Western Times Issue 4

ISSUE No.4 - SUMMER 2022

Contents Introduction Dulverton Station

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by Freddie Huxtable

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Pre-Grouping Coach Miscellany: From the Archives of R C Riley

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The Dean Singles: Part 2 - The 20th Century

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More Pannier Wanderings

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From the Archives: Galloping Alice

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Signalling Questions & Some Answers

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Modernising the Western: Westbury Engine Shed 1915

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Maud

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Modern Traction: Blue Is The Colour

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The Proposed Direct Line From Pewsey to Salisbury

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The End of Monarchy

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Under the Roof

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Book Review

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The Great Western Trust (GWT) - Bulletin No.3

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The Guard’s Compartment

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Above: Our lead article for this issue focusses on the wayside station of Dulverton on the Taunton - Barnstaple line. This detailed study of Collett 2-6-0 No. 7337 waiting to get underway with a Taunton bound departure, is typical of the workstained condition of Western Region steam in its later years. These popular locomotives provided the staple motive power on the route for many years with this particular example allocated to Taunton shed (83B) from May 1959 until withdrawal in September 1964. Released to traffic in March 1932 and first numbered No. 9315, this sub-class of twenty engines featured design modifications from the original Churchward 43xx class parentage, most notably the modern side window cab and screw reverser. By the 6 September 1962 date of this photo, the Mogul was adorned with the austerity unlined green livery it would retain until its demise.

Douglas Twibell.

Front Cover: The new order receives attention from an inquisitive brigade of enthusiasts on Platform 3 at Plymouth North Road in September 1958. The first Swindon-built Warship Diesel Hydraulic No. D800 Sir Brian Robertson has arrived at the head of the down Cornish Riviera Express. Having been delivered in early June 1958, D800 had initially worked from Swindon shed whilst undergoing acceptance trials before release to regular traffic and allocation to Plymouth Laira around the time of this photograph. The locomotive was to remain resident at Laira shed for the duration of its short life, being officially withdrawn on 5 October 1968 and sent for scrapping still wearing green livery. Diesel Hydraulic traction had begun to displace the much loved King class 4-6-0s on the Cornish Riviera from April/ May 1958 in the form of the North British D6xx class. However, a series of failures led to this prestige express being handed over to the new D8xx Warships as soon as they were introduced into regular service.

Rear Cover: Nameplate of No. 7037 Swindon, the last of the legendary Collett Castle class 4-6-0s. Built under the auspices of British Railways, the locomotive was completed in August 1950 but stored in the Swindon Works Stock Shed until 15 November, when it was officially named by HRH Princess Elizabeth as part of the Borough’s Golden Jubilee celebrations.

The style and construction of the nameplate follow the long established Great Western tradition of a steel backing plate edged with tubular brass beading with 3¹⁄� inch Egyptian font letters affixed with brass rivets. Today both nameplates reside in the collection of STEAM - Museum of the Great Western Railway, one still mounted upon the locomotive splasher with its distinctive Borough Coat of Arms.

Roger Thornton.

© The Transport Treasury 2022.

ISBN 978-1-913251-28-4 First Published in 2022 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. www.ttpublishing.co.uk or WesternTimes@mail.com 2

INTRODUCTION he Editor hopes that by now readers will have T formed a picture of the intended scope and diversity of WT‘s mission to explore all facets of the

For this reason, as might already be apparent, the editorial team will not make use of social media beyond routine announcements of an administrative nature e.g. advice of future publication dates. The only means of reaching the broadest possible audience in considered fashion and in accepting further views, even if they adopt a contrary stance, is through these columns. Digitised comments might be gratifying to their authors but they are inherently ephemeral and much is soon submerged in the dross of the Cloud, rather as newspapers quickly became (before health and safety) tomorrow’s fish-and-chips packaging.

Great Western. Although much has been recorded down the years, it is remarkable that some areas have received comparatively little attention. It is hoped that readers will find some revelations as interesting as do those who research and write the articles.

Thoroughness and accuracy are naturally important objectives but there are occasions on which errors and omissions do crop up, despite expenditure of considerable research time. Each of the editorial team has his own specific areas of interest and these are largely complementary rather than overlapping. However, the team shares the recognition that none of their number would claim the status of ‘expert’ within their particular fields of interest. That is a dangerous assertion which might stand up but only until someone who knows more makes their presence felt, and there is always someone who knows more!

On the matter of scope, with only four issues so far in circulation there is still much to be touched upon, if only in the briefest of fashions. Wales is a geographic area that has so far received scant attention and it is hoped that correction of this significant omission will soon commence. Another region that always seems to receive less attention than is its due is territory north of Wolverhampton (not Watford!). Before too long, in an article focussed on motive power, there will appear an image taken at West Kirby (where?) which potently illustrates that the GWR was represented in backwaters remote from well-known Aynho, Banbury, Cardiff, Didcot, Exeter etc.

Creation of a full record is important in leaving a history that will be informative and interesting to those of future generations who will never see a steam engine working ‘in anger’ (as opposed to observing beautifully preserved specimens operating under the auspices of the heritage movement). In that sense, WT is a creation targeted at a generation yet to be born, or for the fellow known to a team member who at the age of two years was convinced that the first words of the alphabet were G W and R.

Also, it would be nice to see and learn more about the veterans that worked GWR services to Crewe, a junction that has received some coverage in respect of another railway that also reached this location. And what about those mysterious services that went further afield to reach Manchester? And closer to more familiar turf, can anyone provide a full account of when and by which services was that flyover at Kingham actually used? Just a small sample of those topics that await more in-depth photographic and written attention.

The process of gathering and documenting is ceaseless and open ended. For this reason, crossreferencing between issues is essential so that as more is learned and recorded, readers can follow the thread of evolving accounts. The ‘Guard’s Compartment’ is vital to this process. If something needs correction or elaboration, readers are encouraged not to keep to themselves what might be critically important information but to share it with others. If the matter under debate is large enough, then space will be made available for the full-blown article.

So much yet to be revealed. Readers, over to you!

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

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.

Important Notice - due to circumstances beyond our control we regret the cover price of WesternTimes will increase from 1 January 2023. The current price will be held for Issue 5 in December 2022.

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WESTERN TIMES An unusual angle captures the moment immediately following the depositing of a large train staff onto the cow’s horn from a down train at Dulverton on 8 August 1923. The signalman stands on the bay platform line waiting for the train to pass, before collecting the staff and returning to his box on the up platform. One might ask, with the signalman in such close attendance, why a hand exchange has not taken place. The ground-mounted exchange post is of the older style and note the sign on top of the adjacent post stating ‘Speed Not To Exceed 15 Miles Per Hour’.

E Wallis Collection 145.

DULVERTON STATION FREDDIE HUXTABLE

D

ulverton station was roughly midway between Taunton and Barnstaple, 21 miles 8 chains from Taunton and 23¾ miles from Barnstaple to the west with mile post 184 from Paddington just east of the station throat. The station was situated in the village of Brushford approximately two miles from Dulverton itself which in 1864 had a recorded population of 1,554 (Parliamentary Select Committee). The reason for the station’s position becomes clear when the geography of the area is considered. The Barle river flows down the valley from Exmoor through Dulverton and joins the Exe just below Brushford where the valley widens. The town is trapped in a high sided, wooded valley and a railway following that direction would have been denied an easy exit towards Barnstaple by the terrain. The chosen route curved westward and followed the Brockey stream up the more open valley towards East Anstey.

