Western Times Issue 8

ISSUE No.8 - WINTER 2023

Contents Introduction The Princetown Branch

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by Nicolas Trudgian

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From the Archives: Alternative Freight Power

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Behind the Scenes Essentials: Part 1 - GWR Office Furniture

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Book Review

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Remembering Cornish Semaphore Signals

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Forty Pairs of Numberplates: Part 1 - Tank Engines

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Modern Traction: Hymeks in Colour

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‘You’ve Never Had It So Good’ - The 1949 Ian Allan Club Excursion

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The Mew: Ferry Across the Dart

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The Beyer Peacock Quarterly Review

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Slip-Ups With Slipping

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Marlborough Tunnel

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The Great Western Trust (GWT) - Bulletin No.7

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The Guard’s Compartment

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WESTERN TIMES

Above: Our lead article for this issue is a personal account by Nicolas Trudgian of the much lamented Princetown Branch, which closed in March 1956. Here in happier times, Churchward 44xx Class 2-6-2T No. 4410 stands awaiting departure from Yelverton with a single coach branch service for Princetown on 27 July 1955. In the background a connecting Tavistock bound auto-train working is glimpsed in the hands of 14xx 0-4-2T No. 1408.

R E Vincent.

Front Cover: An immaculate ‘Hymek’ Type 3 diesel-hydraulic No. D7003 stands adjacent to the Weigh House at Swindon Works on 30 May 1961. The locomotive had just been delivered from its builders at the Gorton (Manchester) Works of Beyer Peacock Ltd, and was about to commence acceptance examinations, fitting of ATC and road trials over the following two months. These rigorous BR(W) inspections were to prove satisfactory and this fourth member of the class entered traffic in early August at Bristol Bath Road. Behind can be seen Swindon-built ‘Warship’ Class No. D801 Vanguard, by then already over 2½ years old.

Rear Cover: On New Years Eve 1964, the 2.35pm Fowey branch service leaves Lostwithiel formed by a Class 122 Gloucester RC&W single-car diesel unit. In this issue we pay tribute to the imminent operational cessation of the erstwhile semaphore signal in Cornwall, to be replaced with modern electric colour-light units controlled from Exeter. The magnificent triple arm bracket signal dominating the image guards the entry into Lostwithiel station from the Fowey line. The arms route branch trains (from left to right), across onto the Up Main, Down Main and Fowey Bay platforms. The single arm signal to the rear is the Up Main Home. These once commonplace structures will sadly soon be consigned to history across the Duchy.

The Transport Treasury.

© The Transport Treasury 2023.

ISBN 978-1-913251-62-8 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.

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ISSUE 8

INTRODUCTION round about 1962 when British Railways (Western nature. Recycling and minimisation of waste were A Region) was still alive and kicking, a special natural lifestyle disciplines which somewhat ironically treat was a tour of Swindon Works (open every modern society has been obliged to re-learn, often at Wednesday afternoon if memory serves). Aladdin’s cave was full of wonder, perhaps best illustrated by the sight of a sparkling 4-6-0 just released from what was probably the last full overhaul of its career. In those days long before Health & Safety took hold, the general public was allowed a glimpse up close and personal of the scale and diversity of the activities that went on ‘inside’.

considerable financial or social expense.

Office furniture and the like might seem an odd subject for a publication about railways, or is it?

It serves to remind just how complex and varied were the activities conducted at Swindon and the company’s other manufacturing establishments. It also reminds how effective was the capacity to make it on the spot rather than to place an order with a remote, third party supplier and then worry whether the man in his white van will turn up on time. It further reminds that the Art Deco-like hat stand or whatever, was possibly made by a man who had learned from his father many skills that had been passed down from his grandfather who had toiled on the intricate and beautiful timber superstructure of a Clerestory or a Dreadnought.

An outstanding memory was the walk through the foundry, a hall of molten metal, heat, dust, fumes and with a cheerful, friendly workforce proudly showing off their skills in the creation of a multiplicity of metal parts. It was impossible to define the specific purpose of many of the components being formed but the display graphically exemplified the range of items that the railway manufactured for its own use. The processes used primitive technology that had changed little down the years but the purpose was clear in the recovery of redundant material for re-cycling to meet other railway-related needs.

This was a cogent expression of the self-reliance practised by the Big Four and their predecessor companies. Perhaps the GWR did not go as far as a famous African operator that grew its locomotive fuel (eucalyptus) on its own plantations. Nonetheless, the company’s business was highly internally integrated in producing the equipment required for its operations, to a degree unknown to modern managers.

--- o O o--Hopefully most readers of Western Times will be aware of the ‘Castle Class Centenary Special’ that was released this Autumn. Initial sales and reader feedback has been very positive, justifying our belief that such a momentous historical milestone deserved a dedicated enlarged issue. We would like to extend our thanks for supporting this divergence from the established production schedule, and our motivation to develop further ‘specials’ has been fortified. With this in mind, we would be delighted to hear readers’ suggestions for topics to be covered in future releases and notification of any research material you may have hidden away worthy of bringing to a wider audience.

Length of running rail usually came from the mighty steelworks and rolling mills of places like Workington and Sheffield, and specialist items such as light bulbs for coaches would have also been bought in. On the other hand Reading Signal Works were relatively unusual in blending homegrown manufacturing practices with the products of contractors that specialised in state-of-the art telegraph and communications equipment. Much of the other equipment arrived on the company’s premises as raw material to be transformed into finished products as part of the essential inventory of capital assets. These processes were entrusted to a large workforce whose abilities encompassed a diverse range of crafts and skills regularly handed down father-to-son. To that group, care in the maintenance of their tools of trade and parsimony in the use of the raw materials would have been second

In addition, so much wonderful new Castle imagery was unearthed whilst scouring the archive, that more of it will be made available in regular WT issues during the coming year.

--- o O o--Editor: Andrew Malthouse Editorial Assistant: Jeremy Clements

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

WESTERN TIMES

Above: The magnitude of building a railway across remote Dartmoor can be appreciated in this image of Ingra Tor Halt bathed in sunshine on 7 July 1955. The viewing direction is north-east and clearly shows the sinuous path of the railway with, in the middle distance, No. 4410 descending with a mixed train from Princetown. If your eye follows the long thin dark wall that rises above the train, up left towards the brow of the Foggintor, where the wall stops you can just make out the railway again, this time climbing to the right and, ultimately, the terminus hidden beyond the high horizon. Google satellite images of this stretch show in places both the route of the GWR line and also the earlier, even more serpentine, Plymouth and Dartmoor line of 1823. How thrilling it would have been if the Plym Valley Railway’s repatriated South African Railways Class GMA 4-8-2+2-8-4 Garratt had worked here, as was proposed back in the early 1980s.

R C Riley (RCR 6248).

© Stuart Malthouse 2023.

ISSUE 8

THE PRINCETOWN BRANCH NICOLAS TRUDGIAN ’ve just poured myself a pint of ‘Jail Ale’, hoping it Famous for its steep gradients and tortuous curves, IRoad, will improve my writing. I see it’s brewed in Station the line was long-associated with the attractive, smallPrincetown. A station? Here, so high on the wheeled Churchward ‘Prairie’ tanks of Class 44xx, bleak moor? There’s the infamous Dartmoor Prison, of course, but otherwise just a small village, so why did it ever warrant a railway?

often pulling just one coach with perhaps some freight wagons tacked on the rear. They looked at home on the moor, cheerful engines with busy wheels and noisy exhaust, white steam snatched away from their slender chimneys by the ever present wind. For five decades this image of the Princetown train must have been thought as permanent as the granite moor itself. Sad it is then that the line was one of the first to close.

ORIGINS AND OPERATIONS Princetown was, at 1373 feet above sea level, the highest railway station in England, higher even than any on the Settle and Carlisle. Devon and Cornwall once abounded in a great variety of scenic railways but the Princetown branch with its wild, unrivalled moorland vistas stood quite literally above the rest.

Other standard gauge railways flirted with the edges of Dartmoor at places like Ashburton, Moretonhampstead, Brent, Lydford and Sourton, but only the Princetown line ventured onto the high moor.

In more recent times enthusiasts in Plymouth had plans to reopen the route, thrillingly at one point suggesting a 3’ 6” gauge line so they could run their 4-8-2+2-8-4 Class GMA Garratt acquired from South Africa. It’s unlikely the Dartmoor ponies will ever be disturbed by that or any loco and the line will instead live on only in memory and, thank goodness, through photos like those of Peter Gray and Dick Riley.

Above: An evocative image that encapsulates the very essence of the Princetown Branch, from the master of ‘trains in the landscape’ photography, Peter Gray. I had the pleasure of meeting Peter on a couple of occasions and took the opportunity to thank him for what he had done for me and all lovers of railways. So much of our railway history has vanished but because of enthusiasts like him and Dick Riley we have a picture window on a past where the steam railway and the British landscape complimented each other so harmoniously. The course of the railway seen here, climbing away from Ingra Tor, is thankfully still far removed from those busier tourist spots on the Moor, made ugly by the glitter of cars and coaches. However, I cannot help thinking that today the remote grandeur of this place is the poorer without that distant feather of steam.

P W Gray (PG 0736).

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WESTERN TIMES From the junction at Yelverton on the thirty-four mile Plymouth-Launceston branch, ten miles of serpentine track climbed to Princetown, although, as the crow flies, the two villages are just six miles apart. But in those ten miles the line rose 960 ft in elevation. Year round, and particularly when winter bit hard, it provided a lifeline to the small community that mostly served the prison. In kinder weather it was popular with picnickers and ramblers who could alight at intermediate halts that served apparently nothing but boulder-strewn and sheep-nibbled slopes.

It sounds idyllic, but even in summer the weather can change in minutes and the moor takes on a very different aspect – this was, after all, the landscape that inspired The Hound of The Baskervilles… something that crossed my mind while exploring the area on my own when an extremely dense fog descended and I got lost in a mire.

You could die on the moor, as escaped prisoners found to their cost. And there were indeed dangerous creatures hereabouts for, uniquely on a British railway, a sign at Ingra Tor Halt warned of poisonous snakes.

When the Princetown service closed in March 1956 it wasn’t the first in the district to do so, but it was the first to grab the public’s attention. The GWR’s Yealmpton branch, running south east from Plymouth, had long suffered strong competition from road services and first lost its passenger trains as early as 1930 and, after a wartime revival, completely in 1947. The travelling public could see the reason for the withdrawal, but not so with Princetown. Despite never being very busy, here was a line that had no equal, a breathtakingly beautiful railway that also, as everyone knew in winter when roads were impassible, was the only life line to the small but important village and its prison on the moor. Its closure even made national news, receiving a few column inches in the Daily Telegraph. Seven years before Beeching would oblige British people to accept railway closures as a matter of course, the loss of this railway was a sudden realisation that our branch lines could no longer be taken for granted.

Left: Laira’s 4575 Class 2-6-2T No. 5532, to be found today on the Llangollen Railway, enters Yelverton with a northbound train.

Generally speaking, the Small Prairies, especially the 4575s that carried more water than the 4500s, were the preferred engines for services over the 34 milelong run through to Launceston.

Those trains were made up of conventional carriages, whereas the services to Tavistock tended to be auto trains, most often in the hands of 64XX Pannier tanks. The train pictured here, clearly made up of two Auto trailers, may well be a Tavistock service with a Prairie standing in for a Pannier. The Yelverton name board no longer invites passengers to change for the Princetown branch; the railway having already closed.

R C Riley (RCR 16100).

Right: Looking in the opposite direction on 15 July 1961, we see beyond the signal box, steam still rising from the mouth of Yelverton tunnel as No. 5569 departs from the former Down platform with an Up service from Launceston to Plymouth. The signal box closed on 4 May 1959 and so trains no longer crossed here, all of them from that time using the Down platform. The wooden ‘rails’ across the siding in the foreground were for the Permanent Way Department’s vehicles, making it easier for the gang to get their trolleys on and off the running lines.

The wooden shed they were kept in was the only building that wasn’t demolished after the whole station finally closed on 31 December 1962. Its remains were certainly still there when I first explored the site in 1972.

R C Riley (RCR 16105).

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ISSUE 8 Right: On Monday 11 April 1955, Churchward 45xx Class 2-6-2T No. 4542 stands in the Princetown platform at Yelverton having just made its journey down from the terminus high up on Dartmoor. The throng of passengers on the platform clearly demonstrates how well patronised the service was even into its final years of operation.

It is hard to believe that within 12 months of this scene being captured, the branch was closed, track lifted and an air of dereliction was quickly setting in. The locomotive too was shortly to be consigned to history, being withdrawn on 26 September 1955.

P W Gray (PG 0522).

Below: The bright morning sunshine on 31 December 1955 at Yelverton’s Princetown line platform beautifully illuminates No. 4568, waiting to connect with a Tavistock or Launceston service. The engine has been fitted with a flange lubricator specifically for service on this line where tyre wear due to the tight curves was excessive, its cylindrical reservoir can be seen between the two lamps. In the lee of the high ground on which the village of Yelverton sits and surrounded by verdant parkland, the station’s garden-like setting offered no clue to passengers as to the starkness of the landscape soon to be encountered. After closure of both branch lines that same verdant growth soon engulfed the station site. On my first visit in 1972 it was still possible to walk on these platforms, between saplings that are now very mature trees.

P W Gray (PG 0730).

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WESTERN TIMES

Dick Riley was clearly energetic and had a head for heights. His photographs from atop of water towers at Laira, Exeter and other equally precarious vantage points have provided unique and spectacular views to treasure. This image, taken from the top of the Princetown line Home signal, illustrates the unusual layout of Yelverton better than most. The signal box sits at the south end of the main ‘Down’ platform, used by Plymouth to Tavistock and Launceston trains. Point rodding and signal wires curve towards us across the almost garden-like triangle of land between the Plymouth-bound ‘Up’ platform and the curving Princetown branch platform on the right. In the middle sits the little turntable used for turning the snowplough-equipped engines and the serpentine footpath offers a useful short cut from the east side of the village. The track of the Princetown branch is already climbing towards us at 1 in 40 and on a curve so tight that it needs a check rail, even adjacent to the platform. The five-sided wooden building, located between the two branch lines, is shown to good effect along with the more familiar GWR features of covered footbridge and pagoda hut. Surrounded by parkland, could a country junction look more idyllic than this?

R C Riley.

This all happened three years before I was born, but from early car trips onto the moor I learned about the line from my parents. They weren’t enthusiasts but had a fondness for railways as, surely, anyone with a soul has, and made a point of travelling on the last train.

They had met in the Dartmoor Rambling Society, used the branch often, and felt its loss keenly.

It’s hard to imagine from today’s perspective but more than 200 years ago Dartmoor was seen by some as a great waste of space, a wilderness that needed developing for agriculture and industry. One such visionary was the wealthy merchant Thomas Tyrwhitt. In the late 1700s, in the vicinity of what later became the little village of Princetown, he constructed roads, enclosed land for cultivation and built himself a fine house. He also became MP for Okehampton so had some influence over local affairs. But people didn’t share his dream and so, searching for new opportunities, he persuaded the Government to build a prison to house captives from the Napoleonic wars and for good measure, some Americans too. The village of Princetown which was largely built by the prisoners developed mainly to serve the prison but with coming of peace treaties those lucky enough to have survived incarceration returned home. The prison effectively closed and the village went into sharp decline. By then, Tyrwhitt who had been knighted had become private secretary and close friend of the Prince of Wales and

The line, in common with many other west country railways, began life as an independent mineral railway, opening in 1823. Even those with only a passing knowledge of railway history will likely be aware of the famous ‘flat’ crossing at Laira where horse-drawn mineral trains gave way to the mightiest motive power thundering by on the GWR’s main line. It was a remarkable situation that lasted until 1960, the dawn of the diesel age. But how many people realise that this same line once ran all the 24 miles to Princetown? This was the 4 ft 6 in gauge Plymouth & Dartmoor Railway and without it there would likely never have been a ‘proper’ steam worked line at all.

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ISSUE 8 it is believed that this is the origin of the settlement’s name. Sir Thomas, ever the optimist, saw a horse-drawn railway linking Princetown with Plymouth via Yelverton as the answer.

Plymouth, especially that carrying china clay from Lee Moor, survived. First signs of its withering started as early as the mid-19th century with decline in granite quarrying but by then great changes were underway in the district as a whole. For one and a half centuries Plymouth had relied on horse or human power for its assortment of primitive railways, but enter stage right the fire-breathing, smoke-billowing steam locomotive.

In 1848, notably a full 14 years after Cornwall’s Bodmin and Wadebridge had first used steam power, Pisces and Cancer of Brunel’s South Devon Railway made their dramatic arrival at Laira, on the eastern outskirts of Plymouth, completing the new broad gauge route from London via Bristol and Exeter.

There had been railways, of a fashion, in the Plymouth area since the early 1700s, mostly concerned with quarrying for building the extensive docks and facilities for the Royal Navy at Devonport, but the Princetown line, opened in 1823, was the first railway of any real length to be built in the district. The line was intended to bring supplies up onto the moor but also to transport granite from quarries a little to the west of Princetown down to the riverside at Plymouth. Embroiled in the financial wrangling that accompanied many early 19th century railways the line fell into the hands of the contractors who had built it. As they also owned the granite quarries, they now had a cheap means of transporting stone to Plymouth. Being of the highest quality, it found its way not only into major projects in Plymouth but also bridges and buildings in London and beyond.

Beyond Laira, Brunel could go no further for a while. At that location he intended that the South Devon and the Plymouth & Dartmoor lines would cross at right angles on the level, but the P&D did not like the terms. To attract Brunel’s attention, gigantic granite blocks, brought down from the moor, were dropped at the crossing to block the South Devon. The matter was resolved to the satisfaction of the horse-drawn line, the crossing was opened and the P&D trains continued exercising their right of way for the next 112 years. Brunel was not to be slowed down and soon other broad gauge lines were being built to Tavistock via Yelverton and throughout the length of Cornwall. Railways more like we would recognise them today had arrived.

As interesting and relevant as it is to link this old railway to the GWR’s Princetown branch I will not dwell too much on it because its history is complicated and long.

In fact fragments of its 4 ft 6 in network actually outlasted the later branch line that is my focus. Suffice to say that it gradually withered and only its lower limbs nearer to

This less often photographed vista at Yelverton shows the Princetown line climbing steeply away to the left from the platform end.

The loco is engaged in shunting the stock of a mixed train, and in the absence of a run round loop is employing gravity to assist in the rearrangement of the vehicles.

R E Vincent.

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WESTERN TIMES Left: No. 4410 arriving at Dousland with a Princetown-bound train on 5 July 1955. Known originally as Dousland Barn, it was the only intermediate station when the line first opened and the only stopping place that showed any sign of habitation nearby; the tiny place at least boasted a popular hotel. Despite being just one mile from Yelverton, it had a signal box dividing the line into two very unequal ‘sections’. Occasionally large trains did work as far as here with a loco at the front and rear. The leading, normal branch portion with one loco then continuing to Princetown leaving the remainder to work back to the junction when needed. After closure, the station building became a dwelling and is the only proper railway structure on the entire line to survive. A part of the platform remains and the old iron letters of the station nameboard have been fixed to its brickwork. The rest of the site has been covered in housing, creating a settlement much larger than when it had a railway.

R C Riley (RCR 6243).

Taken later the same day from the field adjacent to Dousland station, we see No. 4410 returning to Yelverton with the lunchtime departure from Princetown. The train has been augmented with the addition of extra passenger accommodation, a trio of wagons and a ‘Toad’ brake van. Both coaches (W7949W & W7951W) are Collett Gangwayed Brake Composites, constructed in June 1923 to Diagram E113.

R C Riley (RCR 6251).

Above: Dick Riley seems to have visited the line on two consecutive Tuesdays, the 5th (opposite page) and 12th July 1955. Here on the second of those dates we join him for a ride in the Toad brake van at the rear of a mixed train heading down to Yelverton. What a glorious day he must have had. No. 4410 has just come to a stand at Dousland station. Ahead of the locomotive can be seen the wooden extension at the west end of the station’s masonry platform, built to cater for the occasional longer excursion train. The Prairie tank is in plain black livery and none too clean, but the carriages in their cheerful carmine and cream livery and a healthy number of wagons make for a most appealing train. Yelverton is just a mile or so further on and from there the goods wagons will eventually continue down to Plymouth over the Launceston branch.

