (a postcard by F. Moore) depicts No. 3902 in as-built condition. The second opposite (Photomatic) is undated but was taken at Old Oak Common, probably in the early 1930s. Top feed and a bunker extension had been added. The latter modification, which might not have been applied to all 20 engines, added room for about 6 cwt more fuel but records are rather coy about coal capacity when new.

A few years after No. 3902, another medium-sized passenger tank engine emerged from Swindon. This may be accorded its own critique, once suitable images turn up in the Archives.

Another modification was the fitting of superheating and here lay an oddity. The first to be so equipped was No. 3916 in July 1914 and the programme was completed 41

WESTERN TIMES

THREE POSITION SIGNALS ne of the many features that singled out the Great The piece reads: ‘Three Position Signal at Paddington.

O Western and later British Railways Western Region A recent visit paid to the United States by signalling and was its rigid retention of lower quadrant signals. True, traffic officers of the Great Western Railway caused colour light signals had been installed at Paddington and a few other major locations under the GWR, but elsewhere the semaphore reigned supreme, albeit with variations and modifications as the years passed.

them to be favourably impressed with the American three-position signal, and in order to obtain actual experience at first hand it was decided to instal one at Paddington station, and the signal has now been brought into use.

The late David Smith in his seminal work GWR Signalling Practice (Great Western Study Group, 2019 – and most definitely recommended), refers to the time post-nationalisation when BR sent a memorandum to the effect that all replacement semaphore signals were in future to be of the upper quadrant type, this to be as soon as supplies of existing stock (lower quadrant) had been used up. Smith then recounts what possibly may be folklore (or possibly not but it is amusing anyway), that this prompted an immediate large order for further lower quadrant arms for stock. In the event, supplies were never really used up and replacement lower quadrant arms were thus being installed well into the 1960s and likely beyond.

‘The signal gives three indications in what is known as the upper quadrant. In other words, the arm moves up from the horizontal to the vertical position. In the first (horizontal) position of the arm, the signal exhibits a red light, indicating ‘stop’. In the second position the arm is inclined at an angle of 45 degrees to the horizontal, and exhibits a yellow light*; this indicated ‘Proceed with caution, prepared to stop at the next signal.’

At this point the writer of the article appears to have become slightly confused for he adds a rider, ‘This position of the signal (referring to the caution) takes the place of the verbal warning and hand signal given in accordance with Block Regulation 5 (Warning arrangement)’. However this cannot be the case, unless every train passing the signal at caution was being worked under Regulation 5 which seems somewhat unlikely. (For a further explanation of Regulation 5 working, see Issue 1 of WT. Attempting to cover every aspect – pardon the deliberate pun – was at the time a distant signal regarded as a literal ‘warning’ with no difference between it when displaying caution and the warning given to the driver under Regulation 5).

Consistency then in at least one area of GWR history?

Well perhaps it might not have been, as witness a single photograph that recently came to light and which in turn fortunately led back to the Great Western Magazine of December 1914 where on pages 323/ 324 there is a description and illustrations of a three-position upper quadrant arm installed on the down main line leaving Paddington. The article is under the heading ‘Departmental News’, a regular feature describing new developments and work on the system as a whole. We have decided to reproduce the text in full as it includes some interesting comments, not least serving as an introduction to the 1914 reader as to what was meant by an ‘upper quadrant’ signal (lower quadrant arms being almost universally used on every British railway up to that time), but also because of the reference it makes to the disadva ntages of the lower quadrant signal – and yet this same lower quadrant continued to be the mainstay of the landscape on the GWR / WR for the decades that followed.

Returning to the text, ‘In the third position the arm is at an angle of 90 degrees to the horizontal and exhibits a green light, this signifies ‘Proceed’ and indicated that the signals at the next box in advance are also all in the ‘All right’ position’.

‘It will be seen that the signal conveys the same indications as are at present conveyed by a home or starting signal with a lower distant arm on the same post. Hence, with three-position signals, the use of lower distant arms is unnecessary, and the signalling is therefore simplified.

‘Other advantages lie in the employment of a topmast signal machine (mechanism), and in the operation of the arm in the upper quadrant. The arm being directly connected to the electrical operating mechanism, there are no up rods, balance weights etc, so that the possibilities of failure from extraneous causes are minimised. Again, with the upper quadrant type, the The excellent Signal Box website refers to the caution indicator as *having been orange rather than yellow bit this cannot be confirmed.

42

ISSUE 6 The other point that comes over very strongly is the open criticism of the lower quadrant arm and its ability to return to danger, …’a heavy counter balance being required’. In practice, this was achieved in two ways with a conventional GW lower quadrant arm, firstly through the heavy spectacle casting and secondly the circular weight attached to the ‘hand’ lever at the base of the post. The article also talks of ice causing the arm to stick in a particular position. Normally this should only occur in extreme weather conditions but was common in winter generally, usually when a box had been switched out of circuit for a night or with the respective signals in the ‘off’ position for extended periods during ‘long-section’ working. Under these circumstances the arm might well stick in its last position; sometimes cured by the next signalman on duty jumping up and down on the respective wire outside the box. Even so this did not just apply to lower quadrant arms as an upper quadrant arm could similarly stick under adverse climatic conditions, if left unmoved for some time. (The ‘Red Book’ of Signalling Instructions confirms this point for both signals and turnouts.)

entire weight of the arm and spectacle is on one side of the spindle, so that the whole weight is useful and effective for the gravity return effect. This is in strong contrast to the lower quadrant type where the spectacle has to be made heavy enough to counterbalance the arm. Moreover, when ice or snow collects on the arm in the latter type, the arm sometimes sticks at ‘all right’, but in the upper quadrant type an accumulation of ice or snow would tend to increase the return effect.

‘The signal at Paddington is located on the left side of the down main line, and combines the functions of a starter for Paddington Departure Box and a distant for Westbourne Bridge Box. The 45-degree control is through a low voltage line relay operated by a lever in Paddington departure Box, and the 90-degree control through a low voltage relay operated by a lever in Westbourne Bridge Box. Hence, if only the firstnamed lever is reversed, the signal arm operates in the 45-degrees position only, but if both levers are reversed the arm operates to the 90-degree position.

‘The signal mechanism, which is erected on a tubular iron post having a concrete base, is the Union style ‘T-2’, designed for 10-volt direct current operation by the Union Switch and Signal Co. of Swissvale, Pa, USA, and supplied through the McKenzie, Holland and Westinghouse Power Signal Co. of Westminster SW. The operating mechanism consists of a four-pole electric motor driving a train of gears, the ratio of which is 120 to 1, a circuit controller and a holding slot device for retaining the signal arm in the ‘caution’ or ‘procced’ positions. The semaphore shaft is operated directly though the train of gears and the arm when returning to the ‘stop’ position drives the motor backwards, so it acts as a generator discharge current through a resistance.

The dynamic braking effect thus produced is utilised instead of the usual dashpot (i.e. pneumatic buffer) in retarding the backward movement of the arm. The arm may be easily stopped at the caution position when returning from the proceed position, or stopped at any point of the returning movement and started back to the proceed position. The mechanism is operated by three 4-volt accumulators.

‘There has been for some time a three-position ‘light’ signal on the up line at Edgeware Road on the Metropolitan Railway, but the new signal at Paddington is the first three-position semaphore signal to be installed in the British Isles.’

At the time, 1914, it would have been impossible for anyone to forecast the future but move forward to 1927 and this was when red distant signals and their associated red light began to be superseded by yellow arms and a yellow light. We have said it before, but the skill and knowledge involved in identifying the respective red caution light against the red stop light can only be imagined. Instead, here at Paddington in 1914 we have what may well have been the very first time a yellow (orange) light instead of a red one was being used for a distant signal, certainly on the GWR.

Above: The three-position signal on the down main line at Paddington. The indication is ‘All clear’. This was quite likely the first time a tubular metal post had been used for signalling on the GWR. Most other posts up until that time were timber, with a few exceptions in lattice or concrete. It is unclear whether the lamp used was fuelled by oil or electricity. Note all the other signals in view are of the conventional mechanical type, including the ‘Calling-on’ arm with ‘cash-register’ (route indicator) for shunting operations into the platforms. The hut in the foreground could well be for a fogman.

STEAM - Museum of the Great Western Railway.

43

WESTERN TIMES With open criticism then of the existing lower quadrant was this even the GWR themselves writing the piece or might it have been provided by the manufacturer to support their own product? It is interesting also to note the location of the installation, Paddington, perhaps deliberately so that the supplier might advertise the fact themselves of their signal at a prime location, possibly even taking prospective clients to view.

Putting what might be considered superfluous detail to one side for a moment, the most important omission in the statements made has to be there is no mention of a fail-safe provision. If the power failed what then? Did the arm remain locked in its last position, in which case it could remain as such after a train had passed.

For reasons that are not known at this stage, the GWR decided not to develop the three-position signal further on their main lines. Might it have been a matter of royalty/ patent costs? Although certainly in other areas the GWR were keen to use ideas which had originated overseas, the Churchward design heavy coach bogie with cross springing for example came from American practice. (Without wishing to digress too far from the original subject, the 2-6-0 locomotive design, 40T bogie coal wagons, the bogie Mink F, and the Swindon test plant might all be said to have relationship to contemporary American practice. This specific topic being one we intend to discuss further in future edition of Western Times).