This plan attracted attention from the Great Western, Bristol & Exeter, and South Devon railways which led to a revised prospectus issued the following month with Lord Fortescue joining the promoters. This was a more ambitious project with proposed share capital of £1.75 M, and with IK Brunel in the role of engineer. It would have generally followed the route eventually built but with extensions to Ilfracombe and to Launceston via Okehampton, plus a number of other branches thereby forming a key railway artery. Plans were deposited with the Somerset Clerk of the Peace on 30 November 1845 but on 12 May 1846, a Parliamentary committee decreed that the scheme failed to comply with Standing Orders. This line would have turned west before reaching Brushford, about a half mile down the valley from where Dulverton station was eventually built.

Other projects at this time were the Exeter, Tiverton & Minehead Direct Railway, the Minehead & Central Devon Junction Railway (largely similar projects with routes passing near Dulverton) and the Barle Valley Railway. The last-named was proposed in 1877 as a 2’ gauge railway starting from Marsh Bridge (one mile north of Dulverton) to climb the Barle Valley for 9 miles to Withypool. The early Exe Valley Railway (proposed in 1863) which failed to progress due to local objections, the Tiverton & North Devon Railway, and the Exe Valley Railway (actually built from Tiverton to Exeter) deserve mention to complete the ‘Dulverton railway picture'.

Early Projects The first attempt at a railway in the area was during the Railway Mania. A provisional committee of 29 members comprised of local landowners and dignitaries including Lord Poltimore and Sir Robert Throckmorton issued the prospectus dated 30 June 1845 for the North Devon Railway (not to be confused with the later Exeter-Barnstaple route).

The proposed route was from Tiverton, via Bampton, Dulverton and South Molton to reach Barnstaple and Bideford with a branch to Ilfracombe. Capital was planned in the form of 14,000 shares at £50 each.

Above: Dulverton Station track diagram as of the late 1920s, showing platform length and siding capacity.

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GWR Official.

WESTERN TIMES Parliamentary Approval and the Building of the Devon & Somerset Railway (D&SR) In the early 1860s there were moves to develop a new line and a prospectus for the Devon (North) & Somerset Railway was published in the North Devon Journal on 19 November 1863.

Plans were deposited for the North Devon & Somerset Railway on 28th November 1863 and the Bill went before Parliament on 23 December 1863. By the Devon and Somerset Railway Act of 29 July 1864, approval was given for a railway that broadly followed the 1845 scheme but with some deviations including that to Brushford. It was intended to reach Ilfracombe via Barnstaple.

Construction commenced on 4 October 1864 with cutting of the first sod at Hacche Moo, on the site of South Molton station. Real rather than ceremonial construction started eastward from Barnstaple and at Norton Fitzwarren near Taunton. Charles Sydenham, Rector of Brushford, sold glebe land to the railway for the site of Dulverton station. However, the railway encountered financial problems and labour disputes while the contractor, John Pickering, was struggling.

Construction was suspended from 1866 until June 1870 when new funding became available and John Langham Reed was appointed as the new contractor.

The track from Barnstaple to Dulverton was completed by May 1873 while the route from the east had opened in stages:- 8 June 1871 from Watchet Junction (Norton Fitzwarren) to Wiveliscombe and on 1 November 1873 through to Barnstaple. From the latter date Dulverton was open to passengers with goods services following ten days later. Limitations on finance prevented construction of the Ilfracombe line and this section became subject to a dispute with the London and South Western Railway which took four years to resolve.

The Taunton-Barnstaple route was built to broad gauge. However, James Grierson who was General Manager of the GWR recommended in August 1878 that all remaining branch lines should be converted to ‘narrowed’ gauge. The Devon & Somerset Railway was therefore converted over a long weekend from Saturday 14 to Tuesday 17 May 1881.

In the late 1800s Lord Carnarvon who lived at Pixton Park decided to move the cattle market from the town to a two-acre site close to Dulverton station and to the Carnarvon Arms Hotel (previously an inn) which he was having built adjacent to the station entrance.

In June 1873, Reed arranged a special train to run from Dulverton to Barnstaple for the Friday market, primarily for the benefit of landowners, farmers and tenants through whose land the line passed. The contractor’s engine ‘Venus’ hauled a well decorated but motley collection of coaches.

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Although the official opening was recorded as 1 November 1873, the Illustrated London News reported on 9 August 1873 ‘The formal opening of the D&SR from Wiveliscombe to Dulverton took place on Tuesday [5 August] at the latter place. A large stock market was opened, for which the land had been given by the Earl of Carnarvon’. Reed ran special trains from Barnstaple to Taunton and from Taunton to Dulverton for the occasion. The line had yet to be cleared by the Board of Trade Inspector so free tickets were issued! There were ‘joyous celebrations’ in the station’s goods with festivities ending at 9.00 pm.

The market operated on the second Tuesday of every month. John Locke, one of the D&SR directors living at Northmoor just north of Dulverton also arranged for a special coal train to run for his use.

The Railway Opens Dulverton was one of three passing places (the others were Wiveliscombe and South Molton) pending improvements at various dates, commencing with new loops at Morebath, East Anstey, and Bishops Nympton & Molland in 1876.

The station’s significance increased when the Tiverton and North Devon Railway (TNDR) opened in 1884 from Morebath Junction about 2 miles to the east. Dulverton then became the terminus for Exe Valley Railway services following completion of the Exeter-Tiverton section in 1885.

The Carnarvon Arms Hotel opened on 6 October 1874 with Mr James Nelder as landlord. Its location was a magnet for farmers and visitors, especially those coming from afar and wishing to hunt. The proximity of the railway facilitated their journeys, and the transport of horses and other livestock. The hotel arranged a number of stagecoach services such as the ‘Tally Ho!’ which ran between there and Lynmouth. This was subsidised by GWR from 1890 to the sum of 10 shillings per journey in an attempt to compete with the L&SWR. The ‘Wild West’ was a four-horse coach service that ran on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from Minehead and Dunster to connect with the railway at Dulverton, returning the same day.

The D&SR never owned locomotives or rolling stock. A working agreement was signed with the Bristol and Exeter Railway in 1865 and this continued following takeover by the GWR in 1876.

The GWR formally acquired the D&SR in 1901 which was a positive step for the line and particularly at Dulverton.

ISSUE 4

Above: An engaging view from the Signal Box looking in the Barnstaple direction on 8 August 1923. The Exe Valley service comprised of 6-wheeled stock waits in the bay platform. The branch locomotive appears to be shunting a horse box into the main dock siding. The goods shed on the right has a number of box vans positioned ready for unloading.

E Wallis Collection 134.

Below: Dulverton Signal Box (taken on the same day as above) showing its original wooden base and roof as built in 1910.

This can be compared with images of its rebuilt form on the following pages.

E Wallis Collection 135.

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WESTERN TIMES The Station Described

The typical GWR style footbridge is believed to been erected circa 1884 concurrent with opening of the Exe Valley line. The only station footbridge on the line, it was in an ornate lattice style with corrugated iron roof and timber steps. The sides of the stairs were boxed-in with timber as far as the cast iron stringers which supported the half-landing of the bridge.

The early track diagram was relatively simple;passing loop, two 300-feet platforms, horse dock, goods shed, separate ‘mileage-style’ siding on the up side, and kick-back siding to berth Exe Valley trains off the down loop. There was also a turntable road which ran back towards the west from the kick back siding. The turntable, at 23 feet 7 inches diameter just sufficient for a tank engine, was installed at the request of Colonel Yolland of the Board of Trade, following his inspection of the TNDR prior to its opening in 1884.

As the original track layout became inadequate to cope with the Exe Valley service and a general increase in traffic, a line was built in 1904 behind the down platform to create a dead-end siding as the Exe Valley bay. In 1911, this siding was converted into a loop and a new downside siding was added alongside the platform bay line, with another loop line beyond. This layout was later restructured to have the second loop parallel to the bay line and the former outer loop truncated to become a parallel dead-end siding. This siding was used for exchange traffic with the Exe Valley branch.