R C Riley (RCR 6426).

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WESTERN TIMES Princetown’s prospects looked brighter too when in 1850, after being closed for 35 years, the old military prison was reopened as a convict establishment. It breathed new life into the village. In 1859, shortly before his death, Brunel completed his broad gauge branch line from Plymouth to Tavistock (later extended to Launceston) via Yelverton, a village on the route of the Plymouth & Dartmoor. Before long, various plans were drawn up to rebuild the old line as a proper steam-worked railway connecting at Yelverton with the Tavistock branch. It was an exciting idea but you would have had a mighty long wait for a train. It wasn’t until 1883 that such a line actually opened and it was built to standard gauge because by then the writing was on the wall for Brunel’s wider gauge.

It was built by the independent ‘Princetown Railway’ but worked from the outset by the Great Western Railway who were now in control of many lines in the area but, in this case, the little company would not be absorbed by them until 1922.

join the main branch and head north through the tunnel under Yelverton to the next station at Horrabridge.

That station provided the interchange of passengers and goods between the two railways until 1885 when common sense prevailed and a station was allowed to be built at Yelverton on condition that goods facilities would not be provided. So, Horrabridge continued in that role thereafter.

Some rather snooty sounding inhabitants of Yelverton were initially opposed to any station being built at the new junction, so trains from Princetown were obliged to

Above: Perhaps as close as we’ll get to a driver’s eye view of the railway, this is Dick Riley’s photo from the veranda of the Toad at the rear of a Yelverton-bound mixed. We’re looking back towards Burrator and Sheepstor Halt on 12 July 1955 and a little of the Burrator dam wall can be seen lower right. Up on the skyline is the aerial mast of RAF Sharpitor, adjacent to Peek Hill. Established in 1942, it was part of the ‘Gee’ system that enabled RAF bomber crews to navigate at night to targets on the Continent by the triangulation of radio signals. Even in this remote and beautiful place the Second World War had not been far away. The Luftwaffe’s bombing of Plymouth, at its worst in March and April of 1941, could easily be seen from the high slopes of the moor, and those same slopes actually claimed a German bomber. At 2.30 am on 19 May 1941, a Junkers Ju88 flew too low over Peek Hill, damaged its propellers and crashed not far from the railway, killing all four of its crew members. They were buried in Sheepstor cemetery until, in 1963, they were re-interred at the German Military Cemetery at Cannock Chase.

R C Riley (RCR 6425).

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ISSUE 8 Right: Saturday 3 March 1956 was the line’s last day of operation, and the high tors are suitably draped in sombre mist. Nonetheless, even on such a sad day the view from Burrator and Sheepstor Halt continues to impress with Burrator Reservoir far below and its impressive granite dam thundering with overflowing water.

Popular with day-trippers, the halt opened in February 1924 initially for the sole use of workmen engaged in the raising of the wall of the 1898-built dam. The respected local firm of Pethick Brothers, who were involved in both phases of the dam’s construction, had been employed in many railway contracts. These included the rebuilding of Brunel’s timber viaducts, the building of what later became the Southern Railway main line from Lydford to Plymouth and a contract for the Vale of Rheidol.

They also had major contracts in London, including the widening of London Bridge, granite for which came from quarries near Princetown.

On 5 July 1955, No. 4410, the last of the smaller-wheeled Prairies to work the line, arrives at Burrator and Sheepstor Halt with a train heading for Princetown. As well as supplying Plymouth’s water, the beautiful lake has long been popular with people wanting a break from city life and the halt on sunny days did a brisk trade. Just as well as there was little sign of habitation in any direction. Ironically, before the dam was built people did live hereabouts, but the occupants of more than twenty cottages had been given a year to move out before the buildings were drowned. An enduring local myth tells how on quiet nights one can still hear church bells tolling from beneath the lake. The drought of 2018 enabled a study, including submersibles, and no church was found but, as with Cornwall’s ‘Lyonesse’, the Arthurian Kingdom lost beneath the waves beyond Land’s End, the Burrator myth will no doubt continue.

R C Riley (RCR 6256).

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WESTERN TIMES

Above: After No. 4410, the last of the Class 44xx Prairies was withdrawn in 1955, the larger-wheeled Class 45xx took over on the branch and No. 4568 seems to have been a regular in the line’s final year. Built in 1924, the same year as the halt was opened, here it coasts downhill between Ingra Tor and Burrator Halts on the flanks of Walkhampton Common. The far-reaching views westwards from here, even into Cornwall on a good day offered for a while at least, a softer landscape as the moor sloped away to enclosures of more lush pasture and then the deep wooded defile of the River Walkham. Somewhere within those trees was the spectacular Walkham Viaduct, the largest on the Launceston Branch and originally one of Brunel’s finest timber fan viaducts and the very one so beautifully modelled at Pendon Museum in 4mm scale.

No. 4568 will soon pass over the Peek Hill road bridge where on occasions prison warders would be posted when a prisoner had escaped from the jail. If today you drive from Princetown down to Yelverton this will be the only time you cross the route of the line.

Posing a height restriction to road traffic the bridge was demolished, but now a smart new footbridge connects the embankments either side of the main road so that you can still enjoy the scenery as you walk the trackbed all the way to the terminus.

Standard gauge Princetown trains had been able to travel over the broad gauge line to Horrabridge because, fortunately, mixed gauge track was already in place due to one of railway history’s more fascinating twists. For fourteen years from 1876 the broad gauge Launceston branch was compelled to accommodate the standard gauge ‘main line’ trains of their big rival the LSWR, including what were technically expresses from Plymouth via Exeter to London Waterloo. By 1876, the LSWR had their own new main line from Exeter around the north side of Dartmoor as far as Lydford where, rather conveniently, there was already a station on the Plymouth, Tavistock and Launceston branch. To save money and the sooner to provide a service to Plymouth, the LSWR exercised a legal right to run over their rival’s line. Of course, the two companies used two different track gauges so the broad gauge company was obliged to add a third rail, which it did grudgingly. Dual gauge it might have been but it was still only a single track, and a long one at that, so trying to operate so many trains over the route proved frustrating for both companies.

In 1890 the LSWR finally got its own separate main line into Plymouth via the Tavy and Tamar valleys but for those previous fourteen years what a spectacle it must have been. And how hard to imagine today when seeing the abandoned GWR branch line to think that for a while it carried main line trains to Waterloo!

Yelverton was an attractive station, appealing to modellers, including those at the Pendon Museum where their ‘Dartmoor Scene’ includes a 4mm scale version of the unique five-sided wooden building that once graced Yelverton’s V-shaped platform, located where the two branch lines joined. Interestingly, Pendon has also modelled, in spectacular fashion, Brunel’s wooden Walkham viaduct, just a couple of miles beyond Horrabridge.

Yelverton’s station and tunnel were considerably lower than the route of the old Plymouth and Dartmoor company whose horses had plodded through the wide green centre of the hilltop village. For the new line to join the route of the old one, a 1 in 40 gradient and nasty curves were necessary and these called for maximum effort for a departing train. The new line intercepted and then occupied the route of the P&D at a point a little west of Dousland and from there, as sharp as standard gauge curves and gradients would allow, it followed much of the course of the 1823 railway, all the way to Princetown. Although Dousland was only a mile from the junction it was for many years the only intermediate station and, having a signal box, divided the line into two sections, albeit of greatly differing lengths. It seems unlikely that passenger trains were ever intended to cross here as Dousland only had one platform.

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ISSUE 8 Top: A remarkable photograph taken on 27 December 1927, with services suspended while the snow is cleared.

Based on information gleaned from a superb BBC film of a sailor’s ‘Run Ashore’ in 1954, I am convinced that this is the cutting north of Lowry Crossing between the halts at Burrator and Ingra Tor, a point that was an intermediate summit of the line. Panniers, lacking the easily derailed pony trucks of the Class 44xx, were the preferred locomotives to be fitted with the plough blade when the line needed clearing. Heading north (so in the Princetown direction) this Class 2021 0-6-0PT has a 44xx safely tucked in behind, helping to throw a bit more muscle at the deep drifts. The wooden armed distant signal is for the Lowry Crossing and appears to be in the original colours of red and white.

Middle: Here is the same cutting as seen in the previous image but before the two locomotives had come through with the plough. We are looking north and the line is dropping down to Peek Hill bridge, just about visible above the heads of the workmen. Beyond the bridge, the snow looks less deep, with the line climbing hard again towards Ingra Tor. We can now better see the rather ornate finial on that old signal and the curved notch of the ‘fish tail’ end of the arm, a feature which made the timber less prone to splitting.

Bottom: Peter Gray also travelled the line in snowy conditions on 3 February 1954. Here we are riding behind No. 4524, approaching Ingra Tor Halt, showing that the larger wheeled 45xx tanks were working on the line even before No. 4410 was retired in September 1955. The keen-eyed will just be able to make out the three levels of the railway. In line with the top of the loco’s water tank filler is the middle section climbing to the left past Swell Tor quarry, while a little below the top of the most distant telegraph pole the line can be seen again, even higher, near King Tor Halt and climbing to the right for the terminus at Princetown.

P W Gray (PG 0372).

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WESTERN TIMES

Above: Despite the warning sign provided at Ingra Tor Halt there is little chance of being bitten by an adder on this cold March morning. No. 4568 is seen again with its three coach train - two more than usual in order to cater with increased business on this, the last day. A double-headed train of six coaches also ran this day with No. 4583 helping out. From here to King Tor Halt the line took a great climbing loop, travelling 2 miles in the process but gaining only a quarter of a mile closer to its destination. An athletic passenger, it was said, could run between the two halts faster than the train.

Below: In the second of two images taken by Dick Riley a minute or so apart, No. 4410 has now reached Ingra Tor Halt with the mixed train for Yelverton (which we first viewed on page 4) and the cattle run for cover. With nobody waiting on the platform it’s likely the train didn’t stop. This is the line in summer, as those lucky enough to have known it might remember it best.

R C Riley (RCR 6246).

16

ISSUE 8

Above: No. 4410 pulls away from Ingra Tor Halt with a solitary coach train for Princetown on 5 July 1955.

Initially the line was worked by 0-6-0Ts Nos. 919 and 923, formerly of the Llynvi and Ogmore Railway. From the 1890s motive power was GWR 517 Class 0-4-2Ts, Nos. 561 and 563, and 0-6-0STs of the 850 Class, including Nos. 990 and 992. Traffic was reasonable with passenger use gradually increasing, but freight was always more profitable with granite traffic regaining its importance. From 1893 the building of a large reservoir at Burrator provided a further boost to freight traffic. In 1905 Churchward’s brand new ‘3101’ Class Prairie tanks began their long association with the line, the class being renumbered in the more familiar 44xx series from 1912.

This small class of eleven engines worked in many parts of the GWR system, but over the next 50 years made the Princetown branch their own. Some accounts state that all eleven worked on the line at some point. The loco would most often be one of Laira’s allocation and for its stint of a few days on the moor it was housed in the small shed at Princetown, being exchanged when necessary with a fresh engine from the parent depot. The water on the moor was so pure that boilers needed washouts less often and, conveniently for such a steep line where you needed to keep the boiler levels high, such pure water was less prone to priming.

R C Riley (RCR 6245).

bus services over various routes across the moor. The better to control the situation the GWR absorbed the Princetown Railway on 1 January 1922.

Outwardly, nothing much changed but it continued to be a difficult line to run. Engines had to work strenuously even on short trains, so costs were high relative to income.

The tortuous curves caused excessive wear of the 44xx’s wheel flanges. In 1931, No. 4402 was fitted with a Westinghouse pump to spray light oil on the flanges.

The Dartmoor winds soon transferred that to the wheel treads and the loco lost its grip. Other lubrication systems were fitted but nothing could totally cure the problem. It would have been worse with the larger-wheeled Class 45xx which is no doubt why the ‘44’s’ kept the line to themselves for so long, being an engine in every other respect perfect for the job.

One locomotive was usually sufficient for the timetable as any freight could be attached to the rear of the passenger service. Any wagons were fetched from Horrabridge, particularly coal, but also all the other supplies necessary to keep the village and prison going. The Rule Book stated that a maximum of six bogie coaches was permitted though one or two was the norm even at busy times. Instructions were also given for the possible working of quite massive excursion trains, but only as far as Dousland though it is hard to see the reason. Eight bogie coaches were permitted to be attached to the rear of the service train, with locomotives ‘top and tailing’. That meant that up to ten coaches could be seen climbing the 1 in 40. What a sight and sound that would have been.

By 1910 there were seven trains a day with two extra on Saturdays, but the Sunday service had been suspended. This reflected a growing apprehension that the GWR felt about the finances of the independent ‘Princetown Railway’ company. After the First World War increasing road transport was a further concern and wary of competition, the GWR embarked upon motor 17

WESTERN TIMES

ISSUE 8

A stunning panoramic view northwards from Ingra Tor Halt on 5 July 1955. To the upper left King Tor is bathed in sunshine, while the nearer Swell Tor is draped in shadow. Its flanks are forever scarred by quarries that once provided the finest building stone in the land. Now, as with so many other of man’s industries on the moor, they simply add to the mystery and drama of the place. A providential gap in the clouds brings this magical picture to life by spotlighting our little train that might otherwise be lost in this vast granite amphitheatre.

R C Riley (RCR 6247).

WESTERN TIMES Top: Going out in style, the combined exhausts of Nos. 4583 and 4568 rouse the echoes one last time on the steep climb between Ingra Tor and King Tor halts on 3 March 1956. Somewhere on this six-coach train were my mother and father, taking a final trip on a line they loved.

They were not railway enthusiasts but like so many people back then they had great affection for our steam-powered railways, especially where railway and landscape complimented each other so well. The moor was surely a lonelier place the next day when the line fell silent. P W Gray (PG 0754).

Middle: On the final day of 1955, the 2.12 pm from Princetown with No. 4568 in charge comes squealing towards the camera below the granite waste tips of Swell Tor quarry. On these ferocious gradients and sharp curves the driver will be using the handbrake for much of the way. Speed was strictly limited to 20 mph with the average for the whole journey being about 14 mph. But why rush in scenery like this? A farmer’s occupational crossing here allowed livestock to pass over the tracks. Those typical GWR sturdy wooden fence posts lasted for decades after closure, though the wires had been cut to let the animals graze freely, and what an excellent job they did in preserving the track bed.

P W Gray (PG 0733).

Bottom: Just over 7 miles out from Yelverton the line described a great climbing loop around Swell Tor and King Tor. On the southern shoulder of the former there was a once famous granite quarry served by sidings which included a loop line that enabled shunting to be carried out clear of the steeplygraded main running line. Access was controlled by a ground frame housed in this charming little cabin.

It is understood to have housed six levers of which only two were used, one released by an Annett’s key attached to the Electric Train Staff. It was served only by trains coming downhill from Princetown so any empties had to be worked via the terminus. Trains were required to reverse into a siding and then by use of the loop line, perform a complicated shunt to set off empties and collect loaded wagons. The whole train was then re-assembled before returning to the branch line. The Working Timetable allowed just 15 minutes for these operations which were made more tricky because locomotives were forbidden to enter the quarry itself. The quarry changed hands in 1920 but traffic dwindled until the last granite was collected, it is believed, in September 1946. P W Gray (PG 0734).

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ISSUE 8

Above: Looking south-east into the derelict remains of the quarry at Swell Tor. The sleepers being left behind suggest that the rails had been spiked to them. The sidings here were originally installed for Pethick Brothers, building contractors, and opened on 12 September 1883, just a month after the standard gauge branch line commenced business. It meant that this respected company could move the high quality granite all the way from the quarry to numerous major construction sites. Many of the finest buildings, railway bridges and docks in the west country were built by the company, which was also entrusted with work on projects further afield. Even today dressed granite is strewn around the site, including corbels for London Bridge. Tantalisingly for anyone who collects old relics the ‘Engines Prohibited’ sign remains behind and one wonders if it has survived?

P W Gray (PG 0735).

Staff on the local branch lines were adept at rustling up extra coaches to cope with sudden demand and on the Princetown line were even known to squeeze in a service extra to the timetable if passenger numbers called for it. Sunny days brought Plymouth’s day trippers out in droves, but it seemed to railway staff that they all wanted to go home on the same evening trains. Yelverton and other platforms in the Plym Valley would be crowded.

On extreme occasions staff took advantage of the Launceston branch from Plymouth as far as Yelverton being coloured ‘red’ – or at least red-coded engines went there! It meant that the expected tank loco with two coaches could instead turn up as a main line 4-6-0 with multiple carriages. My old friend Roy Gregory, who wrote Oakwood’s History of the South Devon Railway, had this experience in the 1930s. If my memory serves me well, it was, on that occasion, a Castle Class that was borrowed between main line duties.

Nationalisation made no difference and by 1954 the threat of closure loomed. The bleak news spread quickly and people came from far and wide to travel on the line, many for the first and last time, but too late to save it. The last 44xx to work the line was No. 4410 withdrawn in September 1955, and for the final months the larger-wheeled 4500 and 4575 class Prairies took over. The last day of service was 3 March 1956 when Nos. 4568 and 4583 double-headed a six coach train.

The last departure from Princetown was at 10.20 pm. In October, No. 4568 returned for the sad task of helping with demolition which began at the terminus. It took most of 1957 before the whole line was destroyed. Yelverton station continued to serve the Tavistock and Launceston trains but when that line succumbed at the end of 1962 almost 140 years of railway history was brought to a close.

Day-trippers were an increasing source of revenue for the Princetown line but inevitably rival bus services also took advantage. Alive to the threat, the GWR in 1924 opened a halt named ‘Burrator & Sheepstor’, spectacularly positioned overlooking the dam and its beautiful lake. The remote King Tor halt opened in 1928, partly to serve quarrymen and more hardy walkers, and the further to encourage ramblers, Ingra Tor – that with the snake notice - opened in 1936. All served to increase the public’s awareness of the line and its beauty but, gradually, road competition ate away any chance of survival. As with most lines, there was a hefty increase in traffic during World War 2 and for a short time afterwards but that soon declined.

RECOLLECTIONS AND MEMORIES The line now lives in the memories of those lucky enough to have seen it in action and, thankfully, a few have committed those memories to writing. Some of the accounts I take with a pinch of salt. Like when a woman asked the guard why they were travelling so slowly and he replied it was because they had a pony tied to the back of the train and it only had small legs so couldn’t go any faster. One I’m sure is true was that if a regular traveller turned up late on the Princetown platform just after the train had departed, the signalman would waggle a signal and the train would stop and then reverse back into the station to collect them.

21

WESTERN TIMES Right: The ever-intrepid Peter Gray must have been freezing when taking this photo. On 3 February 1954, No. 4524 drifts downhill between King Tor and Ingra Tor Halts. Again, it shows how the 44XXs didn’t have the branch all to themselves. No. 4524 started life at Newton Abbot in 1909 and then alternated between there and working china clay trains from St Blazey until 1921 when she moved ‘up country’. Returning to Laira in 1946, she finally left the West Country for Bristol in October 1955. It is interesting to see the spare lamp with its lens turned inwards towards the boiler – something a BR steam driver taught me was the way it should be. It protected the lens and avoided showing a false light.

P W Gray (PG 0377).

Longest lasting recollections seem to be about the weather, particularly when blizzards closed the line. The village and prison were then so totally cut off they could have been on the moon. There was a small turntable at each end of the line but not for engines working the trains. They always faced uphill so that there was plenty of water covering the crown sheet of the firebox.

Instead, they were for turning the snowplough engine, usually a Pannier tank, with a large blade bolted to its front as an 0-6-0 a Pannier tank was better suited for charging at drifts because of the absence of easilyderailed pony wheels. To avoid the necessity of calling out the plough the Rule Book specified that ‘When there is a drift of snow in prospect, the branch loco should run to and fro over the threatened spot’. So train crews needed to be weather forecasters too!