What is also interesting to note is that whilst the Signalling Department was based at Reading, the various signalling experiments undertaken by the GWR in the early years of the 20th century were all within what might be considered a relatively easy travelling distance of Reading – in other words, they could be kept an eye on. (Examples might be, the power frame at Didcot North, similar at Yarnton Junction, ATC on the Fairford and Lambourn lines, and automatic block signals at Basildon (Berkshire). It is also only fair to point out there were exceptions, the electric distant signal near Ledbury.)

Looking back over 100 years we are unlikely to answer the questions raised in this piece along with others so far not mentioned; why in the description would there be a need for a forward and then reverse system? The arm would move up and then further up or perhaps up and return to danger. The way it is written almost sounds as if it could be moved up and down at will, perhaps a deliberate complication introduced to show the versatility of the product.

Elsewhere in the UK, the Great Central Railway had installed three-position signals at Keadby Bridge (Lincolnshire) in May 1916. Similar signals were also installed at Whitemoor Yard, March. Both installations were similar to that at Paddington, so perhaps provided by the same manufacturer but with the fundamental difference that the caution indication was given by a yellow lamp instead of (possibly) orange. Similar three-position semaphore signals were subsequently installed by the SECR at London Victoria (Eastern side in 1920, and by the GNR at Kings Cross in 1922. Apart from in the US, some Australian railways used the same type of semaphore.

It is believed the solitary signal at Paddington remained in use until the re-signalling of the area in 1932 and the provision of colour lights from Paddington as far as Southall in 1932/ 33. It was not relocated elsewhere.

Even so this not quite the end of three-position signalling on the GWR. In readiness for the passenger services from 3 August 1920, the newly electrified Ealing & Shepherds Bush Railway was provided with three position signalling, almost certainly of Westinghouse design, either in full or at least over part of the route.

(The line had previously opened in 1917 at the time just as a steam worked freight line.) In later years it became part of the modern-day Central Line. The three-position signals allowed for shorter sections and consequently a more intense service to be provided.

Left: Three position signal on the Ealing & Shepherds Bush Railway, photographed on 19 May 1930. The finial is a typical Westinghouse product and similar ‘dunce’ or ‘clown’s hat’ finials were used on several Westinghouse mechanical installations later in WW2.

E Wallis collection.

44

BOOK REVIEW TRACK LAYOUT DIAGRAMS OF THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY AND B.R. (W.R.) SECTION 45 – CAERPHILLY R.A. COOKE Published by Lightmoor Press, Lydney, Gloucestershire. (ISBN 978 191506 9122) £12.00 Every student of the GWR and BR(W) will have his or her list of ’must have’ publications readily to hand for reference purposes.

For many, the series of Track Layout Diagrams produced by R.A. Cooke over the years have formed an essential component of the personal library. They were easily identified by their plain card covers and spiral binding, but their value as an information source means that they rarely appear on the shelves of second-hand dealers. They were also a source of frustration where tracing a route took the reader ‘off the map’ to a companion volume which had yet to be issued, or which was not part of the personal collection. A good example was the area around Caerphilly where the network of routes was complex and confusing, but recurrent searches for the relevant Layout Diagram were always unsuccessful.

That has now been rectified by Lightmoor’s production of No. 45, Caerphilly. Apparently this volume never appeared in the old format but has now joined the ranks of the reprints which the publisher is steadily introducing. A valuable feature of the diagrams is the portrayal of locations at different periods, as with the Tunnel South/ Cherry Orchard section which is depicted in the years 1893, 1912, 1915 and 1985. It should be noted that the mapmaker’s skills are also deployed in adding features such as obscure industrial sidings that might have been in use for only short periods.

This issue conforms with the established standard of the Lightmoor series and further releases are eagerly awaited. The contribution of this series to collegiate knowledge on the Great Western Railway and its successor cannot be underestimated.

JC. Ian Pope of Lightmoor Press commented: ‘I can confirm that work is in progress on a number of volumes in the series. No. 61 West Shropshire is about to go to the printers to be followed by No. 62. Other volumes are also being considerably updated as so much more material has come to light/ been made available since the first editions were published. Lightmoor Press are delighted to be involved with this series and are working with Tony Cooke to get volumes out as quickly as possible after he has finished all of the research. I would add that all of those that we have recently re-introduced, Nos. 10, 11, 13, 22 etc have all been considerably updated from the previous editions. It is the pulling together of all of the new material that takes the time.’

45

Following the resounding success of the Collett ‘Castle’ Class 4-6-0 on the LNER in 1925, a request to borrow a similar locomotive was made by the London Midland & Scottish Railway the following year, for trials on the West Coast main line. As a result a brand new No. 5000 Launceston Castle (fitted with 4000g tender) was despatched to Crewe North shed on 25 October 1926. For the next five-weeks it was assessed over the former London and North Western Railway route between Euston and Carlisle. It is seen here attracting a fair amount of attention, having arrived on the blocks at Euston station with an Up express.

Rail Archive Stephenson.

ISSUE 6

OFF THE BEATEN TRACK t is always the subject of fascination and intrigue to witness things out of the ordinary. In railway terms this often Ienthusiast involved locomotives or items of rolling stock straying away from their regular haunts, much to the delight of the fraternity. The centenary of the 1923 ‘Grouping’ is the inspiration to bring together this small selection

of photographs of Great Western motive power in action upon the ‘foreign turf’ of other railway companies. In the independent railway and post-Grouping days such events were rare, where fierce territorial boundaries held sway.

But even as a nationalised conglomerate, the crossing of regional divides often proved to be a newsworthy event.

Above: No. 4079 Pendennis Castle makes an explosive departure from the former Great Northern Railway terminus at King’s Cross on 30 April 1925. Taking part in a series of exchange trials with an LNER Class A1 Pacific, the ‘Castle’ proceeded to form the centrepiece of the GWR display in the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, from May until November.

Right: An immaculate No. 4082 Windsor Castle hauls the GWR Royal Train at the ‘Railway Centenary Celebrations’ on 2 July 1925. The locomotive is seen taking part in a cavalcade over the former Stockton and Darlington Railway metals.

Both images F R Hebron / Rail Archive Stephenson.

47

In June 1948 No. 6990 Witherslack Hall approaches Manchester London Road with the 10.00 am express from Marylebone, during the famous ‘Locomotive Exchanges’. The trials evaluated mixed traffic designs from each of the former Big Four companies (LNER ‘B1’, LMS ‘Black 5’, SR ‘West Country’ and GWR ‘Modified Hall’) to provide data for the BR Standard locomotive programme. The Hall was only two-months old at this time and despite having been delivered with a BRITISH RAILWAYS branded tender on 8 April 1948, Swindon purposely exchanged it for an example still carrying the ‘old company’ G(Crest)W identity before entering it into the trials.

Another blatant example of defiance towards the new regime!

W S Garth / Rail Stephenson Archive.

Another ex-GWR design sent out for evaluation trials following Nationalisation was the AEC Railcar. One such secondment saw No. W20W working services between Bradford and Harrogate in Yorkshire. In 1952 the diesel unit is seen entering the former Lancashire & Yorkshire / Great Northern Railway terminus station at Bradford Exchange.

The Transport Treasury.

ISSUE 6 Top: Whilst certainly more of a routine occurrence than some of the workings featured here, a GWR locomotive on former Great Central Railway metals is surely worthy of inclusion. Here we see Hawksworth ‘Modified Hall’ Class 4-6-0 No. 6979 Helperly Hall of Banbury shed at Leicester Central station. Still adorned in the mixed traffic lined black livery, and whilst the photo is undated, it must be between February 1950 and March 1954 when paired with flat sided 4000g tender No. 4077. Delivered new to stock on 12 November 1947, it was destined to be a one shed locomotive, finally being withdrawn on 27 February 1965. Leicester Central was the regular location for the removal of GWR motive power from inter-regional workings from the south, but as the lower photograph testifies, this was not always the case!

Henry Cartwright (CW 10860).

Middle: The transfer of a pair of Hawksworth 16xx Class 0-6-0PTs to work on the former Highland Railway Dornoch Branch was covered in detail in Western Times Issue 2. It would be remiss however not to include another image at this northern Scottish outpost within this selection. The 2.05pm mixed train from The Mound has just arrived at the picturesque terminus at Dornoch behind No. 1649, in the capable hands of driver Tom Fraser on 27 August 1959.

An apparent solitary passenger disembarks (carrying a case of Carnation Milk under his arm), to be met by an almost full compliment of staff emerging from the timber-clad station building. The branch had less than a year left until closure by this time, with only two return trains running daily, usually consisting of a brake composite coach and a 12T box van.

William A C Smith (WS 2694).

Bottom: The tale of the ‘Grange’ that worked all the way to the West Riding of Yorkshire, is one that has attained an almost legendary status. It was of course absolutely true, as witnessed here by No. 6858 Woolston Grange resting on the former London & North Western Railway shed at Huddersfield Hillhouse, following its long distance exploits on 15 August 1964. The 4-6-0 had worked up on the summer Saturday 08.55am Bournemouth West to Leeds service, but instead of the usual engine change at Leicester, it continued via Sheffield before eventual removal at Huddersfield. After spending over a week at Hillhouse, it was eventually returned to Wolverhampton Oxley shed as an ‘out of gauge’ load via Stockport and Crewe at the sedate pace of 35 mph.