The main station buildings were on the up side and comprised from the Barnstaple end:- two-storey stationmaster’s house, booking office, cloak room, parcels office, general waiting hall, ladies waiting room, and gentlemen’s toilet. When built, the platform front of the waiting hall was exposed to the elements but this was later enclosed. A canopy over the booking hall/ waiting room was added circa 1911. The down platform acquired a substantial stone-built shelter comprising waiting room and toilets, probably at the same time.

A coal yard siding was also added on the downside at the Taunton end which could accommodate nine wagons. Finally, the turntable siding was removed from the Taunton end and re-connected at the Barnstaple end,

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A classic view of the station from the B3222 road bridge looking towards Taunton on 23 August 1963. Whilst there are no trains in sight there is a lot to view: the box vans in the mileage siding on the left (this led to the provender store), the slate-clad station master’s house (nearest) and the station buildings on the up platform, the small ‘greenhouse’ style porters cabin, the fateful barrow crossing where the ‘triple tragedy’ occurred, the ornate footbridge (the only one on the line), the island platform waiting shelter and the truncated pump house on the right.

John L Smith.

from the Taunton end and re-connected at the Barnstaple end, adjacent to the new cattle dock siding and platform which was 225 feet long and could accommodate 12 wagons. A weighbridge and weigh-house were installed at the entrance to the southside goods yard. It is believed that the main station building canopy was added at this time. The down platform was extended to 435 feet and the up platform to 445 feet, both at the Taunton end. The down platform was curiously shaped being wide at the Barnstaple end, tapering to only a few feet wide at the far end.

layout was changed, the trailing crossover was removed in favour of direct access from the up platform loop at the Taunton end to the goods shed and mileage siding. The headshunt remained but now running off the mileage siding. In the 1920s a corrugated iron provender store was erected at the back of the mileage siding for Silcocks. A 5-ton capacity crane was erected in the goods yard beside the Exe Valley exchange siding next to the coal yard. This was replaced by a 6-ton capacity crane in the 1920s.

There were two water cranes located at the west end on the down platform and at the far end on the up platform. (Other water cranes were provided at Barnstaple, South Molton and Wiveliscombe). The supply tanks were on the bank above the cattle dock at the west end near the road bridge. The larger was surface mounted and visible from the road with the other underground. The pump house at the foot of the mound below the tanks was originally rectangular but was truncated at the eastern end to provide adequate clearance when the bay line was installed. A barrow crossing was located at the west end of the platforms. In 1884, a two-vehicle 40-foot horse dock siding was installed at the Barnstaple end of the up platform line with loading on one side and a carriage shoot at the end.

The single road goods shed was a stone-built, 60 foot-long structure and similar in design to those at Wiveliscombe (brick-built) and South Molton. It stood immediately behind the up platform between the footbridge and the 1904 signal box, and could accommodate three wagons. There was a two-ton capacity crane on the inside goods platform and an internal office, later replaced with a brick-built structure at the shed’s west end. Beyond the goods shed was a mileage siding which in early days had a small timber shed alongside the track and cattle pens at the eastern end. Initially these sidings were accessed from a trailing crossover from the down line towards a headshunt, which then had ‘kickback’ lines to the shed and milage siding. When the 9

WESTERN TIMES

Above: On 1 June 1960 Churchward 2-6-0 No. 6390, a regular on the line, poses outside of the signal box with a Taunton bound train consisting of four coaches, which appear to be two ‘B-sets’. The signal box now has its brick base and the platform facia shows the extension carried out to increase the platform length circa 1910.

James Harrold H1433.

Below: Collett Mogul No. 7337 on another four-coach train arrives into the down platform on 1 June 1960, bound for Barnstaple. Note the sign on the left instructing enginemen of up goods trains to stop and pick up brakes before proceeding.

James Harrold H1436.

ISSUE 4 There were several improvements under the provisions of the Railways (Agreement) Act 1935.

Both platforms were lengthened to 500 feet and the adjacent loops extended (Up to 972 feet, Down to 735 feet). The facing loop point at the Taunton end was modified to 35-chains radius and trap points were added. At the Barnstaple end, points were also re-laid. Introduction of Whitaker automatic token exchange apparatus allowed the speed limit through the station to be raised to 40 mph. The Electric Train Token was initially trialled in 1928 between Dulverton and East Anstey before installation over the whole line in 1937. The 1950s saw the station’s Tilly oil lamps replaced by electricity.

Dulverton was usually the busiest station on the line with 23,330 passenger tickets issued in 1903. This figure remained stable until 1923 when numbers dropped to 21,920. There was then a steady decline and by 1939 the number was 10,754. Despite a peak of 28,296 in 1944 decline to 15-16,000

followed in the 1950s. In 1903 there were fifteen members of staff. In BR years the station master was supported by a chief goods clerk, a booking clerk, two signalmen, six porters and three signal and telegraph staff. The complement had been reduced to ten by 1963.

Goods traffic was substantial. Outbound goods comprised timber from Exebridge sawmills, pitprops from the Pixton estate, and agricultural produce. Goods-in comprised coal (for Goodlands), fertiliser, cattle feed, and agricultural equipment.

Cattle trains and wagons were assembled on market days (either from the Carnarvon Arms market next door or the Cutcombe market up on the hill) and horse box traffic (horses for hunting and stud) arrived and departed. This traffic usually peaked in October with the Bampton Horse and Pony Fair in October. The peak year for livestock was 1926 with 487 wagons forwarded. General goods tonnage peaked in 1929 at 18,998 tons.

Above: Collett 0-4-2T No. 1471 simmers gently in the bay platform waiting to propel the 5.30pm auto to Tiverton and Exeter on 1 June 1960. When the locomotives used were auto-fitted they worked smokebox first to Dulverton, but if a non-autofitted Pannier or Prairie tank was rostered for the duty they would have to run around the train prior to returning to Exeter.

Of note is the 6-ton yard crane (which replaced an earlier 5-ton version) and the coal yard beyond. James Harrold H1435.

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WESTERN TIMES Signalling Dulverton was a staff and ticket station when first opened. The section to the east being Morebath Junction (from 1884) and to East Anstey in the west. The first recorded signal box built in 1884 was on the downside at the Taunton end beside the Exe Valley headshunt/ refuge line. However, it is likely that the first operational box was an enclosed ground frame located at the foot of the up platform, near where the porters’ cabin was later located.

This might have been the original structure and its first purpose. It would make sense that this small box was replaced by the signal box at the Taunton end when the Exe Valley line opened, necessitating shunting into the siding and clearing the down platform line. The 1884 box had a brick base, timber upper storey and a gabled slate roof with 20 levers.

A replacement box was built in 1904, mounted on the up platform near the goods shed and with 37 levers plus one spare. This short-lived structure was replaced in 1910 by an all timber construction (classified as GWR type 27C by the Signalling Record Society), located further east along the up platform at 184 miles 16 chains). The 1904 box was moved to Bilson, Staffordshire and apparently survived until circa 1970. The 1910 box survived until line closure, but its timber base was reconstructed out of brick, most likely in the mid-1950s. The box had a 54-lever frame with 48 in use and six spare. It was 33 feet 6 inches by 9 feet

8 inches and elevated to 9 feet. Its frame was VT3bar with 4-inch centres and the largest on the line.

There were several signalling alterations in 1936, some in preparation for lengthening the loops in 1937 together with provision of some new signals. Further alterations took place in 1957 with some timber square post signals replaced by the WR metal round post version. A significant change was replacement of the up single home signal with a bracket signal. The up starting signal was repositioned beyond the headshunt siding.