The line had many curves that were so tight that they required a third ‘check rail’ to prevent wheels from climbing the outer rail of a curve. The actual gap between the check and running rail was prone to blocking with compacted snow, so the track gang would be out with axes to break up the ice. A hardy breed they must have been. For the most part, the line kept going when all local roads were closed but in minutes the weather could change and get the upper hand. Being the only lifeline to a Government-run prison, military personnel from barracks in Devonport were sometimes called upon to help clear the cuttings, often filled to the top with drifting snow. Laira shed’s foreman would sometimes encourage the efforts of the shovelling teams with crates of whisky.

Ray Gwillam in A Loco Fireman Looks Back provides a wonderful account of the happy weeks he spent on the line in the early part of 1939 when covering for one of the line’s regular fireman. Similarly, Bob Nicks of Newton Abbot shed worked on the line in 1936 – his superb memories appear in Adrian Vaughan’s Western Engineman. Perhaps because they came from other parts of the railway and were only on the Princetown line for a few months, their observations were that much keener. Ray described the exit from Yelverton with the engine blowing off and the boiler showing a full glass of water but by Dousland, just a mile up the line, such was the effort exerted that the water was out of sight and he’d be back shovelling coal for all he was worth on a train of just one or two coaches. Little effort was required returning from Princetown bunkerfirst. To keep within the regulation 20 mph that applied to the whole line, speed was checked mostly on the

Above: The closure notification posted at King Tor Halt in early 1956, the type of notice that would become depressingly familiar in the years to come. This was arguably the first of the West Country branches to catch the public’s attention, with its closure even making the national news and the London papers.

22

ISSUE 8 locomotive’s handbrake. Technically, in official railway parlance, a train heading to a junction station would be described as an ‘Up’ train but, according to Ray, on this line the laws of gravity took precedence and ‘Up’ trains went up to Princetown and ‘Down’ trains came down again.

end of its train involved gravity shunting – unusual, but safely performed thousands of times. After arrival, the engine would reverse its train back up the gradient past a siding. The engine would then retire to this siding while the guard brought the carriage or carriages back into the platform under the control of the handbrake. The locomotive then came out of the siding to re-join its train.

In common with other branch lines, the fireman’s duty on late turn included shed labourers’ tasks, disposing of the engine and securing it for the night in the shed with sufficient fire to combat the frost, and for this they received a little extra money. It was an extremely exposed spot to be attending to steam engines, especially at the end of a long day, or at 4.00 am when the early turn fireman was required to start. It could get so cold that wagon wheels refused to move because the oil in the axle boxes had frozen. Coaling was by hand with every ton shovelled from an open wagon into the bunker. Bob Nicks told of how ‘coaling an engine with the wind whistling across the moor was murder’.

Because of the wild conditions the flare lamps they used for illumination had 2 inch wide wicks – twice the usual size – but they were still snuffed out. Bob, back then in 1936, was firing to the greatly admired Driver Bill Gough who remarkably was still doing the same job when the line closed.

On 25 January 1939, No. 4402 had completed the gravity shunt and was waiting to depart with a single coach, mostly full of children on their way home to Princetown from school at Tavistock. A lad porter gave Driver Gough the staff for the section to Dousland and thinking that this was his permission to depart he set off with usual vigour, attacking the 1 in 40 that commenced from the platform’s end. But the signalman had not yet set the road or pulled off his starter signal. With the points still set for the engine siding 4402 ran into this dead end, demolished the buffer stop and plunged down a steep embankment. Miraculously, the coach didn’t follow and nobody was even injured. Photos show the engine at such a precarious angle it must have been a difficult recovery job for the Laira breakdown crew. I have not discovered what punishment Bill faced but he must have been forgiven if he was still driving the ‘44’s’ sixteen years later.

Despite the daily hazards of working the line it experienced just one serious mishap, thankfully without injury, and Driver Gough had the misfortune of being at the controls that day. At Yelverton the Princetown train had its own single track beside the curved platform and no run-round loop. Placing the locomotive at the other

Ray Gwillam took great pride in his engine, putting in extra hours to keep it clean and going as far as giving the black, cast iron chimney a ‘copper cap’ with paint he bought with his own meagre resources. He himself felt it didn’t look right and was glad when it soon burnt off.

Left: After 10 miles of almost all uphill slog, the last few yards into the terminus were a welcome downhill. Although published before, this classic 5 July 1955 photograph captures the character of the line perfectly. No. 4410 free-wheels into Princetown with its mixed train, against a backdrop of sheep and pony-nibbled moorland. In one driver’s reminiscences he stated that arriving trains were routinely stopped at the Home signal here before being allowed to enter. Was the signalman afraid the train would crash through the buffer stops and career down Station Road? Such ‘Titfield Thunderbolt’ goingson weren’t unknown here for that could be the same signal that was ‘waggled’ on those occasions when a regular passenger turned up a little late and an already departing train was stopped and reversed back into the station to pick them up.

R C Riley (RCR 6247).

23

WESTERN TIMES

Above: Brian Butt was a prolific photographer of West Country railways, particularly in the early years after nationalisation. Here is a fine panorama of the Princetown terminus looking towards the buffer stops, taken on Saturday 17 April 1954. The train’s make up is most unusual, consisting of four main line coaches including a late Collett Brake Composite (possibly Diagram E152/ E153), an exLMS period III Composite (judging by the window spacings), a Hawksworth coach and, furthest away, possibly another Hawksworth.

Excursions did occasionally bring unusual coaching stock onto the branch, although photographic evidence is extremely rare.

Perhaps this is one such event? For the most part the line was self-contained as far as coaches were concerned.

The Princetown terminus was not originally intended to be the end of the line. The rails were to extend beyond the buffer stops around to the left and into the prison itself, but nothing came of it. Interestingly, there was a line built into the prison but that was a totally independent narrow gauge tramway used to transport peat that was cut by prisoners from a site to the north, out on the moor. Today, apart from the substantial railway workers’ houses on the left and a ‘stable’, presumably for the railway’s delivery horse, almost every trace of the station has vanished, although the site largely remains undeveloped.

B A Butt.

Travellers on the line couldn’t help but notice the compartments reserved for convicts on their way to or from the prison, and the occasional glint of handcuffs. It was the preferred route for escorting prisoners but after the line closed the former LSWR / Southern main line station in Tavistock was used, until that closed in 1968.

Bob Nicks wrote about how railway staff got on well with the prison officers, frequenting each other’s staff clubs where there were bars in addition to the four public houses in the village. With concerts, whist drives and darts matches the place made its own entertainment. If a villager fancied a day out in Plymouth, most likely on a Saturday for the football, shopping, or a walk on the Hoe, they had to be careful to leave Plymouth around 6.00 pm. ‘Just as the party was getting started’ was one villager’s recollection as he watched the bright lights of Plymouth’s town centre receding from the window of the last train home. In 1955 there were just six trains each way, even on a Saturday, with the last reaching Princetown at 7.31pm.

to moorland as those organisations that care for the moor were keen to see the station vanish and in some ways, they had a point. The cement-rendered buildings weren’t especially attractive and they had always been difficult to keep looking tidy. Google satellite imagery, a lazy way to explore old railway lines, usually reveals clues unseen at ground level but Princetown offers almost nothing…..no sign of the shed or the turntable, just moorland.

A solitary proper railway building survives, the stable for the local horse drawn deliveries with its door-frame still in original railway paint when I last visited not that long ago. A brave survivor, decades after closure, was a cast iron GWR sign warning that a thoroughfare was a ‘Private Path’. It’s true that a row of sturdy dwellings built for the railway staff also remains, but the houses give nothing away in style to suggest a railway connection.

Across the moor the course of the line is more obvious.

Google images clearly show how despite its tortuous curves the standard gauge line couldn’t exactly follow the even tighter curves of the horse-drawn railway. In places the formation or bridges have been destroyed but it’s only when you get to Dousland that housing obscures the route, occupying the site of the goods siding and level crossing. Very happily, the station building survives as a dwelling with a length of platform

It was said that from a Southern train just north of Tavistock not only could you see a GWR train in the valley below heading for Launceston, but also, if the weather was clear enough, high up on the moor the Princetown train climbing around King Tor. All three lines have gone. At Princetown virtually every trace of the railway disappeared but unlike most railway sites this was not done to redevelop it. The space reverted 24

ISSUE 8 onto the face of which the old iron letters of the station name board are displayed. Further on, dropping down into Yelverton, more building and infilling has obliterated the route. In one place a garden wall is actually the parapet of a bridge. The rest is buried.

We shouldn’t have been trespassing but I am so glad we did. How I wish I could have seen those lines in action but at least by walking the routes, not that long after they closed, I feel a stronger connection than I would otherwise have.

Yelverton station site itself is like no other. Reverting to private ownership after the Launceston branch closed at the end of 1962, the buildings were demolished and the site declared a nature reserve but the GWR railings were retained in their original position, guarding the place and I hope are still there to this day. A small diesel shunter was used by the demolition contractor – the only diesel ever to appear here. As 12-year-olds in 1971 my gang of schoolboy enthusiasts explored the platforms, then still obvious, and we walked through the damp tunnel under the village only to find the far end blocked up. We walked most of the closed lines in south west Devon.

I last visited the site of Yelverton some five years ago and discovered that tall bushes had grown into proper trees and their canopy was restricting growth at ground level, revealing the platforms more clearly than for many years.

It’s a private site and that has helped with its preservation.

Long may it be left like this with the GWR spear fencing still doing its job. Those platforms sometimes witnessed three branch trains simultaneously, exchanging picnickers, ramblers, workers, schoolchildren, shoppers or prisoners on a one way ticket. Now they are silent except for birdsong, and that is so much better than the fate that closed stations usually meet.

Above: As beautiful as was the scenery along the line, the terminus at Princetown was certainly no Tetbury, St Ives or Ashburton, so beloved of railway modellers. The buildings, including even the signal box, had to be rendered in cement to keep out the worst of the Dartmoor weather. Wooden screens built under the ends of the canopy tried to prevent the wind whipping passengers’ tickets out of their hands before they’d even boarded the train. In this photo, the world beyond the boundary fence appears to be missing, the station seemingly an island in the clouds. Here No. 4410 runs round its train on 12 July 1955.

R C Riley (RCR 6422).

25

WESTERN TIMES Parts of the 1823 P&D route at its Plymouth end survived, still horse-drawn, into the middle of the 20th Century. This was due to an associated railway serving china clay workings at Lee Moor on the south west shoulder of Dartmoor. An inclined plane divided the clay line into two sections, the upper part being operated by two attractive Peckett 0-4-0 saddle tanks. Because of the P&D heritage, these locos were built to the unique ‘Dartmoor gauge’ of 4ft 6in. Most of this charming little railway was replaced by a pipeline in 1946 but, happily, both engines are preserved. On the lower section, a little traffic in aggregates kept the horses employed until 1960, meaning that a part of the P&D outlasted its successor, the Princetown branch, by four years.

Evidence of the P&D route in Plymouth lasted into the 1970s until road improvements obliterated most of it.

But there’s an iron bridge (part of the later Lee Moor line) and a tunnel that remain, and higher on the moor granite blocks that supported the rails can still be found here and there. Beyond Dousland the courses of the P&D and its successor, the Princetown branch, are interwoven.

before 3000 BC or, from 1500 BC the Bronze Age hut circles at Grimspound. The Tudor leats of the 16th Century that brought clean water to Plymouth seem modern in comparison. The remains of these and countless other endeavours are etched on the moor, seemingly for all time. And most of the course of the old railway to Princetown has joined them.

Today much of the line makes a fabulous walk. Why not call in at Swell Tor quarry where massive, beautifully carved granite corbels that were destined for London Bridge (the one that’s now in Arizona) still await collection nearly 190 years later? Do be careful of the mires and the weather, and at Ingra Tor the snakes might still be there, but it’s all worth it. The trackbed is so well preserved and the landscape so unchanged that with just a little imagination you can picture a 44xx and its one coach, with panting exhaust, squealing flanges and urgent whistle echoing around the tors. A pint of Jail Ale might help.

I have greatly simplified this fascinating and complex story and thoroughly recommend the writings on this subject by A R Kingdom and H G Kendall.

Dartmoor long bears the scars of man’s activities, like Early Neolithic ‘Spinster’s Rock’, believed to date from

Above: As previously mentioned, photographic evidence of ‘special’ or excursion trains on the branch are hard to find. Here however, is one such example dating from Wednesday 12 September 1928, showing a hive of activity at Princetown. The accompanying caption to the image negative states that ‘Ten bogie coaches are being shunted by a Pannier and a Prairie tank for a special working in connection with the opening of the Burrator Reservoir’. Regardless of whether these vehicles formed a solitary or multiple trains, what a sight it would have provided making their sinuous way across the moor!

E Wallis collection.

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ISSUE 8

FROM THE ARCHIVES:

ALTERNATIVE FREIGHT POWER uring the year ending 31 December 1923, the year was 373 while the total for tank engines of that D GWR earned £18.3 million from its freight traffic wheel arrangement was 1,249 (it had exceeded 1,000 (17% of the industry’s total earnings from this source) continuously since 1899). With a fleet of that size, the which was £9.7 million more than the company generated from carrying passengers. The mainstay for freight haulage remained six-wheeled, six-coupled locomotives. The number of 0-6-0s at the end of that

company was plentifully served by locomotives ideally suited to freight haulage which raises the question why those in the following four illustrations should be employed on goods trains.

Above: Most at home was the sturdy Bulldog. This was a true mixed traffic design with 5’ 8” diameter driving wheels, and was in many respects the predecessor to the inter-war 2-cylinder 4-6-0s, the (Collett) Halls, and a little later the Granges. This view shows No. 3411 Stanley Baldwin at an undisclosed location, but the date is probably sometime in the 1930s. Judging by the shadows, this is an Up working of a Class J train (through Mineral, Goods or Ballast train stopping at intermediate stations). The first 15 vehicles are vans followed by at least four open wagons and judging by the way in which the locomotive is working, the train is significantly longer than the segment in view. Nevertheless, with safety valve ‘feathering’, there was steam to spare from the splendid standard No. 2 boiler.

This locomotive is beyond the first flush of youth as evident in the strengthened outside frames. This feature proved only necessary with some of the Duke class, the preceding 5’ 8” 4-4-0s, on account of their lighter boilers. However the No. 2 boiler exerted additional stresses that weakened the frames with the passing years. Strengthening took various forms and here, ‘intermediate’ treatment has been applied with patches around the axleboxes and tie bars below. This problem became apparent in the 1900s which is why the last double-framed 4-4-0s, the ‘Bird’ series of Bulldogs and the 6’ 8½“ driving wheel Flowers were built with frames of deeper profile.

The Transport Treasury.

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WESTERN TIMES

Above: The second view concerns 4-4-0 Armstrong Class No. 4171 (originally No. 7) Armstrong. When built this four-strong class of diverse ancestry (numbered 7, 8, 14, 16) was regarded by many as matching the 4-2-2 Dean Singles in grace and elegance.

They lost some of their appeal in later years when they traded their 19th Century parallel boilers in favour of Churchward’s coned creation. The 7’ 8” driving wheels of the Dean Singles had prevented the fitting of tapered boilers which restricted opportunities for their modernisation. However the 7’ 1” driving wheels of the 4-4-0s just allowed installation of Standard No. 2 fully coned saturated boilers, albeit pitched rather high at 8’ 6” (measured as centre line to rail level). Armstrong was so fitted in October 1905 and concurrently received a widened cab. In December 1911, it acquired a superheated boiler and then during 1923 was fitted with 6’ 8½” driving wheels and enlarged sandboxes. The smaller driving wheels allowed the boiler pitch to be lowered to 8’ 3½”. It was also renumbered 4171 while retaining its nameplate in the old style on the splasher face rather than mounted above. Being in this condition dates the photograph sometime between then and withdrawal in September 1928.

No. 4171 is recorded as spending its final days on station pilot and local duties at Wolverhampton. While the location is unconfirmed, it appears to be industrial in nature. Sixteen wagons are in view and the general atmosphere is reflective of a transfer duty. Leaking steam suggests a locomotive in poor condition near the close of its career. The rebuilding of an obsolescent type with limited life expectancy shortly after the Grouping seems an illogical allocation of priorities when there was so much other work on hand e.g. with the absorption of the South Wales locomotive fleets.

Below: The case for construction of thirty members of 4-4-0 County Class in 1906 has been much debated. One reason advanced was the need for a powerful locomotive for prestige reasons on the GWR/ LNWR joint Shrewsbury-Hereford line. Elsewhere they were swiftly supplanted by 4-6-0s on passenger services to the West, cascaded to other routes and in due course to second-tier duties.

One factor in their decline was an uncomfortable rolling motion at speed.

The need for ten more of the class in 1911/ 2 is obscure given the growing 4-6-0 presence and the large fleet of inside cylinder 4-4-0s, the last examples of which appeared in July 1908 (Flower Class No. 4168 Stephanotis) and January 1910 (Bird series Bulldog No. 3455 Starling). Employment on a Class H train (freight, mineral or ballast carrying through load to destination) can hardly have formed part of plans for the type. No. 3821 County of Bedford was so engaged at Hayes on what is thought to have been an Acton-Newbury working.

The absence of a garter crest on the tender suggests that the date was post-1924; this locomotive was withdrawn in September 1931.

28

ISSUE 8

Above: Until 1894 and creation of the first 4-2-2 Dean Singles, all 19th Century Narrow Gauge tender locomotives were six-wheeled with the 2-2-2 arrangement intended for express passenger duties. The locomotive detail is hard to discern in this distant photograph but the locomotive is a Queen Class 2-2-2, confirmed by the four-digit number cabside number. All but two of this 21-strong class had four digit numbers (all other 2-2-2s were identified by two or three digits). Eight of the four-digit class members carried names but some plates were smallish and attached to the splasher face making it impossible to determine whether this engine was so decorated. It carries an S4 type boiler which was fitted to ten examples (Nos. 55/ 999/ 1116/ 8/ 9/ 21/ 4/ 7/ 8/ 33) between August 1896 and September 1905. The tender was the standard 3000-gallon type to which side fenders in place of coal rails were fitted from about 1903. Withdrawals commenced in October that year with Nos. 1116 & 1126; the last in service was No. 1128 Duke of York until April 1914.

The photograph seems to have been posed although the purpose is unclear. The train comprises 15 or 16 vans (most appear to be Iron Minks), standing in what seems to be a dead end siding. About 20 personnel are present (plus the footplate crew) and six horse-drawn wagons. Several of the railway vans have open doors and the occasion appears to be related to bulk traffic packed in white wrapping. Some of the van doors seem to have been painted white on the inside. The presence of a 2-2-2 at the head of this consist looks definitely out of place. If the intent was a commercial promotion, surely more appropriate motive power would have complemented the ensemble.

Calculated by the usual formula, tractive effort as an absolute figure is a relatively meaningless measure of power applied at the cylinders but has some use for comparison of the nominal power of different classes. It has greater relevance when used to calculate the factor of adhesion i.e. weight in pounds borne by the driving axles divided by the tractive effort. For British conditions, four as the resultant factor is considered the optimum.

Naturally other elements are relevant to haulage capacity but comparative data for the four locomotives illustrated plus that for a Dean Goods underlines the wisdom of six driving wheels. It also supports the contention that the 2-2-2 in the fourth image was there for promotional rather than operational purposes.

Class

Bulldog

Armstrong

County

Queen

Dean Goods

Wheel Arrangement

4-4-0

4-4-0

4-4-0

2-2-2

0-6-0

Driving Wheel Diameter

5’ 8”

6’ 8½”

6’ 8½”

7’ 0”

5’ 2”

18” x 26”

18” x 26”

18” x 30”

18” x 24”

17” x 24”

200

195

200

140

140

- adhesive

34.4

35.1

34.3

14

36.6

- total

51.8

54.7

55.3

33.5

36.6

Tractive Effort (85%) lb

21,060

17,350

20,530

11,020

13,310

Adhesion Factor

3.66

4.53

3.74

2.85

7.44

Cylinders Boiler Pressure [lb/ sq in] Weights [tons]

These figures help explain why footplate crews employed by Ferrovie dello Stato, Italy held their contingent of Dean Goods numbered 293.001 to 006 in such high regard. They would readily have endorsed

the views of their opposite numbers with Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français who described their ‘Churchills’ as ‘small but very strong’.