This is believed to be the furthest north that a GWR steam locomotive travelled on a non-scheduled working.

Neville Stead (NS 203799).

49

MODERN TRACTION:

‘WESTERNS’ IN COLOUR Top: Still looking respectably clean after 7-months in service, D1001 Western Pathfinder is captured at Taunton on 8 September 1962. The first of eleven class-members to be outshopped in overall maroon with lemon yellow bufferbeams, it was to be adorned with the more traditional small yellow warning panel a matter of weeks later.

Mark Warburton.

Middle: Fresh from the Crewe Works paintshop, D1070 Western Gauntlet is undergoing final inspections before release to traffic. The EM1 Class Bo-Bo electric No. 26055 Prometheus alongside looks decidedly dated in design styling compared with the diesel-hydraulic. The date is 13 October 1963.

P Botham.

Above: D1000 Western Enterprise stands by the west entrance to Swindon Works ‘A’ Shop. Still retaining the unique Desert Sand colour, cast BR logo and deeper nameplates, but with yellow panel added. The date is thought to be late 1963.

Bernard Mills.

50

Above: Shortly after release into traffic in June 1962, D1004 Western Crusader is seen calling at Brent with the 11.08am Plymouth to Cardiff.

Initially allocated to Laira shed, it had moved to Old Oak Common by October of that year. As BR green had been adopted as the standard livery for diesel locomotives, the Western Region felt duty bound to follow suit with some of their new D1000s, with three Swindon (D10024) and four Crewe (D1035-8) built examples receiving the scheme.

Roger Holmes.

Left: One of the Crewe-built green examples was D1037 Western Empress, seen in a rather more work stained state at Exeter St Davids.

Despite initial concern over a lack of experience with dieselhydraulic transmission and the complex stressed-skin body construction methods, Crewe was to build the majority of the class (thirtynine compared to thirty-five at Swindon). The records also show that the former LMS works production costs were less than their rival in Wiltshire.

Bernard Mills.

51

In the livery that many consider suited the class most favourably, maroon with small yellow warning panels, D1010 Western Campaigner awaits departure from Paddington with a Wolverhampton express. D1010 was the first locomotive delivered to traffic in this livery, leaving Swindon on 15 October 1962.

George Smith.

ISSUE 6

Above: D1049 Western Monarch rumbles over Red Cow Level Crossing and enters Exeter St Davids with the Down ‘Royal Duchy’ on 16 May 1964. Delivered in this livery on 17 December 1962, it received blue with full yellow ends in April 1967.

P Botham.

Below: Approaching Worle Junction in July 1966, D1019 Western Challenger heads the 6.45am Paddington-Weston-super-Mare.

By the start of summer 1966 the British Railways Board had mandated the change to rail blue as part of its corporate re-brand, but despite D1019 clearly needing a repaint, Swindon gave it a fresh coat of maroon following attention that October.

Bernard Mills.

53

Above: As the sun begins to set and the shadows lengthen, D1067 Western Druid makes the St Austell stop at the head of the 5.45pm Penzance-Manchester (1M78) on 11 May 1968. The decision to apply full yellow ends to maroon liveried locomotives was a strange one, as by the time the first example appeared (D1056 Western Sultan following an unclassified repair on 15 September 1967) full repaints into blue were commonplace. It would appear that the process involved instances where the maroon bodywork only required remedial touch-up or patch painting and as such only fourteen of the class were so adorned. D1067 received this treatment following repair to collision damage in October 1967 and remained thus until repainted blue in February 1969. At the time this image was taken it was a Plymouth Laira (84A) allocated machine and it would go on to accrue 1,232,000 miles before withdrawal on 24 January 1976. It was to subsequently spend well over a year languishing in and around the Swindon Works Dump, before finally succumbing to the cutters torch.

Bernard Mills.

Left: With the iconic Royal Eye Infirmary providing the backdrop, D1056 Western Sultan heads light engine from Plymouth North Road to Laira depot on 14 October 1969. As noted above, this was the first and the last ‘Western’ to carry this livery variation, finally receiving corporate blue on 6 April 1971 following almost 3-months out of traffic in Swindon Works. Destined to be one of the last of the class in revenue service, it was turned off for the final time on 15 December 1976. Incidentally, it was also one of the last examples your editor travelled behind earlier that summer. As for the Grade II listed Victorian Hospital, that too failed to escape the march of time, being converted into luxury apartments in 2021.

Bernard Mills.

ISSUE 6

Above: The first member of the class to receive blue livery was D1030 Western Musketeer, when it emerged from Swindon following overhaul on 2 August 1966. Contractors experimentally spray applied a unique shade often referred to as ‘chromatic’ with small yellow warning panels and red buffer beams. Not long after, it is seen at Exeter St Davids with an Up express.

Peter Doel.

Below: On Friday 25 September 1970, D1045 Western Viscount makes light work of the climb away from Totnes to Rattery with a two coach special. The locomotive only received its coat of rail blue with full yellow ends a month before the photograph. Bernard Mills.

55

WESTERN TIMES

Above: The peace of Castle Cary is temporarily disturbed as D1054 Western Governor hurries through in September 1973. The corporate Rail Blue livery with full yellow ends was the only colour scheme carried by all 74 members of the class.

George Smith.

Below: The final two members of the class to be built at Crewe, D1073 Western Bulwark and D1072 Western Glory, occupy Penzance Long Rock shed yard on 12 May 1974. The final batch of Swindon constructed locomotives was to enter traffic later however, with D1034 Western Dragoon being the last off the production line on 15 April 1964.

Roger Geach.

56

ISSUE 6

Above: It looks like the heavens are about to open at Plymouth on Sunday 20 October 1974, as D1047 Western Lord backs onto an empty coaching stock working to Penzance.

Roger Geach.

Below: Sunday 14 September 1975 sees (D)1070 Western Gauntlet heading the 08.45am Paddington-Plymouth service make its scheduled stop at Bristol Temple Meads. Note the painting over of the D prefix and the LA (Laira) allocation sticker above the cast numberplate. The locomotive had just over 15-months left in traffic, being withdrawn on 30 December 1976.

Roger Geach.

57

WESTERN TIMES

WEST COUNTRY CLAY TRAFFIC PART 2 - CHINA AND BALL CLAY IN DEVON STUART MALTHOUSE CHINA CLAY FROM DARTMOOR

In the first place, the beginnings of the Lee Moor line were such that it could well have fallen into the GW fold. By the 1830s, Lord Morley was already involved in constructing railways connecting with the Plymouth & Dartmoor at Rising Sun Junction. The line from the junction to the Cann Quarry Canal basin at Marsh Mills had been opened in 1829, and four years later the line northward to Cann Quarry from just short of Marsh Mills replaced the canal. The basin branch was also extended to Plympton and this line handled Lee Moor clay delivered to it by packhorse. The South Devon Railway purchased the branch in 1847 to facilitate the company’s approach to Plymouth.

here have been two main areas of commercial china T clay exploitation on Dartmoor, Lee Moor (the most important) and Redlake. Both have connections with the history and operations of the Great Western Railway.

Lee Moor Lord Morley, the local landowner, began the development of the china clay industry on his estates around Lee Moor village from around 1830. By the 1960s the quarries and processing plants, by then in the ownership of English China Clays, was a significant local employer and over 70% of the output was destined for export. The business here was notable for being the first site where much of the waste material, instead of being dumped or sold on to the construction industry, was used in integrated works alongside for the production of bricks and tiles. This practice only occurred in a limited number of instances elsewhere.

In return for Lord Morley’s support, the South Devon & Tavistock Railway (from the South Devon main line at Tavistock Junction) included a branch from Plym Bridge to Lee Moor via a cable-worked incline through Cann Wood in its proposals, and this was included in its Act of 24 July 1854. In fact, at an earlier stage in the discussions it was possible the new railway would replace the line to Cann Quarry completely for the first two miles above Marsh Mills. Work on the Lee Moor branch began, but was carried out so poorly by the contractor that because of this and other problems, the Tavistock company was relieved to transfer the line to Lord Morley’s ownership. When opened in 1858, therefore, the branch was connected to the surviving Cann Quarry line at Plym Bridge rather than the Tavistock line nearby, and the outlet for Lee Moor clay came to be via this route and Rising Sun Junction as the Lee Moor Tramway. The Plymouth & Dartmoor and all Lord Morley’s railways including the completed Lee Moor Tramway were horse-worked and built to the socalled Dartmoor gauge of 4’6”. Accordingly, between Plym Bridge and Marsh Mills the tramway maintained

From 1858, the workings at Lee Moor were connected by the Lee Moor Tramway, also owned by his lordship, to the Plymouth & Dartmoor Railway at Rising Sun Junction for onward movement of the clay to Laira Wharf for shipment. (The tramway was responsible for working this section of the P&D from around 1900 onwards.) The Plymouth & Dartmoor being incorporated into the Southern Railway as a subsidiary at the 1923 Grouping, it may seem that the story of this china clay system is purely one of a private industrial railway and the Southern. However, a number of points mean that Lee Moor clay and the tramway play a part in Great Western history.