From 7 June 1928 an auxiliary token apparatus located in a small shed at the Barnstaple end of the down platform beside the starting signal became operational. This facilitated the crossing of trains and relieved some pressure from the signalman at busy times. A gangers’ occupation key system and control instruments were provided from 13 September 1933 covering the Dulverton to Barnstaple section.

With the 1937 improvements, the consequential signalling changes were: the down advanced starting signal 608 yards from the box (with a track circuit in the rear); new bracketed home signals were provided at each end and calling on arms were present in connection with the operation of the back road which was bi-directional. The Signal & Telegraph department was based at Dulverton, housed in a white-painted shed just behind the horse dock platform beside the entrance gates.

Collett 14xx 0-4-2T No. 1442 on the Exe Valley Auto in the up platform in September 1963. It appears that this service would arrive into this platform on occasions (when the Barnstaple line was quiet) to help those disembarking to leave the station without having to cross the footbridge. This was the last month of operation of the Exe Valley, with it closing to passenger services on 7 October.

J Fry.

Mogul No. 7333 has the board from the down starting signal as it prepares to depart towards East Anstey in August 1963.

A four-mile climb, mostly at 1 in 58 awaits the crew, one of the hard working stretches for the fireman. The locomotive is coupled to a Diagram A112 3500-gal ‘intermediate’ tender of which there were only ten examples built. Note the auxiliary token cabin at the foot of the signal. This saved the signalman a walk as the fireman would collect the token from this location. Filleigh was another location on the line where there was an auxiliary token apparatus.

J Fry.

Services

Taunton and attached to local services. The staple coaching stock for regular branch trains from the 1930s was the B-set, and through trains would comprise Toplight coaches, plus Collett and later Hawksworth stock. Restaurant cars were included in some through trains.

Regarding motive power, in the broad gauge era B&ER 0-6-0s and 4-4-0STs predominated. By the late 19th Century, Metro 2-4-0Ts and Buffalo 0-6-0STs were preferred and in the early 1900s Class 517 0-4-2Ts, Armstrong 0-6-0s and Dean Goods supplemented the Metro tanks etc. Duke, Bulldog and Class 3521 first appeared circa 1910.

These were supplanted by Churchward Moguls and 2-6-2T Class 45XX in the early 1920s which remained the primary motive power for passenger and goods trains until the end of steam. Class 2251 0-6-0s and 0-6-0PTs also played their part. With steam’s demise from September 1964, the regular services were taken over by Class 118 DMUs and Swindon units. Towards the end, Class 121 and 122 Bubble Cars were seen. In 1965, through summer trains were hauled by Class 22 diesel hydraulics.

The station generally saw five or six up and down trains per day. From the early period until the late 1930s there were daily through trains to London.

Summer Saturdays were the busiest times with additional trains up to thirteen each way, including in the 1950s services starting from Manchester Exchange, Wolverhampton Low Level and Cardiff.

For some years there was an early evening Taunton-Dulverton and return service. Exe Valley auto coach services supplemented these with usually eight arrivals and departures on weekdays.

There were four goods services that ran the length of the line most years with a pick-up goods that ran to Dulverton. In the early years, this goods service also ran down the Exe Valley to Exeter and back again and on to Taunton, having reversed at Dulverton.

Four- and six-wheeled B&ER coaches were used in the broad gauge period. In the narrow gauge GWR era, coaching stock was still mainly of the four- and six-wheeled variety, augmented with clerestory bogie coaches on more important trains. Slip coaches were released from certain trains at 13

WESTERN TIMES Electrification The Taunton-Barnstaple route was included in the report commissioned by the GWR in 1925 regarding electrification of the main line and branches west of Taunton, and again in the report of the late 1930s.

While these reports might have transformed the station’s fortunes, no tangible investment resulted.

The War Years The line and Dulverton station played its part in World War II. On 4 September 1939 a train of evacuees from London arrived with 750 women and children who disembarked at the station. As D-Day approached, fifteen troop trains arrived with US soldiers and supplies to camp on Haddon Hill.

General Dwight D Eisenhower also arrived in his special train, assembled by the GWR and codenamed ‘Alive’. It comprised seven coaches including dining car, drawing room car, cinema car and two sleeping coaches, liveried in British Army green. On arrival Eisenhower announced his intention to stay for two or three days. He was there to rally the troops and carry out formal inspections after which he hired a horse for pleasure riding to Winsford and Withypool before returning to the train and back to work. At this time one officer and six men were stationed at Dulverton to help unload supplies that arrived by rail.

The Royal and Other Special Trains The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh travelled through Dulverton on 8 May 1956, en route to Barnstaple, the first stop on a three day visit to the South West. Churchward moguls Nos. 6372 and 6385 were specially painted in BR lined green livery to haul the maroon liveried eleven-coach Royal Train.

The ‘Western Belle’ which comprised ten Pullman coaches traversed the line on 19 October 1963, It was hauled by Moguls Nos. 7332 and 7317. In March 1964, there was a special working for the filming of ‘A Hard Days Night’ when No. D6336 hauled a 5-coach train including the pop group ‘The Beatles’ as passengers. The final steam train was hauled by Collect 0-6-0 No. 3205 on the ‘Exmoor Ranger’ tour on 28th March 1965 which stopped at Dulverton for a photoshoot and to take on water.

Bad Winters The railway was a lifeline for the Dulverton area including Exmoor during the harsh winters of 1947 and 1963. Provisions were brought in by train and in the later freeze were then distributed by helicopter to isolated farms and villages.

Tragedy The line’s worst accident occurred at Dulverton on 8 January 1935 when two adults and a child were killed on the barrow crossing. Mrs Thomas and her four-year old son Robert had arrived on an Exe Valley service and took the barrow crossing, rather than the footbridge, to reach the station exit.

Distracted by her son running back across the crossing, she failed to see the approaching 4.10 pm service from Barnstaple. Albert Tarr, a local man who was waiting on the down platform to return to East Anstey tried to raise the alarm but as he was deaf and dumb, he could only do this by leaping onto the tracks to try to push them to safety, but to no avail.

Opposite top: The very picture of an archetypal wayside country station with neat infrastructure and well tended flower beds is captured on 14 September 1963. We see Mogul No. 7337 again, this time trundling into Dulverton on an up train to Taunton consisting three coaches, with a few eager passengers waiting to join. Some of the houses of Brushford village can be seen in the background above the bridge. The horse box siding can just be seen to the right of the locomotive. The photograph has been taken from the station footbridge.

Mark B Warburton (MBW-383) courtesy Mrs Margaret Warburton.

Opposite bottom: The date is Saturday 12 October 1963 and BR Standard 3MT 2-6-2T No. 82042 in smart lined-green livery is in the process of having its tanks topped up with water from the patform column ready for the impending journey west.

Whilst the Churchward/Collett Moguls were the mainstay of passenger and freight services for many years, Ivatt 2MTs, in addition to the BR Standard 3MTs, would work some trains (predominantly during the week). Also Southern interlopers, such as N Class 2-6-0s and T9s appeared on the line in the early 1950s.

Mark B Warburton (MBW-393) courtesy Mrs Margaret Warburton.

14

WESTERN TIMES Rundown and Closure To observe the station from the photographs of the 1950s little had changed from the pre-war period.

However, with limited investment and the Beeching axe, the line was doomed and its run-down started in the early 1960s. Exe Valley services ceased in October 1963 while goods trains which had been run down ended on 6 July 1964. Despite protests and referral to the local Transport Users Consultative Committee, the Beeching proposal to close completely proceeded. Track rationalisation began in April 1964 with removal of the headshunt, horse dock siding and turntable road. In August 1964 the remaining sidings, except the cattle dock line, were dismantled.