29

WESTERN TIMES

BEHIND THE SCENES ESSENTIALS PART 1: GWR OFFICE FURNITURE ne man’s junk is another man’s treasure, is surely to 1950 but with considerable gaps. The dates would O the motivation for traders to dispose of items in appear to correspond with a consecutive order but which they have no interest through car boot sales that is no guarantee this was the first occasion such to punters on the lookout for something special. The author has rarely had the time or the interest of a Sunday morning to wander around tables of wares in windy fields despite the possibility of finding something historically significant. However on one exceptional day, tempted by the sign beside a muddy paddock and through tough bargaining that drove down the price from £1 to 50p, a scruffy box file marked ‘Furniture and Trains’ was acquired.

an item had been made. Possibly it was the date a record of the finished item was first photographed or perhaps the date of a design modification. Using the first image opposite (the tripod pattern checker’s desk) as an example, there would certainly have been a need for such equipment before May 1936, so most likely the purpose was to record a design change.

Two other items, S.176 and S.189 – respectively ‘tablesoak’ and ‘seats oak with recessed panels’ – both refer to ‘1st Class Stations’ which begs the question, what was a First Class Station and what was not? This is a separate definition from First and Third waiting and refreshment rooms, and yet another case where new research material throws up previously unidentified questions.

Not exactly a tempting combination but it transpired that therein lay photographic samples of ancillary items related to the GWR, courtesy of the Stores and the Drawing Office at Swindon. Here was proof that those skilled individuals in the drawing office worked on more than just the design of locomotives and rolling stock.

Effectively behind the scenes, they handled a myriad of other assignments including furniture.

The skills required in the recycling process were considerable as apparent in the carved and upholstered chairs. Such items would have been required in multiple at a time when mechanical carpentry aids were almost non-existent, thus requiring exclusive use of hand tools, and were doubtless stamped or burned on the underside with the initials ‘GWR’.

That box contained an incomplete set of photographs in a hitherto unknown ‘S’ series (‘S’ for ‘Swindon Stores’ presumably). These displayed furniture manufactured in the company’s carpentry shops. An example is reference S.175 which describes ‘Tables, Oak, with Bakelite top, Refreshment Dept’. A catalogue was also available, probably titled something like ‘Station / Goods Depot Furniture’ under reference C.72, page 138A although this has not been found.

Print reference S.186 is reproduced below in full, as it shows the method of photographing items by means of blocking out the background using timber boards and subsequently painting out the surrounds on the negative.

It appears illustrations were taken at Swindon Works.

Here is further evidence of the Great Western’s selfreliance in manufacturing for its own requirements virtually all the mundane, workaday equipment needed for its diverse activities and using recovered redundant raw materials. This praiseworthy parsimony was exemplified by cutting up of redundant rolling stock to make sieves to sift ashes to retrieve unburned coal and on a larger scale to collect ash and clinker from fireboxes for recycling as infill for sidings and yards. Paperwork too was reused as apparent where the reverse side of a memorandum might contain tantalising but incomplete details of totally different subjects. Presumably some of the items illustrated were in a second life, having previously served the company as part of a carriage or wagon underframe or bodywork.

Below: A standard GWR Office Desk (Negative Reference S.186), photographed at Swindon on 22 May 1936.

GWR Official.

The images are mostly accompanied by a written description, a date and an ‘S’ number that denoted the negative. The earliest is ‘S.81’ and the latest ‘S.199’ in the period 1936 30

ISSUE 8

Checkers Desk Tripod Pattern (S.81) 22 May 1936.

Checkers Desk Hockley Pattern (No number) 10 February 1936.

Oak Table Bakelite Top (S.175) Refreshment Dept. July 1935.

Oak Waiters Dumb Stand (S.179) Refreshment Dept. July 1935.

Oak Seat with recessed panels (Negative Ref S.180), for 1st Class Waiting Rooms. July 1935. (Cat: C58, Page 126).

GWR Official.

Parcel Stamp Case, Pattern B86A (Negative Reference S.191), 20 June 1940.

GWR Official.

Pine GWR Office Desk, no central drawer (Negative Ref S.185), 22 June 1936.

GWR Official.

Pedestal Table New Pattern C72D, central drawer and recessed plinth. (Negative Ref S.190), 3 January 1936.

GWR Official.

31

WESTERN TIMES

Oak Armchair Windsor Back (S.182) Refresh Dept. July 1935.

Dining Room Chair (S.192) GWR Hotels. June 1936.

Oak Armchair (S.181) 1st Class Waiting Room.

July 1935.

Oak Armchair Fretted Carved Back (S.183) Refresh Dept.

July 1935.

Oak Table (Neg Ref S.176) for 1st Class Station Waiting Room.

July 1935. (Cat: C72B, Page 138C).

GWR Official.

Oak Armchair (S.189) 1st Class Waiting Room.

August 1940.

Armchair (S.193) supplied to GWR Hotels. May 1936.

Table Extension (Neg Ref S.177) Dining Room, Refreshment Department. July 1935. GWR Official.

What items remain today from the stores catalogue are scarce. Heritage railways, museums and a few private collections seem to be the only locations as the nationalised railway often relied on the bonfire or the skip for disposal, which was no tribute to the skills of designer and carpenter. Nevertheless, there may be survivors so perhaps this issue of WT could be used as a catalogue to help spot old furniture of true GWR heritage at the next car boot sale.

Oak Hat & Coat Stand (S.178) Refreshment Dept. July 1935.

A further delve into this unusual photographic collection will appear in a future issue.

Standard Hat & Coat Stand (S.188) 17 February 1944.

32

BOOK REVIEW QUIET BETWEEN TRAINS:

LAMPETER, the TEIFI VALLEY and the ABERAYRON BRANCH in the Final Years of Steam 1963 to 1965.

Photographs by VERNON PARRY Edited by DAVID GOWAN Aspect Design (ISBN 978 191207 8387) A5 Softback, 44 Pages £8.00 In a recent review of a different GWR book I incorrectly stated there were few former GWR branches and cross country routes that had not been given the full ‘branch line history’ treatment. With hindsight I really should eat my words, as upon reflection there are any number of lines, in Cornwall, the Midlands and especially Wales that have yet to receive the coverage they really deserve.

One of those is the district covered by this new book, but if I may be honest and say – we still really want more – a lot more.

What this new book does within its 44 printed pages it does well.

Good quality illustrations, not on art paper, but clear and sharp nonetheless, a delightful journey into the past with the final trains on the lines concerned. The author refers to a vast archive of material taken by the late Mr Parry and I have no doubt if more might be brought to market it would find numerous willing purchasers.

In the present work we are treated to pannier tanks, Manors and a few Standard tanks working on various final years and indeed last workings, bound together with a limited but interesting text.

In summary ‘a booklet of delights’, certainly worth the very reasonable cover price but more is needed.

KJR. The author advises the book is available from: The Lampeter History Society, The Books Council of Wales (through their website www. gwales.com), the publisher Aspect Design of Malvern (https://www.aspect-design.net/) and from bookshops.

It will also be available through Amazon.

33

WESTERN TIMES

REMEMBERING CORNISH SEMAPHORE SIGNALS he semaphore signal is without question an icon of This too is to succumb to the unstoppable march T the railway scene. An essential part of the network’s of modernisation, with the majority of the Duchy’s infrastructure that often goes unnoticed by the general semaphore signals slated for removal by the end of passenger, but to many company employees and the enthusiast fraternity, it is an integral feature that has always received due attention.

2023, although it would appear a stay of execution may drag on into the new year.

The final demise (whichever date is decided upon) is all the prompt that was needed to examine and display a selection of these magnificent structures during the ever popular late 1960s/ early 1970s blue diesel period.

Whilst we are of course thankful many examples still operate on our preserved railways, nothing fully compensates for admiring these sentinels in use for their intended purpose out on the Cornish main line.

The Great Western Railway, as with many things, applied its own style to signalling matters. The ornate ball and spike finials and charismatic lower quadrant configuration only added to the appeal. But these once widespread stalwarts are now almost consigned to history on the ‘big railway’, with Cornwall being one of the last bastions of their operational usage.

Above: The date is August 1968 and North British ‘Warship’ No. D851 Temeraire enters Truro with the 1C30 08.30am PaddingtonPenzance train. Alongside in the down loop, maroon liveried Swindon-built classmate No. D867 Zenith stands with coaching stock for a local service. Behind the Up platform starter signal is Truro East Signal Box, a standard GWR type 7A structure built in 1899. It was to be renamed simply Truro Signal Box from November 1971 following the closure of the west box, which had stood at the other end of the station adjacent to the entrance to the locomotive shed since 1897.

Doug Nicholls.

34

ISSUE 8

Above: D1015 Western Champion approaches Truro with the 11.0am Penzance-Paddington on 26 August 1974. The Falmouth bay starter is to the left with the down main nearest the camera. The locomotive shed was located above the coaches.

Roger Geach.

Below: On board the 09.50am Paddington-Newquay behind D1023 Western Fusilier as it takes the curve round to St Blazey, we see D1013 Western Ranger held awaiting the signal to enter Par with a train bound for the Midland Region. 6 September 1975. Roger Geach.

35

WESTERN TIMES

Above: No. D1023 Western Fusilier enters the Newquay loop platform at Par from the Up Main on 6 September 1975. The twin-arm bracket signal is of the later tubular steel post variety, crowned with the shorter spiked finials. The left hand arm acted as the Starter for access to the Down Main and the right arm as Starter for the Newquay line diverging away towards St Blazey to the right. The platform mounted Par Signal Box opened in 1879, but doubled in size in 1913 in order to accommodate a new 57-lever frame. Stabled in the adjacent refuse siding is Derby Type 2 Bo-Bo No. 25 094, which was half way through a short two-month allocation to Plymouth Laira.

Roger Geach.

Left and Below: No. 25 225 reverses back into the platform to attach to the front of the 1V83 Birmingham-Newquay service, which had arrived behind Derby Type 4 1Co-Co1 No. 46 047. A number of Laira based Class 25s were out-stationed at St Blazey shed for china clay work, and on Summer Saturdays they could often be found employed assisting the heavy holiday trains between Par and Newquay up through the Luxulyan Valley.

Recent attention to the permanent way is clearly evident, but the remainder of the infrastructure is very much an enduring legacy from the days of steam. 23 August 1975.

Roger Geach.

36

ISSUE 8

Above: D1022 Western Sentinel draws its train forward at Par, having arrived with a stopping service from Newquay on 24 May 1975.

The Newquay platform Up Starter signal is seen above the rear cab, with the Up Main Starter in front of the locomotive. Roger Geach.

Below: 1B29, the 12.30pm Paddington-Penzance rolls into Par behind D1025 Western Guardsman on Sunday 10 August 1975. The Down Main (off) and Down Newquay Home signals can be seen through the bridge, with the Up Main Starter to the left.

Roger Geach.

37

WESTERN TIMES

Above: D1056 Western Sultan powers through Lostwithiel with the 1B65 1.30pm Paddington-Penzance on 29 April 1974. The 1893 built Lostwithiel Crossing Signal Box survives today and is Grade II listed as the earliest remaining GWR Type 5 design box. Doug Nicholls.

Below: On 1 May 1975, Brush Type 4 No. 47027 (formerly D1599) rumbles through Lostwithiel with the 7S38 St Blazey-Glasgow freight. The Up Home signal can be seen pulled ‘off’ behind the train, whilst at the end of the platform the bracket Starter signal controls the Fowey Branch (left arm) and the Down Main (right arm).

Roger Geach.

38

ISSUE 8

Above: The Down Home bracket signal situated just to the north of Lostwithiel station is recorded on 21 September 1974. The main arm is ‘off’, heralding the approach of a Down train. The ruins of Restormel Castle can be seen on the hilltop behind. Roger Geach.

39

WESTERN TIMES

FORTY PAIRS OF NUMBERPLATES PART 1 - TANK ENGINES t would be misleading to refer to the engines in the The predominance of tank locomotives was uncharacteristic Iwere number series 3521 to 3560 as a class, for they of the other major railway companies. The division of the the personification of locomotive rebuilding in Big Four’s fleets on the eve of nationalisation: all its diversity. Changes circulated in gauge, wheel arrangement, type of tank, boiler, bogie and the style of tender, while the identities stayed the same.

Totals as at 31 December 1947 Railway Company

Rebuilding formed an integral part of locomotive practice from the earliest days when machines supplied by contractors to Brunel’s strange specifications failed to satisfy the traffic demands of the new, grand venture.

However, it is often overlooked that while those engines were operational failures, they were crafted to high standards. The discipline of rebuilding commenced with recovery of their well-manufactured components for further use in more viable engines, and these principles remained integral to the company’s engineering policies. Motivation to rebuild stemmed from the quest for improved performance but sometimes justification could be less clear, and perhaps unduly reliant upon arcane capital accounting techniques. In contrast, there was no doubt of the need for the drastic treatment meted out to locomotives Nos 3521 to 3560.

Pre - 1 January 1900 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1892

Broad Gauge - Tender engines

46

117

228

245

94

66

0 2

- Tank engines

0

57

76

75

126

126

Total

46

174

304

320

220

192

2

Tank as % of total

-

33

25

23

57

66

100

Year end Standard Gauge

0

0

104

483

684

749

848

- Tank engines

0

0

9

191

777

996

1201

Total

0

0

113

674

1461 1745 2049

Tank as % of total

-

-

8

28

53

57

Post - 1 January 1900 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960

- Tender engines

1237 1407 1378 1423 1282 1383

- Tank engines

1413 1665 1734 2438 2406 2365 1633

Total

2650 3072 3112 3861 3688 3748 2613

Tank as % of total

53

54

56

63

65

63

2,436

LMS

5,570

2,235

LNER

4,352

2,175

Southern

1,148

690

Total

12,490

7,536

By the last two decades of the 19th Century, thoughts industry-wide were turning towards larger locomotives to cope with faster speeds and heavier trains. The notion of employing a locomotive with driving wheels leading on express or semi-fast passenger duties might seem risky at this distance but the decision to produce a significantly larger 0-4-2T should be considered in the context of the times. No. 3521 entered service in August 1887 at a time when modern designs of locomotive bogies were beginning to gain acceptance but were yet to be widely used.

59

Year end

Tank

1,420

On balance, the 0-4-2T wheel arrangement offered better development potential as the trailing axle allowed more room for cab and bunker. The Metros were larger than Class 517 but the rear end was more cramped with the trailing driving wheels encroaching upon the cab area. Rear capacities could only be improved by adding a trailing carrying axle (as happened in the 1900s with the ‘Birdcage’ Class 36xx 2-4-2Ts). The 0-42T layout therefore promised the more feasible avenue for enlargement while adhesive weight could remain broadly proportionate to the whole.

1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1892

- Tender engines

Tender Great Western

Six-wheeled, four-coupled tank locomotives were popular for short distance passenger work in the 19th Century, but design and construction practice differed between the company’s two works. Wolverhampton favoured 0-4-2Ts in the form of Class 517 while at Swindon the ‘Metro’ 2-4-0Ts were preferred. There were parallels between the two types in terms of the substantial numbers built, years of construction, typical duties, and progressive increases in size and weight.

Before succeeding Joseph Armstrong as Locomotive Superintendent at Swindon in 1877, William Dean had held senior appointments at Wolverhampton. His firsthand experience of the two locations’ differing customs and practices made him well-placed to compare the relative merits of the two concepts.

Tank locomotives formed the greater share of the GWR standard gauge fleet from 1879 onwards, and remained a constant feature until the end of steam. Fleet totals as at 31 December at ten-year intervals, plus 1892: Year end

Locomotive Type

980

62

40

ISSUE 8 Left: The GWR’s 0-4-2T tradition was rooted in Class 517 which was introduced

by Wolverhampton in 1868. These small, moderately-powered locomotives were sprightly performers, economic to operate, and ideal for short-distance passenger duties. Introduced in 1868, the class was built over 17 years, originally as open-cabbed saddle tanks but variations in tanks, cabs, and bunker styles followed. Some were later adapted to work with auto trailers and the class became extinct in August 1947. This image is a pre-war Dick Riley photograph and shows No 1442 in later condition with overall cab; this engine had been built January 1878 and was withdrawn in 1945. Their length of service confirms their suitability for their intended duties and they encountered none of the tribulations that befell the much larger Class 3521 0-4-2Ts. This experience supports the view that the basic problem with Dean’s design lay in its being too large and thus too heavy for this type of wheel arrangement.

R C Riley (RCR 241).

Right: While Wolverhampton was busily turning out 0-4-2ST/ 0-4-2Ts, Swindon was building its 2-4-0T ‘Metro’ class, so named because of its original concentration on services over the Metropolitan Railway via Baker Street and part of the City Widened Lines for which purpose some were fitted with condensing gear. The scope of their duties later broadened and like Class 517, they were subjected to progressive enlargement and a variety of cab and bunker styles. The class was divided into small, medium and large types and the photograph shows No. 3562 of the large variety, characterised by the 1100-gallon side tanks and the volute springs on the leading axle. Although heavier than their northern counterparts, the Metros were similar in the range of duties and longevity.

This example (February 1894 – February 1949) was at Southall depot on 13 July 1946.

The class became extinct in November 1949.

R C Riley (RCR 1300).

The use of modern locomotive bogies was still in its infancy although the North British Railway had pioneered the 4-4-0 with its No. 224 in 1871. Also, the Great Southern & Western Railway had developed a 4-4-0 type (the ‘Kerry Bogie’) in 1877, derived from 2-4-0s inspired by Ramsbottom’s ‘Newton’ class on the London & North Western. The GS&WR 4-4-0s were needed for curvaceous routes in south-west Ireland with operating conditions reminiscent of Devon and Cornwall. On the tank engine front, Alexander McDonnell, Locomotive Superintendent of the GS&WR had produced the world’s first Single Fairlie type, 0-4-4T Nos. 33 & 34 in 1869.

These two engines, which probably had more to do with McDonnell’s creative genius than anything that Robert Fairlie might have conceived or contributed, were fast, powerful and rode well. Fairlie, famed for his greed, demanded exorbitant royalties which were settled for a fraction of the sum claimed. No more were built and so died one of the more unusual ‘might-have-beens’ of locomotive history in these islands that could have had practical potential for the GWR.

William Dean was a remarkable individual who found time and resources for extensive experimentation despite being besieged by a unique combination of circumstances.

He had to manage a motive power transition within an enterprise that had been on the verge of bankruptcy in the 1860s and which was still subject to stringent financial constraints during the prolonged recovery period that followed. Further his efforts were uniquely shackled by the cost and inconvenience of the remaining elements of the broad gauge network. Nevertheless, he explored new design concepts and investigated fresh metallurgical opportunities in collaboration with his close friend WH Stanier, who was Chief Clerk at Swindon. In an unusual foray across technical disciplines, Stanier was obsessed with engineering and experimentation (characteristics that would be inherited by one of his sons). Working from Dean’s home, the pair encountered many failures for that is endemic in experimentation but much was learned.

The dividend was priceless in the empirical knowledge gathered and Churchward’s achievements stand as epitaph to their joint enterprise.

41

WESTERN TIMES However, the forty locomotives in the group numbered 3521-60 were Dean’s most significant failures in ordinary service, as opposed to some of his experimental machines. They were to emphasise that six-wheeled passenger tank locomotives had reached and exceeded their viable operational maxima. In assessing the step change that the first twenty of the type represented, the following comparison underlines the point: Class

517

Metro

3521

3571

48xx

Wheel Arrangement

0-4-2T

2-4-0T

0-4-2T

0-4-2T

0-4-2T

Weight (tons)

31.3

40.55

47.9

40.25

41.3

Overall Wheelbase

15’ 6”

15’ 6”

17’ 6”

15’ 6”

15’ 6”

subjected to more drastic treatment in 1894. A larger boiler was fitted and the rear end framing positioned in line with the valances. This engine formed the prototype for Class 3571 built 1895-7 which comprised only ten locomotives. Without the complexity that characterised Class 517, they were confined to branch and local passenger work but never auto fitted. The weights quoted in the panel above are those for the last version of each type.