THE LEE MOOR TRAMWAY AT WEIGHBRIDGE COTTAGE Taken in early 1968 looking east, this view shows the remains of the Lee Moor Tramway alongside the building known as Weighbridge Cottage. Coming up from Rising Sun Junction (about 500 metres behind the photographer) the line passed over the River Plym on the bridge in the foreground. Beyond, the original route to Marsh Mills Canal Basin and Plympton continued straight ahead, while the later route to Cann Quarry which became the ‘main line’ of the tramway diverged left to pass behind the cottage. It then assumed its northward course to run near or adjacent to the Tavistock and Launceston branch.

The sand-loading siding which became the terminus of the tramway after the second world war was a short distance beyond the cottage on this line. Marsh Mills station on the Launceston branch is in front of the large building in the middle distance, this line passing from the right to the left of the photograph. The two ventilators and chimney of the signal box on the platform of the station can just be made out straight ahead. Bernard Mills.

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ISSUE 6

MARSH MILLS

Marsh Mills station looking north towards Tavistock on 29 August 1961. The first station on the branch, less than a quarter of a mile from Tavistock Junction, the station and branch were closed to passengers amid severe weather conditions on New Year’s Eve 1962. Goods services survived to serve the china clay dries and the Coypool Ordnance Depot a little way further north. As at many locations, the legacy of originally being a broad gauge route can be seen by the extended ‘6 foot’ between the tracks through the station.

Laira allocated 8750 Class 0-6-0PT No. 4679 is shunting the sidings on the tracks accessing the dries which can be seen above the trees in the background. Behind the tall trees on the left is the course of the Lee Moor Tramway above Weighbridge Cottage and the future site of the present Marsh Mills station, the southern terminus of the preservation era Plym Valley Railway.

R C Riley (RCR 16206).

NEAR TAVISTOCK JUNCTION Wearing an 83F (Truro) shedplate, No. 6828 Trellech Grange crosses the River Plym on the main line just west of Tavistock Junction with china clay from Marsh Mills to Fowey. The bracket signals for the up main line and the diverging Tavistock and Launceston branch at the junction can be seen above the wagons. The ornate overbridge behind the signals carries the private road to Saltram House, unfortunately with the A38 Devon Expressway overshadowing it from immediately behind today. The former home of Lord Morley, Saltram is now owned by the National Trust. In 1970, one of the two Lee Moor Tramway locomotives, the Peckett 0-4-0ST Lee Moor No 2 of 1899, was moved here for display from the Torycombe base of the Lee Moor Tramway Preservation Group. In 2001 it was moved on to the Buckfastleigh Museum at the South Devon Railway. 29 August 1961.

R C Riley (RCR 16223).

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WESTERN TIMES its own right of way although this closely paralleled the newer route (see below). It is not hard to see how a slightly different course of events would have meant the branch to Lee Moor would have remained in the ownership of the SD&T and so subsequently passed to the South Devon and Great Western Railways. As it was, the tramway remained in the ownership of the Lord’s estate until 1919 when it was acquired by English China Clays, although from opening in 1858 until that event it had been leased to and operated by first William Phillips and then Martin Brothers (from 1862).

The piping of slurry to Marsh Mills began the gradual decline of clay traffic on the Lee Moor Tramway, although it did not finally expire until towards the end of the Second World War. The tramway was then abandoned except for a portion on the southern section.

However, if it was not destined to be the owner of the railway directly serving the workings, the GW certainly came to handle Lee Moor clay in large quantities. In 1921, new facilities for drying and preparing the clay were opened at Marsh Mills to which the clay in slurry form was piped from Lee Moor. This works was served by sidings from the Tavistock branch at Marsh Mills.

Much of the clay handled from here by rail was destined for export via Fowey or Par, and so arose the apparent anomaly of loaded china clay trains being despatched into Cornwall as illustrated by the final photograph in part one of this article. The works and rail operations continued until closure in 2008. This was the last goods operation on the stub of the Tavistock branch; in 1965 a new east curve had been installed at Tavistock Junction to give direct access to the marshalling yard there.

LAIRA CROSSING IN USE A photograph from 1933 showing a train of wagons loaded with china clay from Lee Moor bound for Laira Wharf hauled by a pair of horses. In fact, ‘double heading’ was the normal practice for these trains. Since 1923, this surviving portion of the Plymouth & Dartmoor Railway south of Rising Sun Junction had passed into the ownership of the Southern Railway, but as the only traffic was the clay trains from Lee Moor it was generally regarded as part of the Lee Moor Tramway which had in any case worked the section from around 1900.

R W Kidner.

LAIRA JUNCTION A down freight formed mainly of loaded china clay wagons, most likely destined for Fowey from Marsh Mills, passes Laira Junction behind No. 6873 Caradoc Grange, a Laira locomotive. Laira Junction Signal Box is situated between the tracks of the main line into Plymouth on which the train is travelling and the Sutton Harbour route diverging to the right. Immediately behind the box can be seen the remains of the Lee Moor Tramway crossing with the northern protecting gate on the left. 30 August 1961.

R C Riley (RCR 16253).

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ISSUE 6

LAIRA CROSSING AFTER CLOSURE The remains of the Lee Moor Tramway crossing at Laira Junction between the signal box and the A38 road bridge as seen on 27 August 1961. Closed just a year earlier, the boarded tracks have already been removed over the main line but survive across the rails of the branch to Sutton Harbour.

R C Riley (RCR 16171).

For a period, Ivybridge goods yard on the South Devon main line further east transferred Lee Moor clay to rail, having been brought down by road. This continued for some time after the closure of the yard to general public goods traffic in 1965.

physical association occurred. When it opened in 1848, the South Devon Railway was obliged to cross the single track of the P&D, heading southwards to its wharf terminus on the Cattewater, on the level at Laira.

After c1900, traffic from Lee Moor was the sole user of this section of the P&D and was still horse drawn.

(The two Lee Moor steam locomotives, introduced in 1899, only worked on the upper section above the rope-worked Cann Wood Incline; from the foot of the incline to Plymouth was always horse-worked.) After the tramway was generally abandoned for clay around 1945, a section from a siding near Marsh Mills was kept in use to bring sand to the concrete works inland from the Cattewater, and this traffic maintained the right of way over the main line at Laira. The movement of sand survived, still horse-worked, until 1960. These 0-4-0 hay burners, the very first form of railway motive power, could therefore still be found waiting patiently at Laira for a lull in the main line traffic before proceeding, some two years after that traffic had begun to be worked by diesel hydraulic locomotives. Incidentally, the legal situation was that, as it was the first railway at the site, the Plymouth & Dartmoor and the Lee Moor trains could claim priority at the crossing, but hardly surprisingly it is believed that this right was never exercised. The image of a King or Castle-hauled express being held at signals while a horse trundled its load over the crossing may be a delightful one, but is surely confined to the realms of fantasy.

One final point of interest linking the tramway and the Great Western concerns their physical proximity at several locations, although because of the gauge difference the tracks never made a physical junction at any point. It was mentioned above how the Tavistock branch paralleled the tramway between Plym Bridge and Marsh Mills. Coming down from Lee Moor, the foot of the Cann Wood Incline was a little to the east of Plym Bridge, the point where the line joined the original Cann Quarry branch and where it could have joined the Tavistock branch nearby. From here southwards almost to Marsh Mills, the tramway is in close proximity to the branch, sometimes immediately alongside and in places a little further away where it deviated from the course of the newer route. At first the tramway is on the eastern side of the branch but at the south end of Woodford Wood it crossed to the western side on a flat crossing, controlled by the GW Lee Moor Crossing signal box. Shortly before Marsh Mills, the tramway turns westwards to reach Rising Sun Junction.

However, it was on the original Plymouth & Dartmoor Railway section south of here that the most famous 61

CHINA CLAY RAILWAYS OF DARTMOOR WESTERN TIMES

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ISSUE 6 Redlake Production of china clay from the remote pits at Redlake and Left Lake began in 1912 after several years of speculation. The 3’ gauge Redlake Tramway had opened the year before to assist with construction. It ran for some 8 miles from the works down to an interchange siding (Redlake Siding) on the South Devon main line between Bittaford Platform and Ivybridge.

The tramway carried coal and other supplies to the works as well as operating a passenger service for the work force to reach the remote locations. It did not move the clay as this was sent by pipeline down to the Cantrel dries situated at Redlake Siding. The Great Western Railway therefore benefitted from the business on the one hand of bringing coal and other supplies, and on the other taking away the clay at Redlake Siding.

REDLAKE SIDING Looking east, a view of the South Devon main line at the location known as Redlake Siding by the Great Western Railway but Cantrel by the Redlake Tramway and clay company. The double track main line and Redlake Siding signal box is on the right, while the left of the photograph is dominated by the Cantrel China Clay Dries with a loading siding alongside. There was also a standard gauge siding at the rear of the dries as well as the start of the Redlake Tramway. The photograph is undated but the lack of activity indicates it was possibly taken after closure of the dries in 1932. However, it cannot have been long after this date as the GW had closed and removed the sidings and signal box by the end of 1935.

E A Wade collection.