At this time the block section was extended to Venn Cross, with Morebath Junction Signal Box taken out of use. On 31 July 1966 the signal box closed and Dulverton lost its passing station status when the down loop was de-commissioned and the block section extended from East Anstey to Venn Cross.

The last train ran on Saturday 1 October and line closed to passengers officially on 3 October 1966.

16

Despite the sombreness of the occasion there was a rousing ‘send-off’ at each station as the British Legion band aboard the train played ‘Auld Lang Syne’ and detonators were exploded. Dulverton had a special chalk-board notice on display ‘This is the end of the line. Thank you for your patronage over the past 93 years. Good-bye from the Staff’.

Although one of the busier stations on the line, the traffic census of the North Devon Railway Report (directed by John St John Thomas) showed that on Tuesday 7 May 1963, 54 passengers joined at Dulverton and 34 alighted. The annual revenue at the station exceeded £5,000 which was second only to Barnstaple Victoria Road (The Reshaping of British Railways).

Dismantling started at the Barnstaple end and Dulverton’s remaining track was removed in September 1967. The station buildings remained derelict for some time but the Carnarvon Arms Hotel took over the station master’s house for staff accommodation. A tennis court was even built in the station throat at the Barnstaple end and remained there for a few years!

ISSUE 4 The Station Today The area today has been restored with the station master’s house and station buildings forming a dwelling, retaining original features. The goods shed has been sympathetically restored also with original features and is another home. When preparing the old goods yard for their garden, the owners stumbled across an old pit that had been filled in. This was the old locomotive pit on the original (pre-1910 line) that ran to the turntable.

Also, a new house has been constructed in the station throat at the Barnstaple end. The view from the road bridge has changed with no trains or tracks but the restored buildings and goods yard area are a credit to their owners. It takes only a little imagination to reflect back on what there was to see with an Exe Valley train simmering in the bay platform and a Mogul preparing to depart up the cutting to East Anstey.

More details of Dulverton station and the Taunton to Barnstaple line generally have been covered in the three-volume history of the route ‘The Taunton to Barnstaple Line: A History of the Devon & Somerset Railway’ published by Lightmoor Press.

Opposite page: A grey overcast day on 18 September 1963 finds Mogul No. 6372 summoning all its power to start the climb ‘up the cutting’ to East Anstey. The length of the train gives the impression that it is more than a local Taunton to Barnstaple service. Trains arrived from South Wales and Wolverhampton on summer Saturdays up until 1965, one year before closure. The hut on the left was the base for the Signal & Telegraph crew.

Mark B Warburton (MBW-392).

Below: A beautifully framed shot looking from the B3222 road, down the access route to the cattle dock and Collett 0-4-2T No. 1466 waiting on the Exe Valley service. Arriving Exe Valley trains would always stop at the signal seen on the platform by the footbridge. However, if the tank engine needed water it would pull forward to the Barnstaple end of the station where a further signal would protect the exit onto the running line.

Mark B Warburton (MBW-387).

he greater proportion of the Dick Riley Archive is devoted to individual locomotives and to views of T approaching trains while studies of individual coaches are few. Fortunately, during a visit to Wales in 1951 he recognised that the principality was the last home for a number of ancient coaches of both Great Western and constituent company origin.

This vintage fleet was notable for its diversity and the broad spectrum of work on which it was engaged.

Normally ageing coaches were relegated to the most menial activities – workers’ trains and engineering duties – but those still in service were active across quite a wide range of duties. An intriguing example was Clerestory All First Diagram A7 No 8135 at Aberystwyth on 27 July 1951 which would be an ideal candidate for inclusion here had it not already appeared in Western Ways published by TTP, well before planning commenced for Western Times. A further selection pertaining to vehicles of the Welsh constituent companies is planned for a future issue.

Vehicles in this article use the GWR-allocated numerical identity; “W” prefixes and suffixes are omitted.

By the 1890s the GWR was only building four-wheeled coaches for branch and suburban services, and this example was completed in June 1898 for the Hammersmith and City underground route in London. All Third No. 180 of Diagram S17 followed the general format for 4-wheeled coach construction of the late 19th Century. However the H&C stock differed in having lower roofs, body dimensions contracted to 25’ ¾” x 8’ 6¾” with narrower doors, and short buffers. The most distinctive feature was the semi-circular profile of the upper door panel and ventilator. This shape was adopted to reduce damage if a door accidentally opened in a tunnel. Seating accommodation was for 50 so it was just as well that journey distances would be typically short. Apart from the buffers which seem to be of standard length, No 180 is in remarkably original condition and has escaped the metal plating that so often later covered the panelling with coaches of that era.

These quaint little vehicles were ideal for service over the restricted loading gauge ex-Burry Port & Gwendraeth Valley Railway lines where they remained at work until September 1953 when passenger services ceased. No 181 was withdrawn the following December.

RCR 3380.

18

The archive identifies this location as Dowlais Cae Harris station on 3 August 1951 but fails to record the numbers of these vehicles which cannot be deciphered beneath the grime. However study of drawings indicates with some certainty that closest to the camera stands a Brake Third Diagram D24, a type built between 1897 and 1903. Twenty-eight examples were still in service at nationalisation; all but one had gone by the end of 1950 with the last [No. 3315] surviving until June 1951. The two other coaches are most probably of All Third Diagram C10, a type built in significant numbers between 1894 and 1902. Over 100 were inherited by BR WR but all were withdrawn in the period 1948-1951. These dates suggest that all three in this rake were out of service by the time this photograph was taken. Their last duties were most likely on miners’ trains.

RCR 3352.

Also on 3 August 1951, Dick Riley visited Ystrad Mynach where he found Diagram C79 All Third No. 338 built March 1900 which seated 70 within a 50’ long body i.e. more commodious conditions that those offered by the Diagram C10 mentioned in the preceding caption [80 passengers in a 46’ 7” body]. The reason was that No. 338 was a down-rated non-corridor All First Diagram A4. The date of the change has not been traced but it was probably during the 1930s. At the time of this photograph, No. 338 was still in revenue-earning service and would not be withdrawn until May 1952.

RCR 3353.

It is believed that coach No. 9978 started life as No. 861, a Diagram E17 First/ Second Composite, in the late 1880s. With the abolition of second class accommodation in the 1900s, it became a First/ Third Composite. Its status was changed a third time on conversion to a Camp Coach in March 1935. It was discovered on 3 August 1951 at Port Talbot, not exactly a noted tourist location as confirmed by its surroundings. By that time it appears to be in quasi-departmental service providing staff accommodation although it apparently remained officially a camping coach until withdrawal in June 1965. Externally, the condition retains much of its originality and with most of the panelling intact. When in ordinary service, the internal layout reading from the left was: First Class compartment seating 6 and no toilet access; two x separate First Class compartments, each seating 6 and each with its own toilet access; luggage compartment with double doors on both sides; three x Second (later Third) Class compartments, each seating 10.

In summary:- 18 First Class passengers; two toilets (First Class only); 30 Second (later third) Class passengers. RCR 3358.

20

ISSUE 4 Opposite top: For a travelling public long accustomed to riding in passenger vehicles of the style and type shown in the four previous images, the introduction of Dreadnought dining cars from 1904 onwards had enormous impact. With body dimensions up to 70’ x 9’ 6”, high elliptical roofs and often riding on six wheeled-bogies their appearance was striking, especially when marshalled into rakes of more modestly proportioned gangwayed Clerestory stock. The arrival of ordinary coaches in 1905 [C24 All third/ D42 Brake third/ E77 Composite/ E78 Brake Composite] stimulated widespread controversy.