The suitability of the 0-4-2T for light, short distance passenger duties was graphically endorsed by Collett’s introduction of Class 48xx/ 58xx in 1932. Some commentators questioned the wisdom of resuscitating a concept that dated from 1868 but change merely by modernisation was sufficient to meet the demands of auto train services from the 1930s until the end of Western Region steam. It was a classic example of the core strength of the long continuum in GWR motive power design.

Both Class 517 and the Metros had been subjected to modification and enlargement over the years of their construction, resulting in bewildering variety that sorely tested the concept of ‘class’. No. 1477 of Class 517 was

Left: The last 19th Century 0-4-2T was Class 3571, an enlargement of Class 517 with weight commensurate with the last series of 2-4-0T Metros. This was the last 0-4-2T type before Collett’s Class 48xx. There were only ten locomotives in the class and they were confined to non-auto fitted branch and local passenger services.

In their early years four were allocated to Pontypool Road for a period but they were mainly confined to the Chester and Birkenhead areas.

No 3572 was allocated to Birkenhead when it became the first to be withdrawn in October 1928. It is seen here at West Kirby, the junction with the Wirral Railway on the western side of the peninsula (note the ‘foreign’ signal box architecture and signage). The different style of rear end framing is apparent as is also the spectacle plate installed on the rear of the bunker. Three of the class survived into BR days with No. 3574 lasting until December 1949.

Right: The final 0-4-2T incarnation was Class 48xx introduced in 1932. As a modernised and rather larger version of Class 517, this was a classic example of the GWR continuum in locomotive design.

Ninety-five were built, primarily to work auto trains which they managed competently and with a good turn of speed. The twenty locomotives of the 58xx series were never auto-fitted and tended to be deployed on a wider range of work. The last example in service was No. 5815 which was on the books of Swindon shed until April 1961 to work freight trains over the Highworth branch. No. 5800 (another long-term Swindon resident) was in the yard there on 25 August 1957, by which time it had acquired top feed.

R C Riley (RCR 10801).

42

ISSUE 8 Standard Gauge 0-4-2T Nos. 3521 - 3540 (Lot No. 73)

features a strongly-built, good-steaming design was guaranteed. Less satisfactory was weight distribution where the greatest load of 16.7 tons was carried on the front axle. The carrying axle bore 15.2 tons (32% of the total) and was 10’ 6” distant from the trailing driving axle.

Against the Class 517 tradition, Nos. 3521-40 were unquestionably outsiders that sat uneasily within the locomotive spectrum of the late 19th Century. Introduced under Swindon Lot No 73 in 1887, their principal dimensions: Introduced

1887

Boiler Type

Dean Goods S2

Among changes to Class 517 had been the introduction of ‘chain-hung’ trailing axle spring hangers with an intervening link between the shackles and no horn guides on the outside bearings. These measures were introduced by Swindon concurrent with extension of the overall wheelbase from either 13’ 3” or 15’ 0” to 15’ 6”, and replacement of saddle with side tanks. The intention appears to have been to improve rear end movement to accommodate the longer wheelbase. With No. 3521 a revised version of the Class 517 layout was partially adopted where there were still no horn guides but the chain-hung hangers were dropped in favour of the traditional form of attachment, with the same intention of providing flexibility at the rear of the rigid wheelbase.

Barrel - length

10’ 3”

- outside diameter

4’ 3”

Firebox - inside length

5’ 2”

Heating Surfaces [sq ft] - tubes

1070

- firebox

125

Grate [sq ft]

18.9

Boiler Pressure [lb/ sq in]

180 §

Cylinders

17’’ x 24”

Tractive Effort [lb - 85%]

17,690

The dimensions quoted in the panel above were shared only by Nos. 3521-3 which were delivered in August 1887. With Nos. 3524/ 5 introduced the next month, the side tanks were shorter with capacity reduced to 920 gallons, yielding a slight decrease in the overall weight; this tank design was continued with Nos. 352640 introduced between October 1887 and March 1888.

The overall weight was later recorded as 45.4 tons, following unspecified modifications in the summer of 1888 to the tanks and to the rear end. With both driving wheel diameters and the boiler the same as in the Deans Goods, the boiler pitch was probably the same at 7’ 3” and this is borne out by study of photographic evidence. Water surge in half-full tanks might have added to the uneasy ride but it seems more probable that problems stemmed from the long rear wheelbase and the mounting of the trailing axle. In any event, shortcomings in the riding seem to been evident almost immediately and these problems persisted following the modifications of 1888. In their original form as 0-4-2Ts, they were concentrated in the London and Bristol divisions and confined to branch and local services. Presumably in the absence of faster duties, the potential to alarm was yet to be fully revealed.

Wheel Diameters - driving

5’ 0”

- trailing

4’ 0”

Wheelbase

7’ 0” + 10’ 6”

Weight [tons] - total

47.9 §§

- adhesive

32.7

- maximum axle loading

16.7

Water Capacity [gallons]

1020

§ §§

Later reduced to 160 lb/ sq in.

Later 45.4 tons.

Above: Photographs of Nos. 3521-40 in their original form are scarce, but this view shows No. 3523 with the longer side tank as originally introduced in August 1887.

The double-framed chassis was robust comprising plate frames inside and sandwich outside. There were driving wheel bearings on both frame sets. The boiler conformed with Dean’s views on standardisation being the S2 type with dome on the front ring and round-topped firebox, as fitted initially to his 0-6-0 goods engines. With those

Instability with the first three was evident almost immediately so No. 3524 onwards had slightly shorter tanks with capacity reduced from 1020 to 920 gallons. In comparison with the previous view, this photograph of No. 3525 shows how the tanks were shortened. The minor nature of this modification must have resulted in little, if any, improvement in the riding qualities.

43

WESTERN TIMES Convertible 0-4-2ST Nos. 3541 - 59 (Part of Lot No. 76)

typical with Nos. 3521-3540 must have raised eyebrows.

The fate of the Broad Gauge had been determined by the outcome of the 1846 Commission but the 7’ ¼” gauge took a long time to be eliminated. Probably its eradication would have come sooner had it not been for the financial crisis of 1866. An ageing locomotive fleet, growing traffic levels, shortage of cash, uncertainty over when and how gauge the whole system could be standardised combined to present Joseph Armstrong with a unique motive power challenge. This great Victorian patriarch in the best meaning of the term was heavily committed across a wide spectrum of professional, social and family obligations and his premature passing was attributed to over-work. The gauge conundrum added to his burdens but he oversaw creation of the optimal engineering solution, which was fully exploited by Dean.

With the standard gauge 0-4-2Ts’ stability problems remaining unresolved, it might have been hoped that improvement would result from the lower centre of gravity imparted by the 7’ ¼” gauge. Further design changes saw reduction of the firebox dimensions to improve weight distribution although the same size boiler barrel was retained. Also the trailing axle was moved one foot closer to the rear driving axle. However, any resultant benefits seem to have been off-set by the saddle tank as instability remained and seems to have become more acute. The dimensions for Nos. 3541-59 were: Introduced

September 1888

Barrel

As double-framed construction was favoured for narrow gauge locomotives, it was a comparatively straightforward expedient to mount driving and carrying wheels outboard of the two frame sets. The resultant fleet of ‘Convertibles’ neatly plugged the gap left by withdrawal of pure broad gauge machines on grounds of repair costs or longevity.

The Convertible story deserves specific treatment but the best known of the genre were probably the eight Dean 2-2-2s (as described in WT Issue 3). On the other hand, 0-4-2ST Nos. 3541 to 3559 were the most notorious.

- length

10’ 3”

- outside diameter

4’ 3”

Firebox - inside length

4’ 8”

Heating Surfaces [sq ft] - tubes

1070

- firebox

110

Grate [sq ft]

17.2

Boiler Pressure [lb/ sq in]

180 §

Cylinders

17’’ x 24”

Tractive Effort [lb - 85%]

17,690

Wheel Diameters - driving

5’ 0”

- trailing

4’ 0”

Wheelbase

7’ 0” + 9’ 6”

Weight [tons]

Above: The second batch of twenty locomotives were built as convertibles for service in Devon and Cornwall, a corner of the Broad Gauge network that had traditionally made extensive use of tank locomotives on main and branch line services. The first Convertible was No. 3541, seen here at Millbay. Nineteen of this series were equipped with full length saddle tanks and while this feature would have raised the centre of gravity, it was presumably hoped that this undesirable feature would be countered by the broader gauge. In practice, it was soon apparent that this was not achieved as the uncomfortable riding characteristics were even more acute than with the standard gauge side tanks.

- total

46.05

- adhesive

34.55

- maximum axle loading

17.4

Water Capacity [gallons]

1130

§ Boiler pressure was initially 180 lb/ sq in, later reduced to 150 lb/ sq in.

Apart from gauge, the main difference compared with the first batch lay in their full length saddle tanks. The purpose was probably to maximise access to the motion as the extra running plate width combined with side tanks would have made this difficult without use of a pit. This series was intended for work beyond Newton Abbot which conformed with the traditional preference for tank locomotives on various duties in the far west. Main line speeds were generally lower than on the rest of the system but nonetheless, use on faster services than was

This view of Broad Gauge No. 3547 shows the exposed nature of the footplate which would have discouraged bunker-first working. It is possible that with a carrying axle leading, the riding qualities may have been better. An omission in recorded data is any mention of the bunker capacities of the tank locomotives in their various forms.

44

ISSUE 8 Convertible 0-4-4BT No. 3560 (Last of Lot No. 76)

rails was obvious. Entering service in July 1889, No. 3560 held the distinction of being the only 0-4-4T built new at Swindon. It was converted to standard gauge in August 1892.

The unhappy experiences with Nos. 3541-3559 led to further modifications with the last member of the broad gauge series. While under construction, No. 3560 was converted to 0-4-4 wheel arrangement, the size of the side tanks was substantially reduced and a back tank was installed in the bunker. The bogie wheels were of the Mansell type with wooden centres as was then the general practice. The changed dimensions with this version compared with 0-4-4STs Nos. 3541-59 were: Bogie Wheels

3’ 6”

Wheelbase

7’ 0” + 9’ 8” + 4’ 0”

Water Capacity [gallons]

Convertible 0-4-4BTs Nos. 3541 - 59 The riding qualities of 0-4-4BT No. 3560 were apparently better than the preceding BG 0-4-2STs, albeit only relatively speaking. This version was adopted as the format for modification of the Broad Gauge series. The only key dimensional difference compared with No. 3560 was a water capacity of 1075 gallons. Seventeen were converted to Broad Gauge 0-4-4Ts between April 1890 and April 1891. It reflected the poor riding characteristics of the 0-4-2STs that these modifications were undertaken despite the impending gauge standardisation.

1000

Coal capacities for the various forms of tank locomotive appeared to remain unrecorded but Harry Holcroft who worked with No. 3560 took measurements of the carrying capacities of this engine in 0-4-4BT form: Side Tanks

8’ 6” long x 4’ 0” deep x 1’ 6” wide

Back Tank

2’ 6” long x 3’ 6” deep x 7’ 6” wide

Bunker

4’ 6” long x 4’ 0” deep x 7’ 6” wide

Following the entry of No. 3560 into traffic, conversion of seventeen of the 0-4-2STs proceeded expeditiously. No. 3549, seen here at Newton Abbot, re-entered service as an 0-4-4BT in April 1891 and was converted to standard gauge thirteen months later. The last two 0-4-2STs in service (Nos. 3543 and 3547) were converted to 0-4-4BTs and to standard gauge concurrently in mid-1891. LGRP.

In keeping with the tradition of variety within these forty locomotives, two of this group (Nos. 3453 and 3457) were fitted with bogies in July 1891 and June 1891 respectively and concurrently converted to 4’ 8½” gauge. Accordingly, they never ran as Broad Gauge 0-4-4Ts.

Above: Nos. 3541-60 were the last examples of the Convertible genre to be built and logically the length of their Broad Gauge service would be short. Nevertheless, the running continued to be severely unstable resulting in the last of this batch being radically altered during construction to become an 0-4-4 with side and back tanks. The relative capacities of the three tanks were not recorded but the aggregate capacity was 1000 gallons.

The use of bunker coal rails with the 0-4-4BT version indicates an attempt to maintain the (undisclosed) coal capacity that would have been reduced by installation of the back tank. No. 3560 (built July 1889) thus became the BG prototype for modification of the wheel arrangements of Nos 3541-3459 and this programme was inaugurated despite the short time remaining before final gauge conversion. The comparative ease with which these engines could be altered to standard gauge apparently justified these modifications. The bogie wheelbase was 4’ 0” and the wheels were of the then popular Mansell type with timber centres.

Standard Gauge 0-4-4T Nos. 3521 - 3540 Conversion of the standard gauge 0-4-2Ts to conform with the pattern set out with No 3560 commenced in October 1891 with No. 3521 and was completed in May 1892, immediately before the Broad Gauge 0-4-4Ts were tackled. The combined tank capacity of these engines was 1033 gallons.

The back tank sat on the bunker floor to the rear and the forward edge was rounded off. The connections between the tanks were recorded as 5’ long (?) and of 1’ 6” square section which would have ensured efficient water equalisation. With the back tank taking up 66 cubic feet within the bunker, the need for coal

Standard Gauge 0-4-4T Nos. 3541 - 3560 Excluding Nos. 3453/ 5/ 60 which are detailed above, Nos. 3541/ 2/ 4-6/ 8-59 were converted to standard gauge between January 1892 and November 1892.

45

WESTERN TIMES

Above: Two views of No. 3521 as converted to 0-4-4BT in October 1891. In the first photograph, the filler for the back tank set within the coal space is clearly visible. The two narrow fittings to the front of the side tanks would appear to be breathers. The toolboxes on both sides are labelled ‘GWR LOCO BRISTOL’ and the substantial sandboxes adjacent to the tanks show that bunker-first running was expected to be a normal practice. The re-railing jack installed horizontally on the running plate was customary about that time, and was presumably an important tool given the type’s propensity to derail. The boiler has the Roscoe-type lubricator immediately behind the chimney; this had been a standard feature that was dropped with boilers built after 1892. It will be noted how the cab side panel now blends into the tank side as compared with the previous image.

LGRP.

Standard Gauge 0-4-4BT Nos. 3521 - 3560; The Composite Class Ride Characteristics

In November 1892, the forty locomotives came as close to forming a homogeneous group as they ever would but they remained problematic. By that date, the first built (No. 3521) had been in service for just over five years and No. 3560 had been at work for little more than three.

Steaming capacity was good as would be expected of the Dean Goods type boiler. There was nothing wrong with cylinders and motion and the construction standards were sound. The problem lay in the size of the locomotive, the overall length of the wheelbase and the bogie configuration. The latter yielded some improvement in the riding qualities but there remained an uncomfortable tendency for the front end to ‘nose’ alarmingly. Up until conversions to the 0-4-4BT variants, the standard gauge GWR had relied mainly on sixwheeled types – tender: 2-2-2/ 2-4-0/ 0-6-0 and tank 2-4-0T/ 0-4-2T/ 0-6-0T. Experience had shown that the 0-4-2T version had exceeded the feasible limits of enlargement using that wheel arrangement. As standard gauge 0-4-4BTs, they were sizeable machines by the customs of the time as reflected in the overall weights of near-contemporary classes: Introduced

Wheel Arrangement

Class

Weight [tons]

1873

2-2-2

55 ‘Queen’

33.5

1881

2-4-0

2201

32.4

1883

0-6-0

2301

33.1

1885

2-4-0

3201 ‘Stella’

36.0

1889

2-4-0

3206 ‘Barnum’

42.5

The limited modifications described above indicate that the unstable riding qualities and proneness to derail were acknowledged well before there was any comprehensive attempt at rectification. The following accounts illustrate just how uncomfortable it could be to work on the 0-4-4BTs. Observations of Harry Holcroft In the 1890s, Holcroft was an apprentice at Stafford Road Works and one of his duties was to accompany locomotives on out-and-back test trips following repair. At the half way point, he was required to crawl under the engine to check bolts for tightness and to make any other adjustments required by the chargehand. On this occasion, No. 3550 was on test (the account in An Outline of Great Western Locomotive Practice 1837-1947 by H Holcroft, Locomotive Publishing Company, 1957 is undated).

The outward leg was made bunker-first at moderate speed and did not call for comment. Holcroft then reported ‘When all bearings were reported to be running cool, the driver went “hell for leather” on the return trip to give the locomotive a good shake up – and he succeeded! Although I have travelled extensively since on all kinds of engines and at speeds over 100 mph, there was never a trip like this one. It had to be experienced to be believed, for the lateral oscillation was terrific…’. It was unfortunate that the driving methods were so different on the two legs as otherwise it might have been possible to assess whether there was any appreciable difference between bunker-first and chimney-first running.

By 1892 the GWR had forty young but largely impracticable locomotives. A radical solution was needed to create machines with a viability operating life expectancy.

46

ISSUE 8 Accident Report Synopsis: Between Bodmin Road & Doublebois, 13 April 1895

would have to be 42 mph. There were unreconciled discrepancies between timings recorded by signalmen and the two guards with calculations suggesting that the average from Doublebois to the accident site could have been as high as 58½ mph. Addison regarding these variances as unreconcilable but nonetheless concluded that the train had run at between 50 and 60 mph. He also noted that the driver of the second engine (whose evidence he appeared to consider unreliable) had charge of the train braking which was contrary to company rules. Addison also discounted the assertion by one of the guards that time had been saved in hill climbing by having two locomotives and a light load of 136 tons. Addison endorsed the view of permanent way staff that a light load and fast running could exert even more damage.

The Down 5.00 pm Plymouth double-headed passenger service was derailed at 6.21 pm while running over a right hand curve of 30 chains radius. The leading locomotive (No. 3521) left the rails first followed by the train engine (No. 3548), and then four passenger coaches; the rest of the train comprising a covered carriage truck and two horse boxes remained on the track. No. 3521 ran on for about 100 yards before colliding with the slope of a cutting on the Down side; No. 3548 fell on its right side across both Down and Up lines. A Third Class Brake coach finished up with its left side resting against No. 3548 and with its leading end overhanging an embankment on the Up side. A Tri-Composite coach was off the rails on the right side of the curve with its leading end telescoped into the first coach. The next two coaches, a Third Class Brake and an All Third were off the line on the right hand side. Ten passengers were injured as well as both locomotive crews and the front guard. Considerable damage was sustained by the locomotives and the first two coaches. On the Down line, the permanent way was torn up for 70 yards and another 150 yards distorted.

About 50 yards were also damaged on the Up line.

Other remarks/ recommendations related to: [i] [ii] [iii] [iv]

Major G W Addison, Inspecting Officer, considered locomotives and rolling stock to have been in sound condition, and the cross-sleepered double track to be well maintained, with one exception. Twenty-five yards to the east of the accident site, he found a ‘crook” in the rail alignment at a joint and significant track damage over the next 250 yards or so eastwards. Over the 5 miles from Doublebois to Bodmin Road, the route descends at an average gradient of 1 in 100 (with 1 in 57 at the crash site). In the 3¼ miles from Doublebois to the site, there were eleven left-handed and seven right-handed curves. The ganger responsible for the section stated in evidence that following the accident he had found two other locations closer to Doublebois where the track had been ‘recently knocked about’.

[v]

[vi]

Use of two locomotives was unnecessary when one would have sufficed.

Recommended prohibition of double-heading on the Doublebois-Bodmin Road section.

Need for strong measures (not defined) to ensure that time was ‘being adhered to’.

No increase in the time allowance over that section was considered necessary but a warning notice board should be installed against excessive speed down the gradient.

The locomotives had been specially designed for climbing steep gradients but they were not ideally suited to all conditions, particularly involving high speeds.

The desirability of providing a different class of engine for express trains running at high speeds.

Accident Report Synopsis: Penryn, 31 October 1898 This accident concerned the 5.20 pm Falmouth-Truro mail service hauled by 0-4-4BT No. 3542 (allocated to Truro) and consisting of 4-wheel postal van No. 500 and two Tri-composite bogie coaches Nos. 1248/ 9.