Unfortunately, Redlake china clay was destined only to have a relatively short history. Problems of labour and price competition from other clay suppliers began during the First World War, and there was little activity after 1918. New owners managed to improve matters to a certain extent after 1924, but the depression at the end of the decade meant the return of economic and other problems. The whole business including the tramway was closed during 1932.

BALL CLAY As with china clay, ball clay is formed by the decomposition of granite. However, it differs in that, instead of remaining in situ to be quarried at the place where it was formed, this clay was subject to subsequent geological movement and weathering, and moved by water to be deposited in beds of various areas and thicknesses away from the granite mass where it originated. It is not a widespread phenomenon, even on a worldwide basis. In Britain it is found in only three areas, the Wareham, Bovey, and Petrockstow basins, the clay in all three having been formed on the eastern side of the Dartmoor granite upland. The clay is obtained by quarrying in shallow pits as well as some adit mining. Incidentally, the term ‘ball clay’ seems to have originated from how the clay, originally removed from the pits in rough cubic lumps measuring some 9 inches or so, was, during subsequent handling, fashioned into rounded forms.

DEPARTURE FROM TEIGNBRIDGE SIDING During Autumn 1975, a Class 08 shunter leaves the loading bank at Teignbridge Siding for Newton Abbot with 13-ton wagons loaded with ball clay and covered in tarpaulins.

Peter Doel.

the earliest days, but customers are widespread and, as with china clay, exports are important. For many years the clay was transported in lump form ‘as dug’, but by the 1950s most was being dried and processed at works which improved its availability for customers by individual grades.

Variations in the composition of the clay during weathering and transportation mean that there are many different grades of the clay. However, in general it is more pliable than china clay and most is used in the ceramics industry for products ranging from table and sanitary ware to pipes, tiles, and items such as electrical insulators. Other uses are in the rubber, plastics, and chemical industries. Particular grades are noted for their use in the production of fine white pottery and sanitary products. The potteries of Stoke -on-Trent have been important users of the clay from

The clay from all three of the basins has utilised rail transport. However, unlike the other two, the Wareham basin, being served by pits and works linked to the Bournemouth/Weymouth main line and the Swanage branch, as well as the two narrow gauge systems in Purbeck, means that the fascinating story of these railway connections is unfortunately outside Great Western history.

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WESTERN TIMES TEIGNBRIDGE CROSSING AND SIDING Viewed from the driver’s compartment, a DMU excursion awaits the gates being opened at Teignbridge Crossing before proceeding on to Newton Abbot. Beyond the crossing a line of wagons stands alongside the clay loading bank. On the right is a further siding; as well as handling clay, Teignbridge was also a general public siding until 1965. As can just be made out, both sidings were in fact loops with access from both ends.

Alongside the row of trees on the left is the course of the Stover Canal which handled ball clay until its disuse in the 1930s. There were clay storage facilities alongside the canal at this location.

20 April 1974.

Bernard Mills.

HEATHFIELD WORKS On 5 July 1970 the ECC ball clay works at Heathfield are seen from a passing DMU excursion. The works were still despatching clay by rail at this time and the siding serving the loading bank can be made out. Although no longer using rail, the works themselves are still in operation today, owned by Imerys as successor to English China Clays. On the far side of the modern A38 road bridge can be seen the platforms of the former passenger station (closed in 1959 with the whole of the Moretonhampstead branch) beyond which was the junction for the Teign Valley line to Exeter.

Bernard Mills.

SOUTHWARDS FROM HEATHFIELD In the spring of 1977, No. 08322, one of Newton Abbot’s stud of shunters, leaves Heathfield with clayhoods bound for Fowey. The ECC works, where the train will have originated, can be seen to the left of the line in the distance.

Peter Doel.

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ISSUE 6 The Bovey Basin

Rail was used for transport to a wide range of UK customers, but strangely the Staffordshire potteries did not feature strongly in this respect until the ‘clayliner’ was introduced in 1965. The traditional use of coastal shipping via Teignmouth and the Trent & Mersey Canal remained dominant here. By the 1960s, 70% of the output of clay from the Bovey basin was for export, and rail handled a significant share of this, principally through Fowey and Avonmouth for deep sea markets as well as some European services via Par. Teignmouth remained important for both UK coastal and European shipping, but rail never became established for this traffic; presumably the short haul and transfer costs meant that it was always uncompetitive. By the end of the 1970s, most of the clay was still transported in traditional wooden 13-ton wagons, with clayhoods being used to Fowey.

However, the Bovey basin is very much within GW territory. It extends from the area around Bovey Tracey down to the environs of Newton Abbot, the clay being deposited in a former lake on this site. Most of the clay workings are on the east side of the courses of today’s Bovey and Teign Rivers within this belt. Clay working began during the 18th century, and by the early 19th production had reached some 20,000 tons. After the Second World War this had risen to over 200,000 tons and had reached 470,000 tons in 1966. Rail movement accounted for about 60% of this tonnage.

Originally, most of the clay was destined for the Staffordshire potteries and shipped by packhorses and/or barges via the Stover Canal, the Teign estuary, and Teignmouth quay. The first approach of the railway in the shape of the South Devon main line through Newton Abbot in 1847 had little effect upon this pattern of distribution. However, rail began to be of more importance after the opening of the Moretonhampstead branch in 1866 which traversed the entire clay-bearing basin on its western side. Clay was shipped through Teigngrace and Heathfield stations in the early years, but three locations with sidings specifically for the clay traffic became dominant in later years. These were Teignbridge Siding (1892), at Heathfield (originally around 1920, but used principally from the 1950s), and at the new 1911 Newton Abbot goods depot (1938).

English China Clays established a large rail-served processing plant at Heathfield in the 1960s.

Several factories using the clay as raw material for their products were established within the Bovey basin.

Examples are the pottery at Bovey and the brick and tile works at Heathfield. These used rail for the despatch of the finished products and for coal and other supplies inwards until the business was gradually lost to road from the 1940s onwards. Until 1965, the Bovey pottery had its own 2’ gauge line to bring clay from the nearby pits to the works.

By the end of the 1970s, the three rail-served locations described above were still active despatching clay, but the rail business had ended by the early 2000s.

LEAVING HEATHFIELD On 7 April 1959, a train of loaded ball clay bound initially for Newton Abbot pulls away from Heathfield station and under the A38 road bridge. The later 1960s ECC works was sited on the right hand side beyond the bridge. Roger Joanes.

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WESTERN TIMES

THE TORRIDGE VIADUCT IN STEAM DAYS In the 1950s, No. 32608, a Barnstaple Junction based E1/R 0-6-2 tank, approaches Torrington with a short clay train from Marland or Meeth. The train is approaching the road bridge before Torrington station on what was the first section of the Torrington & Marland Light Railway until it was replaced in 1925. To be precise, the narrow gauge line ran in front of the standard gauge formation through the later infill and had its own viaduct over the River Torridge on the upstream (left) side of the new 1925 viaduct.

R E Vincent (REV 269-2).

WESTERNISATION ON THE TORRIDGE VIADUCT D6300 Class diesel-hydraulic No. D6320 crosses the Torridge Viaduct on 23 March 1967 with ball clay from Marland and Meeth. From this angle, the remaining piers in the river of the original Torrington & Marland viaduct can clearly be seen.

Torrington station is to the right of the A386 road bridge beyond. Bernard Mills.

TORRINGTON Looking towards Bideford and Barnstaple, Torrington station is seen on 23 March 1967. The passenger service had ended on 4 October 1965, although there were subsequently excursions and emergency services in severe weather. D6300 Class diesel-hydraulic No. D6320 stands in the up platform with ball clay from Marland and Meeth. Public goods services here had ended in September 1965 and the former goods yard was being used as a private siding for milk traffic.

Bernard Mills.

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ISSUE 6 The Petrockstow Basin

in each direction, plus some extras for the clay workers, served remote and isolated stations, and generally, if these workers and enthusiasts were discounted, the head count of railway staff exceeded that of fare paying passengers. After this closure, the line south from Torrington terminated at Meeth works and was retained purely for the clay traffic. Both the works at Marland and Meeth had their own narrow gauge systems bringing in the clay from the pits; that at Marland was the surviving portion of the Torrington & Marland after 1925. These railways were closed in 1970 and 1968 respectively.

South of Torrington, in that remote area of Devon largely unknown and unvisited by the majority of the county’s tourists, lies the smaller Petrockstow basin where clay has been worked since at least the 17th century. However, because of the isolation this was on an extremely small scale, although the opening of the Torrington Canal in 1827 went some way towards encouraging coastal shipments through Bideford. It was the coming of the railway that led to the beginnings of commercial exploitation in the basin.

A major reduction in the tonnage of clay handled by rail occurred in 1970 when BR was unwilling to renew the cranes at the railway owned Fremington Quay, and the business was lost to road deliveries to Bideford or Teignmouth. After this, the tonnage of clay moved by rail still amounted to some 30,000 tons annually, but it steadily declined during the 1970s with increasing losses to road despite a steady increase in overall tonnage produced at the two works. The main destinations were Stoke-on-Trent and Fowey, with staging via Exeter Riverside yard.

The detailed history of the railways handling the clay down to 1962 is out of place in Western Times because the GW and its absorbed companies were not involved.