A conservative travelling public objected to travelling in compartments without individual access doors on both sides of the coach. Access/ egress was now only possible through doors set in vestibules roughly amidships and at both ends by way of the side corridor. The six side doors had to be recessed due to the extreme body width. The dislike overshadowed the interior space and opulence that these vehicles offered. All Third Diagram No. 3298 was at the centre of the furore following its construction in September 1905 but it continued to serve the GWR well, long after all the fuss had died down.

It was captured at Swansea on 1 August 1951, only three months before withdrawal.

RCR 3333.

Opposite middle: That the GWR bowed to public opinion was apparent in two ways. Firstly, excluding catering vehicles only 46 Dreadnoughts were built [All Third – 29; Brake Third – 11; Composite – 6] and secondly, the demand for external door access to each compartment was satisfied by the ‘Concertinas’. These coaches were built to the key dimensions of 70’ x 9’ with no end vestibule access but doors to every compartment and with corresponding access on the corridor side.

All external doors were recessed into the bulbous body sides leading to the nickname. They were built in greater numbers than the preceding Dreadnoughts: [All Third – 48; Brake Third – 11; Brake Composite – 20; Composite – 10] before design policy moved on to the better known and more numerous ‘Toplight’ series. Concertina All Third Diagram D43 No. 3486 was at Neyland on 1 August 1951 and as shown by the destination board, was at work on Paddington services. About 42% of the total length was devoted to four compartments seating 32 passengers plus a single toilet, 49% to van space and the remainder for the guard. Introduced in September 1906, this coach worked until January 1956.

RCR 3327.

Opposite bottom: The 70’ era embraced auto trailers as shown here with Diagram L No 53 at Carmarthen on 9 September 1951. This type totalled 30 units and was the closest the company came to creating a standard pre-Grouping auto trailer.

Initially employed as trailers to work with Steam Rail Motors, they later moved to conventional push-pull duties powered by small tank locomotives. No. 53 is in the BR carmine-and-cream livery that it acquired about 1950 and is running on 9’ American bogies. Otherwise it is externally in quite original condition; it later had its toplights plated over and was repainted in overall maroon. It worked until April 1958 as one of the last two survivors of the diagram.

RCR 3443.

Below: In September/ October 1909, ten Diagram F16 Toplight Double Slip Composite coaches entered service. Numbered 7103-9/ 7994-8000, their leading dimensions were 57’ x 9’ and they provided accommodation for 12 First and 32 Third class passengers. Reading from the left, the accommodation by compartment type was Guard/ 2 x First Class/ toilet/ 4 x Third Class/ Guard & Luggage with the corridor on the far side of the vehicle. The number of this coach was not recorded but nine of this diagram were re-classified Non-Corridor Brake Composite in March 1954 (No. 7103 had been withdrawn in February of that year). Found by Dick Riley at Newcastle Emlyn, the remote terminus of the 10-mile branch from Pencader Junction on 30 July 1951, this coach appears to have ceased mainline work and is already engaged on duties under which it would be formally reclassified three years later. Auto-fitted Class 14xx No. 1472 had to run round at each journey’s end.

RCR 3307.

21

THE DEAN SINGLES PART 2 - THE 20th CENTURY hurchward was reputedly unsentimental over C obsolescent locomotive types but he seems to have had sufficient affection for the Singles to

ultimately refined into the Swindon Standard range.

The optimal form evolved into the classical combination of Belpaire firebox and coned boiler whose efficiency largely derived from maximisation of water volume at the hottest part of the vessel i.e. around the firebox front or throat plate.

Unfortunately the 7’ 8½” diameter driving wheels precluded use of a coned boiler as there was insufficient room in between. Accordingly, the three Belpaire types fitted all had parallel barrels.

investigate means of improving their performance in the hope of retaining around thirty for longer term service. Exploration of alternatives meant that the 80 locomotives maintained a uniform appearance for about only 12 months. In the early years of the new century there was much boiler development work that yielded a bewildering variety that was

Above: No. 3027 had been named Thames on conversion from a 2-2-2 in August 1891, but became Worcester in December 1895. It was the first Dean Single to receive a Belpaire boiler of Type D0 in March 1900 and it remained in this condition until a BR5 type was fitted in December 1911. This view shows the clean lines of this version with the vertical front face of the wider cab down to running plate. No. 3027 was withdrawn in July 1914 as the last survivor of the ex-2-2-2 series.

Opposite top: Type D0-boilered No. 3067 Duchess of Teck on the Up Main at Hayes, heading a train of mixed Clerestory and elliptically roofed stock. Immediately behind the locomotive is a Clerestory Brake Third (Diagram D18, D25 or D29). The following coach is a puzzle; it might be a Concertina Gangwayed First Diner of Diagram H14 (readers’ views are invited). The third coach appears to be a Clerestory Composite while the fourth cannot be identified. The next five are all Clerestories followed by one or two vans. As the older coaches each weighed about 25 tons and 70-footers around 33 tons, it is possible to calculate the train weight to be in the region of 270 tons. No. 3067 carried this boiler from March 1906 until September 1910 when it acquired a BR5 type. It was withdrawn in December 1914.

Locomotive Publishing Co (4546).

Opposite bottom: No. 3033 Albatross was fitted with a Type D0 boiler in November 1906 and it remained in this condition until withdrawal in November 1911. It is standing at Oxford and is in the later livery style. The full “GREAT WESTERN” is just discernible on the tender which has been equipped with side fenders while the splasher face is in the same colour and shade as the boiler; the coat of arms appear in transfer form. What is visible of the train shows a gangwayed Clerestory Brake Third followed by what might be a Dreadnought Brake Third Diagram D42. At extreme left can be seen the end of a clerestory with droplight indicating a Slip Coach.

22

Above: There were several cases of Dean Singles being renamed but somewhat oddly, there was a swap of titles between Nos. 3017 and 3049 in May 1895. The latter engine, shown here at Bath, had entered service as Prometheus in February 1895 whereas No. 3017 completed in April 1892 was originally Nelson. Only two BR0 type boilers were used on Dean Singles, the first being carried by No. 3049 from October 1901 until August 1910; it was not re-used. It was quite common for a jack to be carried in those days as can be seen on the front running plate.

Below: No. 3015 Kennet at Westbourne Park with the BR0 boiler that it carried from September 1902 until withdrawal in June 1908. The boiler was retained and fitted to No. 3050 Royal Sovereign in February 1909. The BR0 boiler was an early exercise in the application of a Belpaire firebox and had a hybrid air because of the old style smokebox. There are three 4-4-0s in the background; the nameplate at extreme left cannot be identified, even under magnification.

Right: The final form of No. 3009 Flying Dutchman with a BR5 boiler acquired in September 1911. This engine was one of the longer-lived class members. It was built as a 2-2-2 in March 1892, rebuilt as a 4-2-2 in November 1894 and withdrawn in February 1914. This engine is reasonably clean but appears to be in less than the pristine condition that is normally associated with the class. It has acquired a nonstandard copperrimmed chimney that tapers outwards toward the base.

Below: This was a time when motive power, especially passenger tender locomotives, was externally well maintained and the excellent condition of No. 3039 Dreadnought is more typical than the previous view. This engine received its BR5 boiler in March 1911 and was withdrawn in July 1915. In the Autumn of its career, Dreadnought remains immaculate, now with painted green dome while the remaining brass work gleams. A trademark of the class was the highly polished buffer heads. With the installation of a larger turntable at Stafford Road, Dean Singles were regularly employed on Birmingham and Wolverhampton services in their later years. This train is standing at Knowle & Dorridge, a favourite location for this photographer.

H W Burman.