The train was descending the 1 in 80 gradient near mile post 310 about a mile to the west of Penryn when on a left hand curve, it derailed to the right of the single track at a point where the route emerged from a cutting on to an embankment. The locomotive turned over and was prevented from rolling further down the embankment by the dome and chimney becoming buried in the earth. The mail van ended up on its side and the first passenger coach remained upright on the embankment brink while the second did not derail. All vacuum brake connections were severed but the couplings between locomotive and the first two vehicles held. The driver was badly scalded and died two days later. The fireman was slightly scalded and suffered other minor injuries; four passengers were slightly injured.

The train had left Plymouth one minute late and by Doublebois was 13 minutes behind time so operating speeds came under close scrutiny. Locomotive crews and the two guards were unanimous that the speed was normal. This was confirmed by recorded timings that showed the 3¼ miles to have been covered in six minutes against the allowance of ten minutes to cover the 5 miles 69 chains between the two stations. Addison calculated the average speed to have been slightly over 34 mph which he did not regard as excessive.

Focus was then directed at the immediately preceding train which had been the 10.15 am from Paddington (the ‘Cornishman’). This had traversed the section less than two hours previously, hauled by Nos. 3536 & 3537. This train had stopped at Liskeard four minutes late but had recovered three minutes by its next stop, Bodmin Road.

The allowance of 16 minutes for the 9 miles between these two points would mean an average speed of 34½ mph but to cover the distance in 13 minutes, the average

There were several contributory factors: 1.

Locomotive and rolling stock were found to be in good condition and damage sustained in the accident 47

WESTERN TIMES was slight although No. 3542 had to be dismantled to enable its recovery. It was noted that this class rode badly on descending gradients with the couplings slack. The speed on this occasion was 30 to 35 mph (fireman’s evidence) and neither locomotive nor continuous brake had been applied on the descent.

an unsatisfactory design that caused infrastructural damage, and which threatened passenger safety. That both accidents occurred while running downhill with slack couplings suggests that the oscillation might have been less acute with a train load providing restraint at the drawbar. At Penryn, the photographs show that the engine was working chimney first. Unfortunately, the Doublebois report does not specify whether the locomotives were working chimney or bunker leading.

The former seems the more likely and this might have detracted further from the quality of the ride. In general, there seems to have been little by way of a regime to ensure speeds were kept to reasonable levels beyond the requirement to respect schedules set out in the working timetables. This was shown in 1895 to have had serious repercussions.

2.

The trackwork was longitudinal baulk road which was in course of being replaced across the system following the gauge conversion. About 60 yards of permanent way were badly damaged. Measurements revealed that the super-elevation of the curve varied between 3¾” and 4½”, and the gauge between 4’ 8¼ “ and 4’ 8 5/6”. About 180 feet before the accident site, fractured rails were discovered plus evidence that the rails had been displaced outwards.

3. The ganger, who was responsible for maintenance of 2½ route miles, was working elsewhere on his section repairing defective trackwork ‘somewhat tardily’ according to the Lt Col H A Yorke, Inspecting Officer.

The track at the accident site had been replaced before his arrival but he noted worn rails and poor maintenance standards at other points in the vicinity. The ganger had been working at the accident location the previous day and was considered to have left the track in an unsatisfactory condition. However, the inspector of permanent way was held more culpable with regard to broken and worn rails, and in his failure to report the situation to the divisional engineer.

Major Addison’s recommended prohibition on the use of double-headed 0-4-4BTs was specific to the Doublebois-Bodmin Road section, probably within the limits of his remit as enquiring officer. However, company management knew that numerous curves and frequent changes in gradient typified the exCornwall Railway mainline and that there were plenty of locations where circumstances could have generated a recurrence. Equally, there would have been concern about adverse publicity regarding use of proven unsafe locomotives on mainline services.

The accident of 13 April 1895 spelled the demise of the 0-4-4BTs on express work, and this must have been planned anyway as the first pair of ‘Duke’ Class 4-4-0s entered service the following month and by December 1896, twenty-three more had been added to the fleet. Their arrival numerically replaced Class 3521 on mainline trains and heralded the famous tandem partnership with the Dean Singles. The sturdy Dukes with flashing cranks slogged away at the switchback west of Newton Abbot while the 4-2-2s glided gracefully over easier grades to the east.

The accident between Doublebois and Bodmin Road of April 1895 was much to the fore during this enquiry, as was also Class 3521’s reputation for unsteadiness.

It was recommended that these engines should be modified and that in their present condition they should be banned from branch and second class lines, and subjected to an all-line speed restriction of 25-30 mph.

Yorke noted that following the earlier accident, the company had banned the pairing of two locomotives of Class 3521 on Down services between Doublebois and Bodmin Road but had imposed no prohibitions concerning operating speeds. This was despite the ‘fairly general opinion among railway engineers that engines of this class are unduly severe on the permanent way’. Although not part of the report, it is worth noting that replacement of the baulk road (which was apparently in poor condition at this location) was still under way over six years after gauge conversion.

That mighty task is commonly focussed on the heroic efforts of that remarkable weekend in May 1892 but in reality, the exercise consumed enormous amounts of time and money before and after.

Summary

The result of the derailment near Penryn (the station for this settlement was 9 miles from Truro on the Falmouth branch) on 21 October 1898 involving No. 3542. The reputation of these locomotives was such that those remaining in 0-4-4BT form had been confined to slower, branch work but the type was evidently still not immune to mishap. No. 3542 was the second to be converted to a tender locomotive (in March 1899) and was presumably out of service between the accident and that date.

Comment has been made in these pages previously about the effectiveness or otherwise of interdivisional communication on important matters. In these circumstances, there seems to have been little interaction between engineering disciplines about 48

ISSUE 8 The Penryn accident likely had greater consequences for the future of the 0-4-4BT as a type. Disqualified from mainline work, Lt Col Yorke’s conclusions added to the prohibitions which really left the only possible range of duties to be slow freight traffic, which was already amply served by the capable 0-6-0 Standard and Dean Goods. Most relevant to the saga was that the two reports combined to confirm that modifications thus far had been inadequate and that drastic attention Loco No.

Last Shed as 0-4-4BT

Conversion Date *

3521

Slough

3522

was required. How that challenge was tackled will be reviewed in Part 2 of this article, which will appear in a future issue of Western Times.

The following table shows how the class was dispersed in its closing tank engine years. It is noteworthy that only one remained in Cornwall (to work the Falmouth branch?) and that a significant number had migrated to Devon, presumably for branch line duties.

First Shed as 4-4-0

Loco No.

Last Shed as 0-4-4BT

First Shed as 4-4-0

Aug-99

Frome §

Conversion Date *

3541

Newport

Oct-99

South Devon

Newton Abbot

May-99

Truro §

3542

Truro

Mar-99

South Devon

3523

Newton Abbot

Oct-99

Penzance §

3543

Newport

Sep-99

South Devon

3524

Tondu

Mar-02

Gloucester

3544

No record

May-00

Didcot §

3525

Newport

Mar-01

Didcot

3545

Moretonhampstead

Aug-00

Pontypool Road §

3526

Newton Abbot

Jun-00

Reading §

3546

Bridgend

Jan-00

Cardiff §

3527

Newport

Feb-00

Cardiff §

3547

Malvern Wells

Mar-02

Worcester

3528

Newport

Jun-00

Launceston

3548

Abergavenny

Mar-01

Pembroke Dock

3529

Newton Abbot

Apr-00

Salisbury §

3549

Newton Abbot

Aug-99

Cardiff §

3530

Newton Abbot

Nov-99

Plymouth

3550

Leominster

Jul-00

Trowbridge

3531

Newport

Jun-01

Cardiff

3551

Newton Abbot

Dec-00

Plymouth

3532

Newport

Oct-02

Gloucester

3552

No record

Oct-00

Newport

3533

Newport

Jun-01

New Milford

3553

Newton Abbot

Jan-99

Newton Abbot

3534

Paddington

Dec-99

Worcester

3554

Newton Abbot

Feb-00

Plymouth §

3535

Newport

Aug-99

South Devon

3555

Newton Abbot

Apr-00

Plymouth §

3536

Newport

Oct-01

Abergavenny

3556

Birmingham

Aug-01

Landore

3537

Exeter

May-99

Falmouth §

3557

Newton Abbot

Nov-99

St Blazey §

3538

Newton Abbot

Oct-00

Cardiff §

3558

Abergavenny

Dec-01

Reading

3539

Newport

Jan-00

Salisbury §

3559

Newport

Jan-01

Plymouth §

3540

Kingswear

Sep-00

Didcot §

3560

Launceston

Sep-99

Truro §

recorded for re-entry to service as 4-4-0. *§ Date May have returned post-conversion to last allocation as 0-4-4BT. Sequence of recorded dates suggest this might have been the first new depot allocation.

Right: The ‘Duke’ Class 4-4-0s built 1895-1899 were the direct successors to 0-4-4BT Class 3251 on mainline services west of Newton Abbot which they handled competently (and safely) until displacement by Bulldog 4-4-0s and Class 43xx 2-6-0s in the early 1900s. No. 3280 was photographed circa 1936 at an unknown location in company with a Bulldog to the left and a Dean Goods to the right. No. 3280 entered service in March 1897 as No. 3297 Tregenna; it was later renumbered and lost its name in July 1930, consequent upon construction of Castle Class No. 5006 Tregenna Castle.

49

MODERN TRACTION:

‘HYMEKS’ IN COLOUR he Type 3 Bo-Bo locomotives colloquially known This was the landscape in which Beyer-Peacock T as the ‘Hymeks’ are regarded by many BR(W) supplied 101 locomotives to the Western Region aficionados as the most aesthetically pleasing of the with Mekydro-design hydraulic transmission (hence collective designs of diesel-hydraulics. Constructed

by Beyer-Peacock Ltd at their Gorton Works in Manchester, the prototype example No. D7000 was delivered to Swindon for acceptance trials in May 1961.

the ‘Hymek’ moniker), and later designated Class 35 under TOPS (Total Operations Processing System).

These engines were the versatile and effective endproduct of a joint venture of the type to which Wilmot had alluded. Sadly, they proved a blind alley following a further change in BR motive power policy which marginalised diesel-hydraulics as non-standard. The ‘Hymeks’ operational careers were cut short in yet another example of changing customer preference that had so often been the nemesis for independent locomotive manufacturers.

The 1955 Modernisation Plan which foretold the early demise of steam traction across British Railways was seen as an opportunity by Beyer-Peacock. The company began to search for alternative engineering products, while re-organising part of Gorton Foundry to participate in construction consistent with BR’s new policies. This can be summarised in an extract from Harold Wilmot in his Chairman’s Report for 1963, where he states ‘....the manufacturer makes less and less of the complete vehicle today. He has to purchase a number of important components, such as diesel engines, generators, traction motors and control equipment. He is therefore more concerned with the techniques of design, purchase and assembly.’

The first locomotives (D7006/ D7081) were withdrawn from service in September 1971, and the final examples in regular traffic were (D7011/ D7017/ D7018/ D7022) which succumbed in March 1975. Four examples were to survive into preservation (D7017/ D7018/ D7029/ D7076). They are remembered as probably the most reliable and successful of all the diesel-hydraulics.

Above: The class prototype No. D7000 stands by the west doors into Swindon Works ‘A’ Shop, shortly after delivery from Beyer Peacock Ltd in early May 1961. The immaculate machine had just been fitted with Western Region AWS equipment and was undertaking acceptance inspections and running trials prior to the official release into traffic and allocation to Bristol Bath Road.

50

ISSUE 8

Above: One of the final locomotives delivered in December 1963, No. D7097 heads the 6.40am Leicester-Paignton over Red Cow Level Crossing into Exeter St Davids on 16 May 1964. The red buffer beam, lime green body-side skirt and ivory white cab-window surrounds, further embellished with a small yellow warning panel, made for a most attractive livery combination.

Peter Botham.

Below: The driver of No. D7072 applies the power to attack the 1 in 37 climb out of Exeter St Davids, up towards Exeter Central on 16 May 1964. The train is the 2.05pm Plymouth to Exeter Central service via Okehampton.

Peter Botham.

51

WESTERN TIMES

Above: The Locomotive Club of Great Britain’s ‘The Wessex Downsman’ passes through Staple Hill on 4 April 1965. The railtour was hauled by No. D7007 and ex-LMS 4F 0-6-0 No. 44466 between Bristol Temple Meads and Mangotsfield, where the Hymek was removed leaving the steam locomotive to work on to Bath Green Park alone.

Photographer unknown.

Below: In May 1965, No. D7003 heads south through Radstock with a fitted freight from Bristol to Frome. In the distance an ‘8750’ Class 0-6-0PT can be seen, undoubtedly engaged with working the numerous local colliery branches.

Roger Holmes (RH 3717).

52

ISSUE 8 Top: A very wet and miserable looking Newton Abbot plays host to No. D7011 at the head of The Plymouth Railway Circle ‘Diesel Rail Tour’ on 11 July 1965. The excursion, run using a 2-car ‘Cross Country’ DMU, was returning to Plymouth after a round trip to Swanage.

The time is recorded as shortly after 8.05pm and the Hymek has been attached to assist the DMU for the final leg of the journey over the South Devon banks. This run was achieved in just under an hour with arrival into Plymouth at 9.02pm.

Destined to be one of the last examples in service, D7011 had the longest working life of the class at 13 years and 3 months. It was eventually scrapped

by Marples & Gillot Ltd of Sheffield in January 1977.

Bernard Mills.

Middle: No. D7016 lurks under the road over-bridge at Rugby Central, in this undated photograph captured during summer 1966. It is recorded that No. D7012 worked the final train on the day the line closed for through workings on 5 September, so this is shortly before that date. Identifying the train (1E20) has also proved inconclusive, with an early evening Swindon-Sheffield service most likely.

The Hymek would have been removed at Leicester to be replaced by Eastern Region motive power for the remainder of the journey.

D7016 was placed into stock on 3 June 1961 and allocated to Bristol Bath Road. Its only transfer took place in October 1971 with a move to Old Oak Common, where it remained until withdrawal on 6 July 1974 and subsequent disposal on the Swindon ‘killing fields’. The Transport Treasury.

Bottom: An unidentified class member pulls into Evesham station in April 1968, under the watchful gaze of a solitary young enthusiast. It is thought the train is a Worcester-Paddington service.

Opened by the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway on 3 May 1852, Evesham station and the line became part of the GWR in 1863. The separate Midland Railway station (situated in close proximity to the left of picture) was run as a joint station from 1932, until its closure to passenger traffic in June 1963.

A Metropolitan-Cammel Class 101 Diesel Multiple Unit stands in the Down platform, wearing the newly introduced overall corporate rail blue livery.

Roger Geach collection.

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WESTERN TIMES

Stonehouse (Burdett Road) on the Gloucester-Swindon ‘Golden Valley’ line, resounds to the 1740bhp Maybach MD870 engine of No. D7023. Photographer/ date unknown.

Llanybyther (south of Lampeter) on the AberystwythCarmarthen line, finds No. D7030 working a short mixed train. The milk tank on the back will have come from either the Felin Fach or Pont Llanio creameries. The distant station closed following cessation of passenger traffic on the line in 1965.

George Smith (GS 2141).

ISSUE 8

Above: Cardiff Canton resident No. D7054 stands in the Down side yard at Chepstow on 5 April 1969. Canton, along with Old Oak Common and Bristol Bath Road were the primary depots to maintain the Hymek fleet throughout their short working lives. Bernard Mills.

Below: No. D7002 is captured in the late evening sunlight at Redbridge on 5 August 1969. This locomotive was one of the first class casualties, being withdrawn on 3 October 1971 (still in green livery) having amassed a meagre ten years of service.

Bernard Mills.

55

WESTERN TIMES

Above: Bristol Bath Road’s No. D7003 prepares to depart the United Dairies Creamery at Hemyock on 9 November 1971 with a train of loaded 6-wheel milk tankers bound for London. This traffic ceased with the closure of the branch on 31 October 1975. Bernard Mills.

Below: Now adorned with rail blue and full yellow ends, No. D7033 stands at Bristol Temple Meads with the 2B95 departure for Portsmouth on 25 August 1969. The locomotive was withdrawn on 1 January 1972 and cut at Swindon Works.

Bernard Mills.

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ISSUE 8

Above: On a damp Thursday 30 March 1972 at Bristol Bath Road shed, (D)7054 and D1015 Western Champion await their next duties.

The Hymek had been initially withdrawn in January 1972, before reinstatement for a further eleven-months service.

Bernard Mills.

Below: The scrap line at Plymouth Laira hosts a forlorn looking D7089 on 15 December 1974. It was condemned on 6 May 1973, but survived as a departmental carriage heating unit until scrapping in February 1976 by T J Thomson Ltd of Stockton. Bernard Mills.

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WESTERN TIMES

‘YOU’VE NEVER HAD IT SO GOOD’ THE 1949 IAN ALLAN CLUB EXCURSION t was Harold MacMillan who coined the phrase A fortunate recent find were the images to accompany Ivery ‘You’ve never had it so good’ (1957) and that may this brief piece. Cecil J Allen, then leading author and well have been the case when compared with train timer, was in the centre of the group depicted the past. However, go back to 1949 and others might have uttered the same words first. This was a group of enthusiasts who participated in the running of a special train from Paddington to Swindon on Thursday 1 September 1949.

at the top of Page 60. Motive power was in the form of No. 6021 King Richard II, complete with its newly applied ‘BRITISH RAILWAYS’ wording to the tender, albeit in pseudo GWR style lettering.

At least one other renowned railway photographer from the period was also present, C C B Herbert.

This working was organised by a 27 year old Ian Allan, who had started his publishing business in 1942 and which just seven years later had grown considerably incorporating by now a Locospotters’ Club as well as several regular magazines. It was thus a small step to commence operating tours.

This Swindon special was the very first main line outing and the precursor to literally hundreds that would follow.

The late Ian Allan in his autobiography Driven By Steam (1992) comments, ‘The train ran non-stop to Swindon and incorporated a restaurant car on which tea was provided consisting of a pot of tea, toasted tea cake and sandwiches. I remember remonstrating hard at the exorbitant charge of 3s 6d and to placate me a chocolate biscuit was included in the deal’.

Away from the undoubted jubilant atmosphere amongst the participants, the outside world was still a grey and drab place; rationing meant that supplies of petrol, sweets, sugar, meat, and domestic coal were still restricted.

‘You’ve never had it so good?’, perhaps this might well have applied in 1949, for writing this 70+ years later we can only regret it is no longer possible to organise a similar special to visit what was once the very heart of the GWR. Above Centre: The Ian Allan Locospotters’ Club logo. This is the 1948 Western Region brown variant, that was provided to members in the form of a tin badge.

Left: Ready for the off at Paddington. The excellent ‘Six Bells Junction’ website lists two possible earlier Ian Allan special trains, one to Portsmouth Harbour on 20 April 1949 and a previous one on 5 June 1948 involving a trip on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway.

Advertising leaflets were produced for both and at least the RHDR visit did take place although the Ian Allan involvement was only on the narrow gauge line. Indeed, this Swindon trip appears to have been the first postwar main line special by any railway society. It clearly attracted press interest as witness the photographer in his risky position to the left. 1 September 1949.

All images courtesy of The Transport Treasury.

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ISSUE 8

Above: Arrival of the train at Swindon. We may assume the group had been deliberately marshalled to keep within platform confines.

Below: Ian Allan is seen being photographed for posterity next to No. 6021 King Richard II. De rigueur fashions of the day abound.

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WESTERN TIMES Top: Having most likely accessed the Swindon Works site via the famous underpass from the station entrance side of the main Bristol line, the levels of anticipation would undoubtedly have been building amongst the visiting party. Walking alongside ‘B’ Shop are a trio of more senior participants, including in the centre the renowned British railway engineer and writer Cecil J Allen.

Many of Allen’s authored books were to be printed by the Ian Allan label, including seminal works on the Great Eastern (1955), North Eastern (1964) and London & North Eastern (1966) railway companies.

Behind, a pair of 0-6-0PTs and several tenders wait on the reception siding for entry into the adjacent shop for overhaul.