It covers the London & South Western’s Torrington branch (opened 1872), the clay company’s 3’ gauge Torrington & Marland Light Railway serving the pits on Marland Moor near Merton (1881), and the North Devon & Cornwall Junction Light Railway (1925) replacing most of the route of the T&M and extending to Halwill, enabling further development of the clay business at Meeth in the south of the basin. This railway was worked by the Southern Railway until nationalisation within the Southern Region in 1948, and comes into the Western story with the transfer of all routes west of Wilton to the Western Region on 1 January 1963. At this time, total production of clay in the basin was around 60,000 tons. The majority of this tonnage was despatched by rail from the works at Marland and Meeth, either short haul to Fremington Quay for UK coastal and European shipping, or further afield to UK customers and Fowey or Avonmouth for deep sea shipping.

The final end of the business came in 1982, following the ASLEF flexible rostering dispute, and a decision

by BR that the needed investment in new wagons and other upgrading was not justified in the light of the amount of traffic remaining. The last clay trains left both Marland and Meeth in the September.

As with all the ex-Southern lines transferred, the most visible signs of ‘westernisation’ after 1963 came with the motive power. The line south of Torrington was barred to any locomotives larger than type 2 diesels.

Accordingly, the North British D6300 diesel hydraulics were first used, and after 1972 these were replaced by classes 25 and 31. As indicated above, the wooden wagons were never replaced, again with clayhoods being used to Fowey.

Unfortunately, as with most of the ex-Southern lines in the south west transferred to the Western, the story of the clay lines south of Torrington is one of decline and ultimate closure. Somewhat amazingly, the passenger service from Torrington to Halwill survived until 1965.

This working museum of two through one coach trains

AT MARLAND WORKS In the foreground, the Fowler 0-4-0 diesel mechanical loco No. 2 Progress (1945) is dealing with empty wagons on the standard gauge connection to the Torrington-Halwill line south of Dunsbear Halt. Meanwhile on the 3’ gauge, Fowler four-wheel diesel mechanical Advance of 1949 has brought loaded wagons from the clay pits. The narrow gauge system here, connecting the works and the clay pits on Marland Moor, represents the surviving portion of the Torrington & Marland Light Railway after 1925, but was replaced by lorries in 1970. In 1880, when the building of the T&M began, the works and railway were owned by the Marland Brick & Clay Works Company which passed to the North Devon Clay Company in 1893. In its turn, this company was taken over by Watts Blake Bearne & Company in 1968.

R E Vincent (REV 238-3).

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WESTERN TIMES PETROCKSTOW In the loop at Petrockstow station, D6320 is reuniting its train of loaded clay wagons with the brake van after bringing them in from Meeth siding at the works. The latter was some 2 miles beyond Petrockstow, the final mile and a quarter of the route having been transferred from BR to English China Clays (then the works owner) in 1968. The photo was taken on 23 March 1967, just over two years since the passenger service had ceased, but the previously little-used station is still well preserved.

Bernard Mills.

BARNSTAPLE JUNCTION YARD On 30 September 1966, a D6300 type 2 diesel hydraulic has recessed its clay train into the goods yard sidings at Barnstaple Junction. The station was still open for a range of public goods services at the time. The Class 116 DMU is standing on one of the two lines which were once inside the steam locomotive shed at this point. Behind the photographer is the line into the passenger station, off to the left of the picture. This survives to serve a single platform terminus today, but all the railway land visible in the photograph is now a retail park occupied by the likes of Tesco and B&Q. Doug Nicholls.

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PASSING EXETER WEST BOX Passing Exeter St Davids and the West Signal Box on 2 August 1975 is No. D1030 Western Musketeer with train 6V53, returning empty china clay wagons from Stoke-on-Trent to St Blazey. Roger Geach.

AT EXETER ST DAVIDS The same service as in the previous photograph, but just over a year earlier, is seen from the platform at Exeter St Davids as it passes on the goods lines. The locomotive is No. D1053 Western Patriarch. Sidings of the steam locomotive depot, the remaining buildings of which are behind the locomotive, formerly occupied the grassy area to the left. 25 July 1974.

Roger Geach.

WESTERN TIMES

TOTHILL CUTTING THE CHALLENGES OF A CIVIL ENGINEERING PROJECT othill, now where on earth might that be? Certainly, T there was never a station on the Great Western Railway with that name.

Dig a little deeper however, and the location will be found - without a station or stopping place – but south of Newbury and just north of Highclere station on the erstwhile Didcot, Newbury and Southampton line. To be geographically accurate, Highclere station was in the village of Burghclere and had only been named as the latter as being the closest stopping place to Highclere Castle (in the 21st century doubling as ‘Downton Abbey’), back in the 1880s the ancestral home of the Earl of Carnarvon who had contributed financially to the railway. In true railway fashion the station north of Highclere, aka Woodhay, should have been given the name Highclere as this was closest to said village, whilst south of Highclere came Burghclere station, again hardly correct as it was in Old Burghclere /Sydmonton. We might conclude this unintended confusion by noting that Royal trains carrying Queen Victoria were not infrequent visitors to Highclere station and castle in the latter years of the 19th century.

The railway south of Newbury had been built by the contractor Falkiner & Tancred, its history well covered by existing published works and so apart from the brief dalliance above need not be repeated here. However, as with almost any research new material can sometimes spring surprises and this came in the form of a book left to the Stephenson Locomotive Society and kindly brought to the attention of the present writer courtesy of Gerry Nichols from the SLS.

Extracts from plans contained within the book show the route of the railway in red. Although once laid with a single track except at stations, sufficient land had been obtained to allow for a double track later although this was never provided throughout. The varying width of the formation is accounted for by the need to slope the cuttings in the area. The covered way / bridge would take the road running centre left to bottom centre over the railway, this would later be designated the original A34. Highclere station was off the plan to the right.

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ISSUE 6 The book comprises 80+ pages of hand-written notes concerning the construction of the line, none of which was available at the time the line histories mentioned above were compiled. It was written we think, by one A B Heath – the initials are not totally clear – who was apparently a civil engineer. Within the work Mr Heath describes the general methods of marking out a new railway using the equipment then available; theodolite and such like. He also sets out how cuttings were made and points worked on what was temporary contractors track. A few drawings accompany the work. What is of most interest though is his reference to the difficulties experienced with the sub-soil at Tothill.

was a 130’ long ‘bridge’ was finished in December of that year. This was despite difficulties experienced with a very wet January 1883 which had held up progress in the northern approach Penwood (sic) - Tothill, cutting.

We are then left with a gap in knowledge until 5 July 1884 when it reported the ‘covered way’ at Tothill had ‘failed’. The Engineer for construction, Mr Fowler, produced a report to the directors on the matter. This was presented on 15 July and which more than a century after the event at last affords the answers to a number of previously only guessed at issues.

The ‘covered way’ itself was similar in design to that provided under the LSWR at Whitchurch. Trial shafts sunk before construction had indicated a depth of 26’ of gravel overlying a bed of hard clay. In consequence of this, construction went ahead but after a period of rain it was found the clay would slip, often running down the nearby cutting side to accumulate at the base and according to Fowler, ‘...with mud up to rail level.’ By July 1884 the covered way had been complete for some eight months but the result of continual heavy rain was to force the clay at the bottom of the cutting upwards by some 3-4 feet, this time carrying the rails with it. At the same time the skew face - it is not specified which end this was at - was carried away and the actual brickwork cracked through. Fowler reported that an iron bridge of three spans was to be substituted, ‘….one advantage being that it will free the line for the running of ballast trains.’

Unfortunately, there are no contemporary photographs to accompany the work nor discovered in over 50 years of searching elsewhere. The early 1880s were certainly ‘within’ the early photographic era so we may still have hopes…! To conclude on the book, it was fortunately passed to a nephew and subsequently a friend before finding a permanent home with the SLS. As mentioned, whilst much is detail about surveying and construction works, perhaps the most interesting is that pertaining to the cutting at Tothill and where a ‘covered way’ had been originally proposed – for ‘covered way’ read ‘short tunnel’. The late T B Sands in his 1971 book on the DN&S described this as, ’having failed during construction…’, accurate yes, but without further detail. Thanks to Mr Heath we now have comprehensive details which provide an example of the difficulties facing railway contractors ‘on the ground’ compared with what had otherwise been anticipated at survey stage.

Hence a bridge, according to folklore supplied by a German manufacturer, was installed and the cutting sides were further sloped. Substituting a bridge would not of course immediately resolve the clay issue but there is no mention of further difficulties of slippage so possibly a considerable amount was simply dug out.

Excavation in the area of Tothill was taking place in the early part of 1883. From the subsequent report on the failure of the structure, we know that the approach cuttings were completed and the brickwork for what

An unlisted view from the LGRP collection likely taken in the 1920s looking north towards Woodhay from the top of Harts Lane Bridge. The later was a three-arch brick structure south of Tothill and immediately north of Highclere station. The stop signal is the Highclere down home signal placed on the offside of the rails to maximise visibility for down trains – with a right hand drive GWR engine. What is especially interesting is the view this gives of the original Tothill girder bridge without any additional support underneath (see enlargement). The single line seen in the image was doubled as far as Tothill Bridge in 1942/3 – see next photograph overleaf.