WESTERN TIMES Boiler Type D0

Boiler Type BR0

The first guinea pig was No. 3027 Worcester which emerged from Swindon in March 1900 with an early parallel Standard No. 2 boiler that had a barrel of 4’ 6” diameter and length of 11’ 0”. The diameter required the boiler to be pitched with the centre line at 8’ 6” above rail level to clear the splashers. This feature together with substitution of a safety valve bonnet for the dome, the drumhead smokebox and a cast iron chimney radically changed the superstructure’s appearance. The firebox was 4’ 4” wide which necessitated reversion to a wide cab with deep spectacle plates that were contoured around the shoulder. The trailing springs remained above the running plate but now were almost completely enclosed by the cab side sheets. Unlike the earlier wide cabs used on the 3001 series, with this version the cab front face was completely vertical

In October 1901, No. 3049 was fitted with this type and No. 3015 followed in October 1901. The BR0 boiler was a Belpaire domeless version of that introduced for use with ‘Badminton’ Class 4-4-0s.

The wide cab and rear springs layout followed the pattern adopted with No. 3027 but a slight reduction in the barrel diameter allowed the pitch to be reduced by 4”. A hybrid appearance resulted as the smokebox was in the out-dated curved style of the original R5 boiler, and lacked the modernity imparted by No. 3027’s drumhead design. The BR0 type was one of the more obscure designs developed during the search for optimal boiler standards. Only three were built and two were used on Dean Singles. That on No. 3015 was carried until the locomotive’s withdrawal and it was then scrapped; that on No. 3049 was transferred to No. 3050 in February 1909. The intent appears to have been to make use of spare boilers that could not fulfil a better purpose elsewhere. A small difference with the wide cab fitted to this variant as that the front face was contoured outwards at the bottom in the fashion applied to the wide cabs of the 3001 series.

No. 3027 remained the only example in this condition until No. 3070 was so fitted in September 1905 and thirteen more followed between March and December 1906. The fitting of Standard No. 2 boilers then ceased as the only version then available was the tapered version which would have required raising the pitch to an unrealistic height.

Above: A lengthy train comprising at least 13 vehicles (led by an early 6-wheel, 2-door, 3-centre roof Siphon of Diagram O1 or O3) near Knowle & Dorridge which evidently required two locomotives in the form of No 3049 Nelson and an 0-6-0 Armstrong Standard Goods as pilot engine coupled inside. (The latter class was discussed in Western Times Issue 1).

No. 3049 was fitted with a BR0 boiler in October 1901 and then the BR5 type in August 1910 as seen here. It was to be withdrawn in July 1913.

H W Burman.

26

ISSUE 4

Also nearing the end of its career was No. 3062 Albert Edward in yet another view near Knowle & Dorridge, this time noted on a 3.38 pm Down service. Judging by the nature of this train’s composition, it was obviously a secondary service and a far cry from the days when these exotic machines were the GWR’s premier express type.

H W Burman.

Boiler Type R5 (Final variant of raised round-topped firebox)

22 engines had been similarly treated, concluding with No 3018 in June 1913. Then in the GWR tradition of there often being an odd-man out, No. 3050 Royal Sovereign which had been carrying the remaining BR0 boiler acquired a BR5 as late as February 1914. Excluding the case of No. 3050, all Dean Singles still in service by the start of 1913 were carrying the BR5 boiler. Nos. 3050 Royal Sovereign and 3075 Princess Helena in this form were the last survivors, being withdrawn in December 1915.

A total of 104 type R5 boilers with round-topped raised fireboxes had been supplied in five versions with minor internal dimensional differences between July 1891 and March 1906. Most had been used with Dean Singles but in June/ July 1909 five more were built specifically for the class. Again, there were minor dimensional changes unique to this sub-type with the grate reduced from the original 20.8 sq ft to 18.9 sq ft as had been initiated with the immediately preceding sub-type. However, the main distinguishing feature of the final five was an increase in boiler pressure to 180 lb/ sq in. First fitted to Nos. 3042/ 3/ 5/ 55/ 62, one of these boilers was transferred to No. 3041 in January 1912, evidently from No. 3042 which was withdrawn that month. Outwardly indistinguishable from other R5 boilers, this variant showed that Churchward was intent on exploring other avenues to improve performance. This investigation apparently led nowhere as boiler pressures were later reduced to 165 lb/ sq in.

The barrel of the BR5 boiler was dimensionally similar to the original R5 type but the grate area was smaller at 18.1 sq ft and the outside firebox dimensions were slightly less while the pitch was 2½” higher. The raised Belpaire firebox and the extended drumhead smokebox reflected contemporary practice. Thirty of these boilers were built between June 1910 and March 1913, and their main purpose appears to have been replacement of life-expired R5 vessels during the class’s closing years. At least nine and possibly eleven of these boilers built from August 1912 onwards were fitted with top feed. The wide cab of the two earlier Belpaire-boilered types was again used. The net result was that these engines had a distinctly rakish air. In the author’s opinion, they were the best looking of the various versions of the Dean Single, appearing to be moving fast when standing still.

Boiler Type BR5 This type marked the final and most comprehensive reboilering exercise. The first to be so fitted was No. 3070 in June 1910 and by December 1911 another

27

WESTERN TIMES The 4-4-0 Option

be subject to a separate account in a later issue.

Suffice to note here that the result was remarkably similar to the 4-2-2s and many believed they matched the original Singles in good looks.

However, it might be assumed that had Churchward chosen to rebuild Singles as 4-4-0s, a more modern boiler would have been fitted.

One other major change that proceeded only as far as preliminary evaluation was conversion to a 4-4-0 wheel arrangement using 7’ 2” diameter driving wheels. Swindon had experience in improving the adhesive capacity of obsolete single drivers with conversion of 23 members of 2-2-2 ‘Sir Daniel’ [of 1866] to 0-6-0s in 1900-2. This process was quite simple but on taking full command, Churchward decided that it was not cost-justified and the programme was stopped. The last of these 0-6-0s was withdrawn in 1919.

Other Changes From about 1903, modernity affected the external appearance. The coal rails on the 3000-gallon tenders were progressively replaced with side fenders and around the same time, the livery and some brass fittings became more muted. Frames, valences and other parts that had been in Indian Red were painted black. Splasher faces were now treated as part of the superstructure and became green to match the boiler. Similar changes were applied to the tender where the three panel lining and the ornate, stylised ‘GWR’ was replaced with ‘GREAT [garter] WESTERN’ enclosed within a single lining panel. Brass domes were painted green as were other brass components and bright work. The embossed brass coats of arms on the splasher faces were replaced with transfers. Other embellishments were painted over or removed as with brass beaded dust guards on the bogies.

These changes were applied piecemeal and photographic evidence shows variations in individual liveries and fittings.

It is not known exactly when Churchward investigated possible rebuilding of Dean Singles as 4-4-0s but the Sir Daniel exercise must have influenced his thinking. The Singles presented a more complex and hence costlier proposition. Also, there was the issue of opportunity cost in the context of widescale fleet expansion then in hand.

Workshop resources would be more profitably deployed in meeting the motive power demands of the new century than in enhancing a design rooted in the old.

In fact, what could be regarded as a 4-4-0 version of the Dean Singles had been in service from 1894 when an odd group of four 2-4-0s numbered 7, 8, 14, 16 were rebuilt as the ‘Armstrong’ Class. These engines were planned as enlarged 2-4-0s but a bogie was substituted consequent upon the Wigmore Castle incident of September 1893. The background to the Armstrongs was unusual and will Right: Armstrong Class 4-4-0 No. 16 Brunel at Reading in the 1890s, and the close family resemblance to the Dean Single is apparent. Many regarded this class as the equal of the Dean Single in handsome looks.

This might have been the starting point for Churchward’s consideration of new frames and 4-4-0 wheel arrangement for the 4-2-2s but it is probable that a more modern boiler design would have been adopted had the scheme proven feasible.

R S Carpenter / Author’s collection.