Middle: The main party have by now reached the spiritural mecca for all Great Western enthusiasts, the cathedral like setting of the Main Erecting ‘A’ Shop. One can almost hear the noise of heavy machinery and smell the engineering oils and lubricants, that would have accompanied this scene.

The official tour guide was most likely instructing on the finer points of the replica broad gauge 2-2-2 North Star perched atop its display plinth, but it appears many of the group are more occupied scanning the shop-floor for more ‘cops’ for their brandished ABC Spotters Books.

Bottom: One of the many fascinating corners of Swindon Works to visit was the Iron Foundry or ‘J’ Shop.

Within this 660’ x 80’ building most GWR locomotive components were cast using traditional sand mould techniques. This process involved the pouring of molten metal into the pictured sand moulds, which containing a cavity of the desired shape. Once cooled and set the components would be transferred to other areas of the works for machine finishing, before eventual despatch to the erecting Shop and affixing to the relevant locomotive.

This building was to survive the wanton demolition following closure of the works, and now forms part of the McArthurGlen Shopping Village.

60

Above: Examining a bogie deficient No. 6000 King George V undergoing overhaul within the cavernous expanse of ‘A’ Shop.

Below: Undoubtedly one of the excursions highlights was being able to witness No. 5018 St Mawes Castle at speed on the Test Plant.

WESTERN TIMES

THE MEW : FERRY ACROSS THE DART he Great Western Railway as a holistic enterprise The Mew achieved the short crossing in 3-5 minutes T had many more business interests beyond (depending on tide strength), with an original capacity the operation of its railway network. Most were of of 547 passengers, which was some 216 more than course closely linked to the movement of goods and passengers; hotels and catering, holidays and tourism, and the associated supporting transport web of road haulage, air services (see WT Issue 2) and shipping.

the previous ferry PS Dolphin which she replaced.

However, in 1924 the lower saloon was removed to facilitate the carriage of the Great Western Railway’s road vehicles, so as to avoid the heavy payments made for the use of the competing Lower Ferry.

Records show that a ferry has operated across the lower reaches of the River Dart in south Devon since the mid 14th century. With the coming of the railway to Kingswear on the east bank of the tidal estuary in 1864, it was natural for an interest to be sought operating a steam ferry to the larger town of Dartmouth on the opposite side of the river. So it was that the succession of railway companies had ferry rights either directly or indirectly between 1863 and 1972.

During WW2 the vessel was offered to the Admiralty for assisting with Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk.

This particular ‘little ship’ was however considered unsuitable for the tortuous Channel crossing and was returned to Dartmouth (for more details see overleaf).

Post War, The Mew continued to ply her trade under the ownership of British Railways, including conversion to oil firing and fitting of a new funnel. The end came following her final crossing on the evening of Friday 8 October 1954, witnessed by large crowds and accompanied by the firing of flares and ships hooters. Not until 1957 did a pair of permanent 35 ton diesel-engined replacements, the Adrian Gilbert and Humphrey Gilbert, enter service.

Probably the most fondly remembered vessel to run the service was The Mew, which operated for 46 of those years between 31 May 1908 and 8 October 1954. Built

by Messrs Cox & Company of Falmouth at a cost of £5,100, she was a 90’ x 22½’ twin screw steamer, whose two engines generated 250hp at a speed of 10 knots.

Above: Shortly after commissioning in 1908, the very well patronised new ferry sets steam for Dartmouth on the far bank of the River Dart. Here the vessel is seen in original condition, before removal of the rear saloon and with the full promenade deck.

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ISSUE 8

Above: Colourised photograph probably taken just prior to WW1, as The Mew begins the three minute river crossing to Dartmouth.

Below: The Mew showing its 1924 modification to remove the lower saloon to facilitate the carriage of road vehicles. The lorry appears to be a 30 cwt Burford forward control chassis with a Swindon-built parcels van body.

63

WESTERN TIMES Notes:

The passage below details the wartime exploits of The Mew and is extracted verbatim from Dunkirk and the Great Western by Ashley Brown, published by The Great Western Railway Company, Paddington Station, London (undated):

[1] Other accounts record that ‘provisioning’ included stacking the decks with coal to enable her to carry out the voyage at full speed. If she had made it to the beaches, her shallow draught and manoeuvrability would have been especially useful for inshore work.

‘The ‘MEW’. To this account of the experiences of the company’s boats actually engaged in the evacuation, a few words should be added on the subject of the ‘Mew’, a small Great Western ferry boat of 117 gross registered tons. The ‘Mew’ was built in 1908, and in normal times provides a ferry service between Kingswear and Dartmouth. She has a draught of six feet when landed, and a speed of ten knots. In short, the ‘Mew’ is an excellent little ferry boat, admirably designed for her short ferry service.

[2] Also, she would have been in good company for GWR passenger vessels St. Andrew, St. David, St. Helier and St. Julien, and cargo vessels Roebuck and Sambur were deployed in the operation. The first three named worked as hospital ships, and the others as troop transports. The company’s only sea-going ships not so engaged one way or another during that memorable May-June were St. Patrick, Great Western and the four Plymouth tenders.

[3] The Mew was the correct name as appearing on the stern, rather than just Mew as implied by the punctuation above. She was built at Falmouth and withdrawn by British Railways on 8 October 1954. The registered accommodation for was 547 passengers and as seen on the previous page, also carried road vehicles.

‘On the 30th May 1940 this little vessel was requisitioned by the Naval Authorities, who asked for volunteers to take the ‘Mew’ on very hazardous work. The crew responded immediately, and, after provisioning and fitting up their small boat as well as circumstances permitted, they sailed for Dover at 6.0am on the 31st May. The ‘Mew’ reached Dover on the following day, but, the evacuation being by that time practically completed, the Naval Authorities ordered her return to Kingswear. None the less, the voyage of this puny craft up the Channel, and the desire of her crew to face the risks involved in the evacuation, were well up to Great Western standards’.

[4] The Oxford Modern English Dictionary defines ‘mew’ inter alia as the common gull (colloquially seagull). This was an old common name for birds of the Laridae family.

Below: Postcard commemorating the withdrawal of The Mew from service in 1954, showing the lightly loaded ferry approaching the Kingswear jetty on one of its numerous daily crossings.

64

ISSUE 8 Right: This broadside angle view of The Mew illustrates the vessel following its conversion to oil firing and the provision of a shorter funnel. The board on the promenade rails states: BR Steam Ferry Kingswear & Dartmouth

On the Kingswear bank, numerous coaches can be seen stabled in the Hoodown Sidings, awaiting their turn to work back up country.

The busy nature of this stretch of the River Dart can also be gauged by the number of ships transiting or moored in the channel. The date is summer 1949.

Sydney Roberts.

Below: This charming watercolour painting by George Sidney Cooper (1935-1998), portrays the ferry heading across the river for Dartmouth.

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WESTERN TIMES

THE BEYER PEACOCK QUARTERLY REVIEW s we have already examined some of the products spending some waking moments ‘off piste’ burrowing A from the famous Manchester-based locomotive into The Beyer Peacock Quarterly Review (BPQR), manufacturer Beyer Peacock earlier in this issue which from January 1927 to July 1932 served as house (Page 50), it was thought that this short foray into other products supplied to the Great Western Railway may be of interest. One of the editorial team admits to

journal for the company. Page 6 of the first issue under the heading ‘THEN’ presented this drawing:

The accompanying text stated:

both sides of the track. One engine driver and several passengers were killed in this disaster.

‘No. 1! What a delightful experience it would be to mount H G Wells’ Time Machine and find ourselves transported back to July 21st, 1855, to join the group of men who watched the first Locomotive made at Gorton Foundry as she passed out of the works on her way to the Great Western Railway.

The eight engines ran for periods varying from 16 to 19 years before they were ‘rebuilt’, rebuilding [c] being one of the distinctive features of the Old Great Western Railway.’

Notes:

‘This engine – one of eight – was not only the first to be built by Beyer, Peacock & Co Ltd [a] but was the first standard gauge engine made to the Great Western Railway company’s own design and the first standard gauge train from Paddington to Oxford was hauled by one of this group of engines [b].

[a] This is incorrect as the limited company was formed in 1883. The firm traded as a partnership entitled Beyer, Peacock & Co prior to that year. [b]

Like most passenger engines of that period the engines were of the ‘single driver’ type. The cylinders were 15½” diameter x 22” stroke, driving wheels 6’ 6” diameter, total heating surface 1,231 sq. feet and grate area 14.3 sq feet.

No. 75 (works No. 17) on 1 October 1861.

[c] Works Nos. 1-4, 15-18 were numbered 69-76 by the GWR in the same order. They were ‘renewed’ at Wolverhampton between 1872 and 1875 (which meant a near complete rebuild), re-boilered 1885-91, and reconstructed as 2-4-0s of the River Class 1895-7. Very little of the BP originals is believed to have survived renewal and probably nothing at all by the 1890s.

These locomotives were in service on the Wolverhampton-Chester section of the Great Western Railway and whilst in this service one of them was associated with a disaster the befell a heavy excursion train from Birkenhead in January, 1865. The train was being hauled by two engines, a four-coupled leader with a Beyer Peacock single driver as train engine. When near Rednal, the leading engine left the rails, running into a field on one side, and the train engine into a field on the opposite side, the coaches being distributed on

The opposite Page 7 headed ‘NOW’, described the 2-8-2+2-8-2 Garratt locomotive constructed for the El Ferrocarril Salitrero (Chilean Nitrate Railway).

--- o O o--66

ISSUE 8 The photograph below appeared on Page 34 of the July 1931 issue of BPQR under the heading:

4-8-2+2-8-4 Beyer-Garratt for Caminhos de Ferro Benguela (Benguela Railway, Angola) whose 168.5 tons produced 52,360 lbs (85%) tractive effort. This demonstrated the pannier’s superiority in delivering 435 lbs of tractive effort per ton compared with the Garratt’s paltry 311 lbs!

0-6-0 TANK LOCOMOTIVE FOR THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY 4 ft 8½ in GAUGE

The pannier was one of a batch built that year with running Nos. 8700-24 (Beyer Peacock works Nos. 6680-6704) under Swindon Lot No. 273. Six commercial manufacturers built class members under a government-sponsored scheme to relieve unemployment. Points of detail are the manufacturer’s plate on the leading splasher and the tanks with prominent vertical and horizontal weld lines which at a distance might be mistaken for rivets. The only contractor-built 57s with rivetted tanks were Nos. 6700-24 & 8725-49 (Bagnall), Nos. 7700-24 (Kerr Stuart) and Nos. 6725-49 (Yorkshire Engine). All others plus those built at Swindon (Nos. 5750-99) had welded tanks.

Summarised in the accompanying text were leading dimensions for No. 8714 (Beyer Peacock Works No. 6694) including tractive effort (85%) at 22,510 lb and total weight of 51.75 tons. On Page 35 opposite, similar information was provided on timber-burning

--- o O o---

Priced at six old pennies (6.d) per issue, BPQR was an informative periodical which covered company staff news and social events, briefings on the company’s latest products, descriptive accounts of territories to which products were sold, and detailed expositions on technical subjects e.g. modern boiler design and rotary cam valve gear.

There were accounts of events on railway systems at home and overseas, and also of competitors’ activities, even including arch-rival North British Locomotive Co. Pictured (right) is the second half of a two-page article that appeared towards the end of the July 1932 issue, and typifies the specific interest such an independant publication can be to the student of all things Great Western.

By then the Depression was taking its toll and Beyer Peacock was fighting for survival. In July 1932, a locomotive was under construction which was the largest ever built in Europe but No. я-01 for Soviet Railways failed to secure further orders. Following its shipment, most personnel were laid off and much of Gorton Foundry was mothballed. Against this economic backdrop The Beyer Peacock Quarterly Review was a luxury the company could ill afford and production of this interesting publication ceased. It was never revived.

Right: A page extracted from the July 1932 edition of The Beyer Peacock Quarterly Review, detailing the record breaking run of No. 5006 Tregenna Castle on the ‘Cheltenham Flyer’ the previous month.

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Above: The Down through line at Exeter St Davids hosts Diagram F10 Clerestory Slip Composite No. 7094 on 5 September 1927.

The vehicles have just been slipped from a non-stop Wolverhampton-Penzance express and await shunting into a platform road.

Below: Detail of post-1909 GWR Slip-Coach apparatus, as would have likely been fitted to the vehicles involved in the two incidents described in this article. Both the vacuum and steam pipes illustrate the new style of automatic release fittings.

GWR Official.

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ISSUE 8

SLIP-UPS WITH SLIPPING lip Coach working was prevalent on the GWR and forming the Weymouth slip off the ‘Cornish Riviera S its successor the BR(W) between 1858 and 1960. Express’ became detached, although the automatic (The Bristol & Exeter Railway had similarly operated brake brought the vehicles to a safe stop. An enquiry some slip coach services during its own period of independent operation.) During those 102 years when this type of operation was in place, available records indicate just five reported incidents appear to have taken place. But realistically we can now state this was a somewhat conservative estimate.

would of course have resulted. The other two incidents took place in 1910 and are described in this article.

We should state that on occasions enquiries into incidents were carried out by the Board of Trade and at other times by the railway itself; there seems to be a somewhat blurred approach to when an internal investigation was considered sufficient although clearly in the event of injury to passengers a full Board of Trade Enquiry resulted – although again not all such reports appear to have survived.

At least four mishaps are reported as having occurred in the 19th century, at Slough (1880), Halesowen (1883), Reading (1884), and Warwick (1885). The 20th century shows at least three, the last of these between Southall and Hanwell in 1933 when two coaches

Chippenham - July 1910 Details of an interesting event were found within a bound volume of reports compiled for the Bristol Division in 1910. This reveals that on Monday 11 July 1910 an incident involving a slip coach service occurred at Chippenham on a down service.

and despite opening the ejector and ‘keeping on steam’ the train came to a stop in about its own length.

As if proof were required that the subsequent impact between the slip portion and the main train was slight, Driver Griffiths commented he was unaware a collision had occurred until subsequently informed by the guard – it is not clear if the guard referred to was that for the main train or the slip portion.

Simply put the slip portion of the 12.38pm Oxford to Bristol initially separated from but then came into slight collision with the main portion of the train as a result of the flexible vacuum pipe near the end of the slip cock breaking following the slip being detached. This occurred ‘some yards’ ahead of the slipped portion and whilst the driver of the train, J Griffiths, had noticed ‘nothing unusual’ beforehand he recalled that approaching the down home signal for Chippenham East at about 40mph, the vacuum gauge quickly dropped to ‘zero’

The report appertaining to the incident runs to just over two pages of typed foolscap and contains précised statements of the driver, fireman, the two guards, another driver and fireman who had been travelling as passengers in the slip portion and a vehicle examiner based at Chippenham. Also included is a hand-drawn diagram of the train composition and positioning (below).

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WESTERN TIMES Much of their evidence simply corroborates each other, whilst we learn some interesting points appertaining not just to the incident itself but also to the rules governing contemporary slip coach working. Firstly, is that the vacuum brake had been tested and was working correctly at the previous stop at Swindon – was it a specific requirement that a brake test be carried out at the station prior to the slip being made? Griffiths adds that after passing the usual slipping point, the fireman looked back and noted it was ‘right’ and it was immediately after this that the vacuum in the train pipe was destroyed and the brakes applied. So again, was it a requirement for the fireman to check? The evidence of Fireman Watkins states he looked back and saw the train guard waving a green flag which he took to indicate the slip had been properly detached. He adds, as might be expected, he could not see the actual slip portion of the train. The last GWR slip coach service is now more than six decades in the past and consequently it is sad to relate that those involved together with the experience and knowledge that went with it from a practical perspective has in all probability now all gone.

Just as I got under the bridge I pulled the slip lever over, then I put the hand brake on about two turns, and my slip fell away about two yards from the rear of the last train vehicle, when I showed my green light to the trainmen; I then put my hand brake on tightly, and we went about three yards behind the train portion.

I continued to screw on the handbrake but we were gaining on the train so I put the handle in the box to the ‘brake on’ position and as I was doing this the buffers of the slip coach came gently up to the buffers of the train.

No complaint was made to me of the slight impact by anyone in the slip portion.’

The vehicle involved was slip coach No. 7078 (Diagram F5, a doubled ended clerestory slip of 1894, Lot. 736.

The compartment class is not given). At the end of the main train was brake composite (first-third) No. 7709 (Diagram E82 a Bars 1 Toplight to Lot. 1148 of 1908).

Both vehicles were subsequently thoroughly examined but no definite cause could be established; the main train later continuing on its way after the final brake hose had been replaced at Chippenham.

Guard E G Wooten in the main train comments he saw the slip detach as normal, and then noticed the train brake pipe vacuum fall to zero. He was also aware of a very slight impact between the train and slip portion shortly after.

Right: End elevation of a clerestory era slip coach. The droplight window allowed the ‘slip guard’ to shut off the vacuum cocks on the pipes before activating the slipping mechanism.

On the roof the two vacuum reservoir tanks enabled the vac brake to be released after application.

The slip guard, Thomas Mortimer, not only describes his actions but in so doing gives us further detail of the actual procedure required. He states ‘…. I saw the slip connection was good in the usual way at Swindon, and tested the vacuum. After passing Chippenham East down distant signal which I saw at the ‘all right’ position, I lowered the slip window and turned the slip cock handle, then I turned the handle in the slip box to the ‘brake off’ position and then parted the vacuum pipes; at this time I was close to Cocklebury overbridge and I then took the pin out of the slip lever, and on looking saw the home signal also at ‘all right’, also that the pipes between the slip and train were disconnected.

Below: Line-drawing of William Dean double ended clerestory Slip Composite of Diagram F5. No. 7078 involved in the Chippenham incident was one of four vehicle built in 1894 to Lot.736.

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Above: Churchward Toplight Gangwayed First/Third Brake Composite No. 7703, to Diagram E82 (Lot.1148) of 1908. This 1949 view shows the compartment side of the coach. This is an identical vehicle to No. 7709 that was involved in the Chippenham incident.

An enquiry was conducted by Mr Bowden (representing the Superintendent of the Line), Mr Pearson (representing the Chief Mechanical Engineer), and Inspector Charlton (the Chief Break (sic) Inspector) but no definite conclusions could be drawn. Note - the spelling ‘break’ is used throughout the report and was in contemporary use at that time.

The conclusion we come to has to be the seal on the vacuum pipe of No. 7709 for some reason failed resulting in the vacuum being lost and the main train coming to a halt.

Tavistock Junction - June 1910 Whilst the above refers to an incident at Chippenham it has been discovered that another mishap involving the involuntary parting of the slip coach from its train had occurred at Tavistock Junction in June 1910. This again provides some interesting, although for the present, unanswered questions as to slip coach operation. The same source document (1) quotes as follows:

Neither Friars Junction nor Tavistock Junction are mentioned as official ‘accidents’ and consequently no report appears on the excellent ‘Railways Accident Archive’ website.

So of course, the next question is, what was the ‘French key’ and what was its use? Might it even have been another name for the pin in the slip coach lever? Any comments or further explanatory information from the readership would be most welcome.

‘Attended meeting at Plymouth on Friday, 10 June 1910 in regard to the case of a slip coach on an Ocean Special becoming detached from the train at Tavistock Junction. This was found to be in many respects a similar case to that of Passenger Guard Mortimer of Frome at Friars Junction last September. In the Tavistock Junction case, the slip guard with the Ocean Special was emphatic in his statement that he saw the slip connection properly made and that the French key was in its proper place, after which he went to the pier head. He alleges that the French key must have been taken out by someone between the time of his going to the pier head and the starting of the train, and it was not observed by him until the slip parted from the train at Tavistock Junction. To prevent the possibility of the Guard being able to suggest such interference in future, it was agreed to recommend that the French key arrangement is secured by padlock, and Mr Morris will take this in hand with Mr Churchward’.

(1) The information for this article comes from a set of Traffic Department papers found by the late David Abbott and subsequently bound in a single volume by him. The papers relate to incidents and occurrences mostly in the Bristol division nearly all of which are from the year 1910. Special trains, new facilities, incidents such as those reported in these pages, and staff matters are all described. The name of the compiler is not confirmed although it must be said he seemed to take the greatest pleasure in announcing when savings in staff wages had been achieved. The fate of the men involved was not reported. We will return to this file and its contents in future issues.