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WESTERN TIMES Left: Moving forward to WW2 and the doubling referred to in the previous view. Tothill bridge is seen in the background with its additional support standing in the place where the up line formation might otherwise be. Exactly when this support was added had been thought to be the 1930’s and indeed may still have been. The confusion being an entry in the minutes for 1942 which states, ‘30 January 1942.

Tothill Bridge, Highclere to be strengthened by the Ministry of War Transport, work to be carried out by the Chief Engineer. £2,240.’ Was this the provision of the additional support or work on the road deck? As mentioned, this bridge carried the A34 over the railway and although subject to weight limit was regularly used by vehicles over the limit to avoid a difficult diversion. Any attempts at enforcement proved ineffective. Nearer the camera, the principal subject is of course the auxiliary token hut and up starting signal. An auxiliary token hut was provided here several hundred yards from Highclere signal box. Its purpose was to allow a train to pull up to the end of the loop and obtain a token released by the signalman on either side as soon as the section ahead was clear. This reduced the delay in waiting for the opposing train to arrive and the fireman having to walk back to the signal box. Notice also the revised position for the down home signal.

Westinghouse Brake & Signal Co. Right: Again looking northwards towards Woodhay and this time seen from ground level, we have our first view of the new support provided and as seen made of timber and confirming its position in the formation of what would have been the second set of rails. What is equally interesting are the brick footings either side – certainly sufficient for a double set of rails between. It seems very likely these are the remains of the covered way, the first few feet above ground left in-situ to form a support against further earth slips.

Alan Rutter.

In the latter part of the 20th Century and with the railway long closed, most will recall the controversy that surrounded the building of the A34 Newbury bypass on what was basically the course of the railway from Tothill to Enborne albeit of course on a much wider formation. We might then smile slightly at the earth slippage that occurred in the southbound road cutting at Tothill not long after the by-pass opened.

Seemingly the engineers of the 20th century had been taken in by the firmness of the ground at this point, that is until it rained…...(Slips had also been reported north of Newbury at Hermitage and also at Shaw. In both cases this was dealt with by sloping the cutting sides more than the standard 1.5 to 1, this notwithstanding drainage having been provided. As at Tothill the subsoil was clay.)

With grateful thanks to Gerry Nichols and Alan Rutter both of whom provided information, images and the impetus for this piece.

Opposite Page: A charming photograph taken in the 1930s of the bridge deck from road level. The omnibus is making its way along the A34 towards Newbury.

GWR Official.

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ISSUE 6 Right: Following complete closure of the railway from 9 August 1964, the County Council lost no time in filling in the bridge at Tothill without even bothering to completely remove it. (The council had estimated repairs would cost £84,000 against £67,000 to infill the cutting.) It was around this time that the council’s Roads & Bridges Committee had reported Tothill bridge ‘…carrying the road over the railway just north of Highclere station…’, was unsafe. An emergency 7-ton weight limit and a diversion taking A34 traffic through Penwood and along the A343 in both directions was instigated. Unfortunately, no sooner had this been set up than it was promptly ignored by several hauliers who preferred to take the road west of Tothill through the nearby (Burghclere) village and cross the railway by Harts Hill bridge immediately north of Highclere station. Not used to prolonged and heavy traffic, it was not long before this bridge too began to show signs of strain hence the urgency to infill at Tothill. The image shows the urgency with which the work was undertaken, one side barrier has gone and the other soon to follow. Otherwise the rest was simply buried, folklore having it, the track below as well. As the A34 it would continue to carry heavy traffic for a further 30+ years that is until superseded by the modern day dual carriageway.

Visit the scene today and it is almost impossible to reconcile where the bridge had once been.

Alan Rutter.

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Above: The year 1953 saw extraordinary spontaneity throughout the country in a wide variety of gestures to celebrate the big event. There was little cash to spare, many people who had lost their homes during the war were still in temporary accommodation, food rationing was to continue for another twelve months, and materials generally were in short supply. The proud gardeners at Yatton re-arranged stones to spell out a message which reflected that summer’s excitement. Only part of the decoration is visible in this photograph dated 25 May but the word ‘ELIZABETH’ says all that is necessary, and typifies the ingenuity of ordinary folk in expression of their allegiance.

R C Riley (RCR 3880).

Below: By the summer of 1953, pre-Grouping 4-6-0s were becoming scarce. Star Class No. 4056 Princess Margaret of Bristol Bath Road shed was passing Yatton on 25 May 1953 with a Down ordinary passenger train. This locomotive looks in tidy condition and as the last Star (withdrawn October 1957), it became the ‘pet’ of its shed. Yatton was then an important country junction with one branch from the Bristol-Taunton route to Clevedon and the other to the Cheddar Valley, as described on the running in board. Staff had great pride in their stations, as in the well-tended garden bordering the platform.

R C Riley (RCR 3881).

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ISSUE 6

1953 REMEMBERED THE LAST CORONATION YEAR oronations are occasions for looking both backward the passing of motive power C and forward. Against the self-imposed limitation of depots. Departure from PDN 1977 for the remit of Western Times, consideration of immediately meant high alert the events of 2023 is left for contemporary publications focussed on the 21st Century railway. In recognition of 70 years of change and progress, it is more appropriate for this short essay solely to reflect upon the way things used to be.

for OOC where among the crowds, tenders could be glimpsed showing evidence of previous ownership: ‘G coat of arms W’ and even perhaps a jaded shirt button. There might have been evidence of the BR standard fleet but that was of no concern.

A graphic memory of the last coronation year was the impact of vivid colour (red, white and blue naturally) upon a world that hitherto had seemed drab, grey, and dirty. The blue’s vibrancy matched the hopes for the new reign in symbolic contrast to the faded hue worn by the King that had paused at Dawlish on a Down service the previous summer.

Once in full flight, the ambience was special within the train itself from the compartment’s sepia photographs of beauty spots to the red carnation in the Guard’s buttonhole. Through the window the lineside pageantry unfolded with signal boards that moved the right way on posts properly surmounted by spike and finial; the platform furniture; the signal box nameplates; the ‘28’ waiting patiently with its vast load in the loop for the ‘passenger’ to overtake; the ‘45’ and B-set standing in the bay platform. It was all pure Great Western.

Living then beside the SE&CR mainline, Coronation blue heightened appreciation of colour generally, especially on the railway. The ‘Golden Arrow’ with coaching stock in almost correct livery was regularly hauled by No. 70004 William Shakespeare, a glitter machine still in its special Festival of Britain finish of lined mid-chrome green. The ‘Brits’ were synonymous with expectations for an exciting future, as reminded by ubiquitous BR station posters that displayed Britannia itself and implied steam’s permanence. However, another poster offered an alternative technological world through the recently introduced overhead electrics on the Woodhead route, leading to wonder which would win that competition.

Certain itineraries outside the usual pattern brought particularly cherished memories. On one occasion a Temple Meads-Paddington journey revealed (to the subsequent disbelief of fellow spotters) ex-Cardiff Railway No. 1338 standing in Swindon works yard.

Another time, a parental decision to avoid Gloucester on the way to Cheltenham led to a lengthy interlude at Kingham, to curiosity about the purpose served by the flyover, and then to a leisurely prairie-hauled trip by way of Burton-on-the-Water, Notgrove and Andoversford Junction. And another trek from Kent revealed the existence of a place called Didcot.

The Golden Arrow, the Night Ferry (which often ran late in winter), and the other boat trains with a Pullman or two in the consist definitely injected glamour into the daily spectacle but Kent felt like exile. The best train of the day was undoubtedly a through service every afternoon from Birkenhead whose coaches were different from the constant diet of Maunsell, Bulleid and SE&CR ‘birdcage’ stock.

The favourite holiday haunt was atop the waste ground just north of Lansdown Junction, Cheltenham and at commencement of the quadruple route south to Gloucester. From there it was possible to watch services to/ from St James’s and the Honeybourne line, to catch a Southern Mogul coasting down from Leckhampton to terminate at Lansdown station at the end of its wanderings from Andover or further south, and to watch the antics of the other lot who seemed so often to delight in using two underpowered locomotives when a proper one should have been more than adequate. Passage of time renders many memories a blur but two remain evergreen: No. 6827 Llanfrechfa Grange coming down the Midland on a heavy freight and No. 5031 Totnes Castle forging south with ‘The Cornishman’. Was it really seventy years ago?

‘Going home’ meant school holiday visits to Gloucestershire and Home started on the Lawn with the obligatory admiration of the glass-cased model of KGV with its Collett Brake Composite before taking the train west. By then blood and custard was prevalent but looking along the varying profiles of the rake, coaches whose tumblehomes swelled slightly beyond the others looked just like those on that service from Birkenhead.

Some years passed before the realisation that the ends bent outwards also – in the form of a bow.

Every journey was pure joy in a secure, snug, familiar atmosphere. Being too young and too timid ever to consider a shed ‘bunk’, the highlight of every trip was 75

WESTERN TIMES

Above: Pre-grouping coaches were still much in evidence as with this auto service at Swansea High Street on 3 June 1953. Class 64xx No. 6431 (Landore) is at the far end of the train and next to the motive power is Driving Auto Trailer No. 1670 (Diagram A34) converted from a suburban Brake Third in the 1930s. This seems to have been a strange choice given the large van area in a unit intended for high density suburban services. Most prominent is 70’ Auto Trailer No 48 (Diagram S) which had started life as an experimental unit (Diagram O) in 1907 and was rebuilt into this form in 1912. It survived until January 1956. R C Riley (RCR 3940).