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Diagram F14, No. 7101 - Churchward 57’ Toplight Single Slip Composite of 1908 built to Lot.1150. Running Nos. 7101-02. GWR Official.

Diagram F20, No. 6963 - Churchward 57’ Toplight Single Slip Composite of 1913 built to Lot.1212. Running Nos. 6962-64. GWR Official.

Diagram F21, No. 7993 - Churchward 70’ Toplight Double Slip Composite of 1916 built to Lot.1252. Running Nos. 7990-93. GWR Official.

Diagram F23, No. 7898 - Collett 61’ 4½” Double Slip Composite of 1929 built to Lot.1429. Running Nos. 7898-7900.

GWR Official.

Diagram F24, No. 7071 - Collett 60’ 11¼” Double Slip Composite of 1938 built to Lot.1597. Running Nos. 7069-74.

GWR Official.

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ISSUE 8 During WWI slipping tailed off on the GWR, down to thirty-four in 1916 and none in 1918 before a slow postwar revival. The GWR made thirty-one daily slips in 1922 rising to forty-seven in 1924 then slowly declining again with forty in 1928 and twenty in 1938. Slipping ceased completely during WWII and then just a few returned with five daily slips in 1946.

The Western Region continued some of the GWR slips after nationalisation with the last multiple slip of two coaches taking place at Didcot on 7 June 1960 and the final single coach slip off a down train at Bicester North on 10 September 1960. Further examples of the various slip coach diagrams are illustrated opposite and below.

Diagram F13 Churchward ‘Concertina’ Double Slip Composite No. W7685, stands at Reading on 3 October 1951. This 1906 built vehicle lasted as a slip coach until March 1954.

Churchward ‘Toplight’ Double Slip Composite of Diagram F16 is detached from an Up train at Didcot on 25 June 1958. This vehicle dated from 1909, and was one of two still in service on this date.

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WESTERN TIMES

MARLBOROUGH TUNNEL n Issue 6 of Western Times, we took a look at Tothill of the GWR Marlborough branch on easier grades to Iengineering Cutting south of Newbury and the challenges of a civil a new station at Savernake approximately 200 yards project. This time we turn our attention to north of the GWR station. After this the new line slowly another difficult civil engineering task, the chalk cuttings either side of Marlborough Tunnel on the erstwhile Marlborough & Grafton Railway, part of the Midland & South Western Junction (MSWJ) route.

curved south and was carried over the GWR Berks & Hants route to a new end on connection with the southern part of the MSWJ at Wolf Hall. Parliamentary approval was gained in 1893 and the new double track route was opened for traffic on 26 June 1898.The following day the connection between the two stations at Marlborough was closed. The notionally independent Marlborough & Grafton Railway was formally taken over by the MSWJ in 1899.

The origins of the railway to Marlborough from both the north and south have been ably described by Mike Barnsley in Issue 5 of Western Times and need not be repeated here. Suffice instead to say it is the last piece of the jigsaw appertaining to the railway south of Marlborough that we are now concerned with; the Marlborough & Grafton Railway.

The new line was laid with double track throughout, including through the 647-yard Marlborough Tunnel approached by steep chalk cuttings on either side and the subject of this discourse. A pleasing feature was the provision of a stone tablet above the arch at the southern entrance which reads, ‘M & G Rly. 1898. This stone was laid by Georgiana Marchioness of Ailesbury.’

Of course, the provision of the tunnel had the added advantage of considerably reducing the steep climb either side of the summit on the original Marlborough branch; a very rough indication of the gradient saved possible when viewing the height of the cuttings on the tunnel approach sides.

Up to the 1891 the MSWJ had been little more than a quiet north-south line, but in that year access was at last possible to Cheltenham and which opened up a whole new traffic potential. This was further developed with the arrival of Sam Fay on secondment from the LSWR. One of things he quickly became aware of was the expensive bottleneck that then existed south of Marlborough with MSWJ trains having to traverse the steeply graded GWR’s own Marlborough branch, a short distance along the Berks & Hants Extension Railway through Savernake, before turning south on to MSWJ metals once again. Aside from the inconvenience and commensurate delays, there was a charge of £1000 per annum for the privilege of this ‘inconvenience’ (the 2023 equivalent is approximately £155,000).

At the end of the cuttings the tunnel itself lined with brick and with refuges for workers at intervals on both sides.

The chalk approaches were to cause many problems over the years with regular falls of chalk as seen from the accompanying illustrations. From conversation with MSWJ expert Mike Barnsley, we learn there were several serious falls in the early days, and thereafter clearing fallen chalk from around the cutting sides was a regular chore.

An alternative was therefore sought and with the consent of the major landowner in the area, the Marquis of Ailesbury, land was acquired for an independent route leaving Marlborough MSWJ station running east

Below: Signalling diagram for the two temporary boxes. As mentioned in the text, both lines were in fact single running lines hence the distant signals are also fixed. The divergence of routes to the respective High Level and Low Level (Savernake West) station is marked on the ‘B’ diagram. A final comment is that whilst the running lines are for the most part shown as straight, a glimpse at the accompanying images clearly shows they were in fact curved.

Signalling Record Society.

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ISSUE 8 Right: Marlborough Tunnel West cabin (‘A’) sized at 14’ 11” x 11’ 2” and would have contained three token instruments one for each of the single lines to Marlborough station and the third for the short section to the temporary East box. The alternative is that conventional double line working was in force from West to Marlborough and just one token instrument would then have been required. If the former assumption were correct then there would have been necessary signalling alterations at Marlborough, but the balance of probability is that the former parallel single line arrangement continued. A rare view of a temporary signal box in appearance little more than a wooden shed. East box would no doubt have been similar. West contained a frame of 9 levers. Its companion at the East end of the tunnel contained 11 levers but was slightly smaller with a floor space of 10’ 2” x 9’ 5”. Three token machines would have been required in the temporary East box. Note on the diagrams the references are ‘A’ and ‘B’ respectively West and East. (The signals devoid of numbers were operated by the signal boxes on either side.) Note also the West cabin at least is provided with cast iron nameplate of standard fashion, a similar provision likely provided for the other temporary box. Within each cabin and apart from the lever frame, interlocked as appropriate for the layout and token instruments already referred to, the facilities would have been similar to a permanent signal box and for the conditions no doubt the most important feature was a stove.

Adrian Vaughan collection.

Above: Aside from the period 1944-46, we know further chalk falls occurred up to and including 1955. Apart from the view of the West cabin, no images have been located that can be confirmed as dating from 1944-46 and instead recourse mainly has to be made to a short series of official views taken by the Chief Civil Engineer’s department on (and from) 11 August 1955. This first image shows the tunnel approach from the Marlborough station end viewed towards the split of lines beyond the tunnel. On the left the line is for Savernake High Level and to the right to Savernake West (the Low Level station.) The terms ‘Low Level’ and ‘High level’ similarly applied at Marlborough, the former GWR station known as ‘High Level’ post grouping and the former MSWJ site ‘Low Level’. In each case it accurately reflected the height of each relative to the other.

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A pair of 1948 views showing chalk removal underway at Marlborough. Similar difficulties with chalk falls beset the Didcot Newbury & Southampton line between Litchfield and Whitchurch for many years. In both cases one of the principal reasons was likely the sheer sides of the chalk cuttings necessitated by the need to reduce excavation costs to a minimum. In the case of the chalk removed from the DNS line around the same time, much of this was sold to a talcum powder manufacturer.

Mike Barnsley collection.

Above: Work complete at the south end. Four years later through trains would cease to use the line to Savernake High Level its status reduced to that of wagon storage. Passenger services and through workings over the MSWJ ceased in September 1961, the closure referred to as the Western Region’s first major closure – but there would be many more to come. The final services to Marlborough operated in 1964. With the track lifted the tunnel was sealed and is now home to a colony of bats. Whilst the work in 1944-46 was clearly meant to clear accumulated debris and restore stability to the cutting the subsequent extreme winter of 1947/8 resulted in additional difficulty. There is no record of similar single line working having been resorted to, either before 1933 or post 1946, and in consequence temporary occupation of one or the other single line working would have been necessary in both 1948 and 1955.

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ISSUE 8 By 1944 successive chalk falls meant considerable debris was now lying in the cess either side of the running lines and action was deemed necessary to remove this. In addition, the thaw after the severe winter of 1946/47, perhaps with a little help from lack of maintenance during the war, resulted in landslips which closed the line in March 1947. Efforts were then made to trim back the cutting sides using an excavator but without resorting to single line working.

In 1944 the falls had been worse on the Up side and in consequence a temporary arrangement of two signal boxes one either side of the tunnel was provided with single line working over the former down line for a distance of just under one mile. These two signal boxes were appropriately ‘Marlborough Tunnel East’ and ‘Marlborough Tunnel West’. Each was brought into use on 26 July 1944. Prior to this, facing crossovers had been provided either side of the tunnel and additional temporary signals provided. Key token working was provided between the two boxes. A point to note is that the signal boxes, albeit small and made of timber, could only be placed away from the steep sides of the cutting.

This was particularly the case with the West cabin.

Above: A series of arc lights have been placed here – the south end of the tunnel and the east side of the line. This indicates work took place outside normal running times.

It is worth mentioned that both lines through the tunnel were in fact bi-directional single lines. This had come about since 1933 when the GWR provided a link from the original Marlborough branch into the M&GR at a place known as Hat Gate. This meant that trains from Savernake Low Level (as the original GWR station was referred to) could avoid the steep gradients of the original branch and join the M&GR to run on the west side of the tunnel through to Marlborough. At Marlborough the line running through on the east side of the tunnel continued on to the former M&GR station at Savernake High Level and thence on to Wolf Hall. At the same time the connection between the two railways at Marlborough was restored with the Marlborough branch terminating a short distance beyond the GWR station as a head shunt.

As will be seen from the accompanying diagrams, part of the former up line was now a dead-end siding and a crane was stationed here loading empty wagons placed on the opposite line. During such occasions total occupation was required. There is no record of a full closure having occurred at this time and it may be taken that the majority of the work was carried out on Sundays which would also explain the length of time the occupation continued. We are not told of the amount of material that was removed nor where it might subsequently have been dumped. Normal working was resumed from 18 August 1946 when both the temporary boxes were closed, the track restored to plain line and the associated temporary signals removed.

A new signal box was provided at Marlborough (the former MSWJ station) which controlled the double line north to Ogbourne and the two single lines south.

Consequently, there were also two token instruments; one ‘Marlborough to Savernake High Level’, and the other ‘Marlborough to Savernake West’ - the latter named after the signal box at the west end of Savernake Low Level station. To avoid confusion the reader is again referred to Mike Barnsley’s article and map on page 4 of Issue 5.

In theory then it would have been possible for trains to be running parallel with each other through the tunnel or passing each other on opposite lines. In practice the limited service over the MSWJ route would deem this unlikely.

With grateful thanks to Mike Barnsley and Adrian Vaughan. The following published works have also been consulted: • The Midland & South Western Junction Railway Volume 1. David Bartholemew. Wild Swan.

• Signal Box Register Volume 1: Great Western.

Published by the Signalling Record Society.

Above: The steep nature of the chalk excavation, as seen here at the south end, ably demonstrates the precarious environment.

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THE GREAT WESTERN TRUST (GWT) - BULLETIN NO. 7 ather typical of the GWR leadership, they boldly a Railway’ as it lacked funds subscribed for a complete R chose to upset their counterparts by celebrating line and sought sanction for two truncated sections! in 1935 the anniversary of their Act of Parliament, [Source MacDermot Vol. 1, page 7]. whereas previous railway milestones had derived from railway’s first official opening for service! Hence the 1935 jamboree and it was hardly feasible to avoid the 150th anniversary in 1985, vectored from the same 1835 origin date.

Well, we know the rest is history of course, so by now you are justified in asking why I have muttered on so long on this niche subject. My reason comes forward in my illustration, from our Trust Collection of a glorious, gilt aluminium medallion, which was the adopted style of the GWR all line, all time, Free Pass, engraved to both its own anointed Directors and chosen individuals, and for those of similar rank and importance on the other contemporary railways. In the form of a Maltese Cross, the obverse side has ‘Great Western Railway - Free Pass’ and on the reverse ‘No.70 - The Hon. G C Gibbs L&NE Railway’. This gentleman, another George, was both an LNER Director (B1 No.61248 carried his name) and a Director of the Bankers Gibbs & Co.

However, if ‘an oak doth from a tiny acorn grow’ then one might have seen the GWR choose to use 1833 as the origin of its genesis, when they first tabled a Bill before Parliament and most significantly for us GWR enthusiasts, chose their name! With our wild unfettered media world these days, we are aware of the power of image, and for image in company terms, that means title and product. Way back in 1833 the Victorians were just as conscious of those primary derivatives and to get it wrong, when seeking to obtain very large cash sums from investors, predicated a very short and unsuccessful business, or even failure to get a Bill converted into a Parliamentary Act!

I hope the connection is now clear? There in the 1930s, the GWR had granted this Free Pass to an heir of the Gibbs banking family who’s Counting House had been the scene where the title ‘Great Western Railway’ had been adopted! Did G C Gibbs appreciate that fact?

We are told that on 19 August 1833, the first joint meeting of the London and Bristol Committees of the then ‘Bristol and London Railroad’ was held at the Counting House of Messrs Anthony Gibbs and Sons, 47 Lime Street, in the City of London. Moreover, and crucial to this current ‘WT Bulletin’ that it was at that very meeting that the new name ‘Great Western Railway’ was there and then adopted and the first prospectus of the Company settled [Source MacDermot Vol.1, page 4]. The massive significance of that name change has, I venture, become a mere ‘given truth’ and so what?

So what’s in a name? Well for a Company that continued to exist from 1835 to 1947, one can judge that in its case at least, it mattered rather a lot. Indeed, that the current Rail Franchise which should be ‘GWR 2015’ i.e. to include its later incorporation, shows if nothing else, that those letters, that title, is a lasting and commercially crucial legacy, still worth rather a lot of subscriber investor money!

The wider story of Director’s Passes even into the BR Corporate Era, is yet another story that should be told, and I will add it to my list of potential future Bulletins.

Well, if we first look to its predecessor railways and even canals, it appears that most were entitled using the ‘places connected’ construct and only the Grand Junction Railway (Act obtained on 6 May 1833) and before that the Grand Junction Canal of 1810, The Grand Union Canal of 1814 and the Grand Western Canal (Tiverton to Topsham) of 24 March 1796, included a perhaps pompous ‘Grand’ in their titles. Not a ‘Great’ to be seen. Moreover, I can only find that the then trunk road if we can stretch a description to a pretty dodgy travel experience, between Bristol, Bath and London, was just called ‘The Bath Road’ and ‘The Great West Road’ phrase came very much later. So, from all this I cannot extract any logical ‘lifting’ as it were, of a previous title, to justify the recorded adoption on 19 August 1833.

MacDermot himself rather wants to move the narrative quickly on, so he doesn’t expand on who proposed it, and why it was, we assume enthusiastically adopted.

Peter Rance - GWT Trustee & Collection Manager.

Of course, there are pitfalls in being presumptuous as the counsel for those opposing the said first Bill, demeaned it as ‘neither Great, nor Western, nor even 78

ISSUE 8

THE GUARD’S COMPARTMENT ISSUE 5

So rather than showing a station pilot duty, I am virtually certain that R C Riley’s photograph shows the empty stock for a Hereford to Gloucester service being shunted into the main Down platform (Platform 3) ahead of a departure, in the charge of the train engine for the service: the 2251 class being commonly used on Hereford-Gloucester trains.

Page 63 included a sketch of the interior of the proposed Automat Buffet as part of the post-war coach construction programme and it had been assumed that this was just a piece of ‘blue-sky’ thinking.

However, a Locomotive Committee Meeting minute dated 15 December 1945 indicates that the proposal was rather more tangible: ‘Rolling Stock: Adaptation of a milk van as an automatic buffet car - £4,500 (Part of work to be carried out by Brecknell Munro and Rogers Ltd for £3,500)’. The sketch suggests that the buffet car would have been created by conversion of a Passenger Brake Van, but with the shortages in coach stock, the obtaining and adaptation of an existing Siphon would have provided a more effective solution.

Any further information about this project would be welcomed.

The normal procedure at Hereford for Gloucester line arrivals was for the train to be signalled into the main Up platform and after the passengers had detrained, the empty stock would be shunted across to one of the centre roads by the train engine, which would uncouple and run round once the coaches were stabled. As departure time approached and one of the Down platforms became available, the train engine would then shunt the empty stock to the platform to await the departure. I think Riley has captured part of this movement with the empty stock being set back into Platform 3. Close inspection of the photograph reveals the engine is carrying a Class B headlamp and the ground disc shows the train is routed into Platform 3.

The driver appears to be looking backwards and the exhaust also suggest the train is being reversed.

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ISSUE 7

By a coincidence, the noted photographer Michael Mensing, photographed the actual departure of the same train from almost the same vantage point as Dick Riley took his photograph! They must have been standing side-by-side. Mensing’s shot is printed on page 52 of John Hodge’s book The North and West Route: Volume 3A - Hereford to Abergavenny Junction, published by Wild Swan.

Stephen Williams made the following comments: In case it is of interest to readers, I am able to offer some further information (and a partial correction) relating to the photograph shown on Page 19 of the WT Summer issue, of GWR ‘2251’ Class No. 2249 at Hereford. The caption suggests that the engine is acting as a station pilot and is engaged on shunting stock. However, I suspect this is only partially true.

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During the 1950s and ‘60s, station pilot duties at Hereford were generally assigned to larger 4-6-0 engines, commonly ‘Hall’ class but in later years, ‘Castle’ class engines that had been allocated to Barton shed to work their final days. This was because the normal station pilot turn at Hereford deployed engines that were able, when needed, to provide stand-by relief to express engines arriving at Hereford with mechanical issues that rendered them as ‘failures’. It would be highly unusual, therefore, for a 2251 class engine to be rostered to the station pilot and main line standby turn.

It was also a quirk of local operational procedures at Hereford that the station pilot generally carried Class A lamps and routinely waited in one of the centre roads when not engaged on a shunt. It is therefore very easy to misconstrue photographs that show an express standing at the Up Main platform with a second (light) engine carrying express lamps standing on an adjacent road, as indicating an imminent change of engines on the service train on the Up Main.

The editor would like to apologise for a few gremlins that crept into the article on the Marlow Branch. The correct spelling of the location quoted on Page 40 is of course Wooburn Green. The final sentence of the caption on Page 43 is confusing due to the cited image of No. 1450 at Bourne End being removed due to space restrictions, without modifying the caption accordingly.

Richard Vitler also made contact in relation to the middle image on Page 39 of the Marlow article.

He kindly provided the complimentary photograph (overleaf) from his own collection showing Collett 0-4-2T No. 1421 running across onto the main line rather than as usual into the bay platform. Additionally, he supplied an enlargement from this image, which allows clear identification of the wording on the running speed notice discussed in the caption.

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Initially identification appeared straightforward as depicting 70’ Toplight Brake Third, Diagram D48, No. 2366, built in 1910. However, this interpretation is evidently disqualified by there being three wider upper body panels between the coach end and the first pair of doors, rather than the four narrower panels appearing on relevant drawings. Also, the bogie in sight appears to be four-wheeled, whereas No. 2366 was fitted with a six-wheeled version in 1919.

Study of Hugh Longworth’s very useful BRITISH RAILWAYS Pre-Nationalisation COACHING STOCK: Volume 1 has failed to definitively confirm this vehicle’s identity, and readers’ views are invited to help solve this puzzle.

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PREVIEW WESTERN TIMES ISSUE 9 Published April 2024

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CASTLE CLASS CENTENARY SPECIAL Captions for many published photographs concentrate solely on the locomotive without commentary about the accompanying rolling stock. It is WT’s policy wherever feasible to provide information about the train’s composition. This was unsuccessful with the photograph that appeared on the Rear Cover.

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WE S T E RN T IME S ISSUE No.8 - WINTER 2023

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

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ISSUE No.8 - WINTER 2023

15/11/2023 22:54