Left: On 4 June 1953, Saint Class No. 2945 Hillingdon Court (Canton) was starting away eastward from Cardiff General with an ordinary passenger train. The first coach is ex-LMS which suggests an interregional working; this locomotive had been photographed three days earlier at Llanvihangel, Monmouthshire heading four ex-LMS Period III coaches plus an ex-GWR coach and finally a van.

No. 2945 was withdrawn later that month.

R C Riley (RCR 3974).

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ISSUE 6 Left: In the early 1950s, South Wales was home to a large family of locomotives inherited at the Grouping from the Welsh companies.

Ex-Rhymney Railway Class S1 0-6-0T No. 32 was built by Hudswell Clarke (builder’s No. 1406) in 1919 and on joining the GWR fleet became No. 604, and then No. 90 in the 1946 renumbering scheme. Unlike many other locomotives indigenous to the area, it remained in largely original condition except for removal of the Westinghouse brake and fitting of a Swindon-type safety valve. Designed as a shunter, it was a powerful machine for its type when built. Originally based at Dowlais, it moved to Cardiff in the mid-1920s and was a long-term resident of East Dock shed from where it was withdrawn in March 1954. Here it was working at Pengam on 4 June 1953.

R C Riley (RCR 3966).

Above: The date is 4 June 1953, but only the cabside lining and the cycling lion reveal this to be a post-nationalisation rather than 1930s scene. Landore’s No. 4093 Dunster Castle and her footplate crew are waiting to leave Bridgend.

R C Riley (RCR 3972).

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THE GREAT WESTERN TRUST (GWT) - BULLETIN NO. 5 he year 2023 provides us with yet more anniversary Staff Pay & Conditions ‘Conciliation & Arbitration’ T events, but for once maybe, one of much greater Boards etc and gave a definitive exposure of this in significance for the Great Western Railway itself and one GWR London Lecture & Debating Society lecture UK Railway Companies in general. 1 January 1923 was the set Parliamentary Act date to complete the legal arrangements of the ‘Grouping’ as we have come to know it, created by the Railways Act of 1921.

‘Conciliation & Arbitration’ 1913 in which the Debating Society Chairman, one Frank Potter, then General Manager extolled Glover’s work and his personality.

Boring stuff one might say, but reflecting Glover’s reputation, a Glover Club had been formed, to effect an annual Christmas Dinner attended by Directors and key very senior staff, on which we now possess its menus etc covering 1919-1927.

Perhaps like so many GWR enthusiasts and the wider community of railway historians, we have to date, relied for its relevant material, upon MacDermot, Nock, and any studies published deriving from access to the official records and contemporary press and railway journals.

So what? Well, as is the way and manner of such senior activities, those menus were individually illuminating in a manner never intended for wider staff or public exposure! Each event had a sketched cover focussing upon what attendees recognised as relevant topics of that moment. That for the Dinner of 22 December 1922 has the cover now illustrated. The keen eyed will note it has four babies with bibs astride or holding model locomotives, each bib with the big four company name, and in the background other models piled in a jumble, but all having South Wales Co. names, and a baby’s feeding bottle nearby adorned ‘Alexandra Docks’ is very telling of attitude! Moreover, as the GWR baby has rimmed spectacles, it must surely be Pole!

For me, the lasting image remains of the GWR’s Staff Magazine of November 1922 reproduction of a sketch in the South Wales News of a GWR Porter exclaiming “Hooray! Never even blew me cap off!”, reflecting the distinctive manner in which it would seem, Sir Felix Pole influenced the key policy makers in government, to uniquely retain the GWR name for the “amalgamated railways” being brought together with the GWR. The Great Western Trust Collection, alongside many private collections of GWR memorabilia, includes the pamphlet printed by the GWR under Pole’s name, welcoming all the amalgamated Company’s staffs to the GWR and to do so as a new member of an established ‘family’ as it were. Perhaps the only inkling of a greyer side to this optimistic public and staff image, was still partially hidden in its day until copies emerged of Pole’s book Felix J C Pole His Book - For Private Circulation Only Christmas 1954 in which he commented rather illuminatingly about the senior staff of those amalgamated railways, that ‘live men are not very conspicuous amongst them.’

We published these details in the Great Western Society member’s Echo Journal of Summer 2016 and a member wrote in to suggest a deeper meaning than just a jolly amusing sketch as it were. Certainly, art historian experts illuminate bland paintings by explaining the hidden messages of flowers and colours, which were known to contemporary viewers, but otherwise not to us many years later. Our member suggested that if indeed its Pole on an engine, on the tracks, whilst the remaining locos etc are in disarray, indicates that the GWR, unlike its newly formed ‘Big Four’ contemporaries, was already forging ahead without undue impact to its service and organisation!

On numerous occasions, even after many years in that role, a Collection Manager can be startled by wholly unexpected connections, chance events arising in completely new material of historic importance. I am delighted that I was that happy recipient on behalf of the Trust of material gathered by Neil Wooler author of Dinner in the Diner when he was employed at BR St Pancras. A raft of primary source items but I dedicate this article to that part of it which shines new light on the wider ‘clique’ that always exists amongst senior business staff, but which rarely if ever is preserved or until now, shared with railway history students.

Whatever personal view we take of such interpretations however, the image alone, presented to GWR Directors and most senior staff at that Dinner event, surely exposes a rather more nuanced attitude of the existing upper echelons to their new found ‘family’ member companies?

In conclusion I should add that the existence of ‘The Glover Club’ has of itself, subsequently been joined by the realisation that at various lower ranked levels in the GWR, other ‘clubs’ were created, and one at least lasted long into the BR(W) era. I will return to these examples in a future Bulletin.

Few if any have probably heard of a Mr R R P Glover, unless that is, your particular interest lies in the senior supporting staff to the GWR Directors and General Managers, but Glover was the assistant to the General Manager whom Pole replaced in 1919. Glover led the GWR work in enacting the new legislation creating

Peter Rance - GWT Trustee & Collection Manager.

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ISSUE 6

79

THE GUARD’S COMPARTMENT ISSUE 4

Graham Carpenter wrote to identify the Restaurant Car shown at the top of Page 77. ‘I have a photograph from the RCTS collection, which shows it in the same position on 9 September 1962 with its running number W9527W. This coach and its sister 9526 were built with freestanding chairs and were given Diagram H14, as opposed to those with fixed seating (Diagram H13). It will be noted that these two numbers are the ones missing from the photograph caption. Perhaps one of the reasons it was chosen as an ‘Internal User’ vehicle was its versatility with movable seating’.

Adding some extra detail to the Dulverton article, John Bradbeer advised that after 1962 the poor serviceability of ex-GWR ‘Moguls’ meant they were often deemed unfit to return immediately back to Taunton from Barnstaple, so Maunsell ‘N’ class locos stood in, this becoming an increasingly common occurrence until DMUs finally arrived. John has earlier childhood memories of ‘45xx’ and ‘2251’ class locomotives working the branch as well as Southern interlopers in the shape of ‘U’ 2-6-0s and ‘T9’ 4-4-0s.

Finally, the Introduction on Page 3 has elicited a healthy response from the readership in relation to the remit, scope and content of Western Times. The editorial team would like to offer specific thanks to Steve Woodhouse, Andrew Bradley, David Ellison, Prof David Anderson, Simon Almond and Tristan Maynard for their considered assessment and suggestions. It would appear that the overwhelming preference is to retain the 1835-1977 time frame, to include diesel-hydraulic traction and to utilise quality colour imagery whenever possible. We do however note the desire for greater pre-nationalisation coverage (especially pictorially), and concede that to date coverage of the Broad Gauge era has been scant. Be assured we will continue to strive to produce a journal that reflects the wishes of the readership.

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ISSUE 5 Fred Finney informs that the repainting of 0-6-0PT No. 7705 discussed on Page 51, also appears in a colour image taken on 13 December 1959 at Swindon Works in T E Williams - The Lost Colour Collection: Vol.4 (Irwell Press). Fred also points out the typo in the caption at the bottom of Page 76, where the loco is clearly No. 1335 and not 1355 as stated.

Richard Stevens correctly identified the location on Page 52 as heading away from Paignton, and corrected the station at the top of Page 53 as Leamington Spa and not Bicester as stated.

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PREVIEW WESTERN TIMES ISSUE 7

Responding to Part 1 of The Hawksworth Coaches, Robert Darlaston kindly sent in the image below of the two brake composites referred to on Page 60 that were retained for Royal Train duty. Taken at Newport on 14 May 1965, Nos. 7372 and 7377 are seen locked out of use at the rear of a Paddington-Swansea train. He added that by 1964/ 65 the chocolate and cream pair had been released for general use and he travelled in No. 7377 on 3 September 1965 on a local service between Exeter and Newton Abbot.

Published August 2023

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Penrhos Junction MSWJR Locomotives under the GWR The Marlow Branch Modern Traction: DMUs in Colour Caerphilly Castle - 100 Not Out

WE S T E RN T IME S ISSUE No.6 - SPRING 2023

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ISSUE No.6 - SPRING 2023

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