28

Above: By 1900, the 7’ 0” ‘Sir Daniel Class’ 2-2-2s introduced 1866 were becoming obsolete for reasons similar to those that would befall the Dean Singles from 1908 onwards. Of the thirty-strong class, three had been withdrawn by 1900 and four more followed in 1903/ 4. The remaining twenty-three were converted to 0-6-0s for goods duties in the period 1900-2 in a process that was relatively cheap to effect. Twelve were still in service at the start of 1910 and the last survived until February 1920. On taking command, Churchward stopped the programme as being unjustified cost-wise which would help explain why he abandoned thoughts of the more complex treatment for the 4-2-2s. The Sir Daniel 0-6-0s were the sole representatives of that wheel base created at Swindon between the last Dean Goods in January 1899 and Collett’s No. 2251 in March 1930. They were immediately recognisable by the hump in the running plate over the centre driving wheel, as evident with No. 384 in this view.

Author’s collection.

Below: The identity, date and location are not recorded but by process of deduction, the locomotive appears to be No. 3004 Black Prince carrying a D0 type boiler. The condition suggests that it is late in its career and not in the immaculate state normally associated with these engines. The front buffer beam is distorted suggesting a shunting incident but more significant is the stain on the smokebox door, probably caused by scorching. The train comprises 10 or 11 bogies, the first a 58’ Clerestory non-corridor 10-compartment All Third (possibly Diagram C23) followed by a shorter Composite. The inference is that this engine is overloaded and has had to be thrashed to maintain time either during this journey or in the recent past. It was withdrawn with this boiler type in October 1911.

Author’s collection.

WESTERN TIMES Conclusion From late May 1892, the Dean Singles dominated express services from Paddington via Bristol as far as Newton Abbot where they handed over to 5’ 8” ‘Duke’ Class 4-4-0s. They were also used occasionally on South Wales services but by the turn of the century increasing train weights were stretching their capacities. Installation of a larger turntable at Stafford Road enabled their migration to Birmingham services which they shared with 4-4-0s until about 1910. They also found employment on expresses to Worcester and Oxford, and three were based at Taunton to handle local trains to Bristol. A few remained on the London-Bristol route until the end. Career mileages varied between 300,000 and 700,00 with an average of around 500,000. In some cases, careers were very short as with Nos. 3034/ 6/ 7 built in 1894 and withdrawn in 1908. The average working life of the 3001 series was just over 18 years and the 3031 series, about two years less. Withdrawal took place in measured fashion over an eight-year period:

1908 1909 1910 1911

– – – –

15 10 nil 10

1912 1913 1914 1915

– – – –

20 9 11 5

In this context, it should be noted that their immediate successors were the larger wheeled 4-40s of which the Flower Class, the last of that genre, had average working careers of about 20½ years.

Single driver express locomotives had been a consistent feature of the Great Western since the earliest days and Dean’s 4-2-2s were the last of an exotic breed. Their fascination stems from the shortness of their careers, the splendour of their appearance, the variety in their sub-types, and their gliding movement with no cranks on show. They exemplified style and grace of a quality that was never matched during their working careers, and which will never be seen again.

A last look at the class in typical condition before installation of new boilers commenced; ex-2-2-2 No 3029 White Horse at Paddington in 1897.

Author’s collection.

30

ISSUE 4 Dimensional Digest

Cylinders Wheel Diameters § - leading / bogie - driving - trailing Wheelbase

2-2-2 (Both Gauges) 20” x 24”

All 4-2-2s 19” x 24”

4’ 7” 7’ 8¹⁄�” 4’ 7” 9’ 6” + 9’ 0”

4’ 1” 7’ 8¹⁄�” 4’ 7” 7’ 0” + 7’ 6” + 9’ 0”

§ Thicker treads fitted from 1898 added ½” to all diameters.

Weight (Tons) 2-2-2 Broad Gauge 2-2-2 Standard Gauge 3001 series 4-2-2 3031 series 4-2-2 4-2-2: BR0 Boiler 4-2-2: D0 Boiler 4-2-2: BR5 Boiler

Total 43.4 44.2 48 49 50.1 51 49.85

Adhesive 18.5 19 17.85 18 19.5 18.1 19.55

In all cases the adhesive weight equalled the maximum axle loading.

Boiler Type Introduced Barrel - length - outside diameter - pitch Firebox - outside length Heating Surfaces [sq ft] - tubes - firebox Grate [sq ft] Boiler Pressure [lb/ sq in] Cylinders [inches] - bore - stroke Tractive Effort [lb - 85%]

2-2-2 R5 Jul-91

4-2-2 R5 Jul-91

4-2-2 BR0 Sep-01

4-2-2 D0 Oct-99

4-2-2 BR5 Jun-10

11' 6" 4' 3" 7' 7" 6' 4"

11' 6" 4' 3" 7' 7" 6' 4"

11' 6" 4' 5" 8' 2" 5' 7"

11' 6" 4' 6" 8' 6" 6’ 0”

11' 6" 4' 5" 7’ 10” 5' 7"

1343 116 20.8 160

1343 124 20.8 160

1299 224 18.8 180

1538 125 21.4 180

1170 233 18.8 180

20 24 14,110

19 24 12,740

19 24 14,250

19 24 14,250

19 24 14,250

[Dimensions when introduced; there were numerous small variations later].

The help of Stephenson Locomotive Society is gratefully acknowledged in provision of images from its photographic archives in all cases except for those tagged ‘Author’s collection’. The technical data for this article has been drawn from The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway Parts 2, 4, and 7 published by the Railway Correspondence & Travel Society.

31

MORE PANNIER WANDERINGS Western Times Issue 2 we made the long journey north to examine the curious reallocation of a pair of IonlynHawksworth 16xx pannier tanks to work the Dornoch Branch for the Scottish Region. These were not the erstwhile Great Western 0-6-0PTs to find employment away from their traditional home territory in BR days, as this further delve into the Transport Treasury archive reveals.

EASTERN REGION On 16 February 1957 Hawksworth 94xx No. 9401 is at work shunting in Bethnal Green yard, east London. The February 1947 Swindon-built 0-6-0PT was loaned to Stratford shed (30A) between the 19 January and 15 June, to allow trials to take place in Temple Mills marshalling yard and Bishopsgate and Spitalfields goods depots. The secondment was to be short-lived and as diplomatically described by the RCTS, ‘did not seem to have met the requirements of the Eastern Region’!

The locomotive has been fitted with standard front facing lamp irons compatible with the LNER design lamp seen adorning the front right position, but interestingly retains the western style spare irons along the left side running plate. It also kept its Reading (81D) shedplate throughout the stay.

R C Riley (RCR 10192/10193).

32

SOUTHERN REGION Right: Collett 8750 Class No. 8759 stands in company with ex-SECR Wainwright C Class 4-4-0 No. 31574 over the ash pits in Stewarts Lane shed yard on 19 September 1954.

Old Oak Common panniers were regular visitors to this area of the capital on crossLondon freights via the West London Extension Line, and to conduct South Lambeth Goods pilot link, a duty usually worked by Stewarts Lane crews on behalf of the Western Region.

R C Riley (RCR 5525).

Below: Stewarts Lane again, some 4¹⁄� years later on 5 April 1959. As was usual for the locomotive rostered to work the ‘Golden Arrow’, Bulleid Merchant Navy Class Pacific No. 35015 Rotterdam Lloyd paints an immaculate vision as it waits to move off shed to work the down service. This is in stark contrast to the workaday condition of 0-6-0PT No. 8760 (81A) alongside, at rest between duties.

R C Riley (RCR 13136).

WESTERN TIMES

Above: Inside the spacious confines of Folkestone Junction (73H) a sub-shed of Dover Marine, we find 8750 Class No. 9770 keeping company with SECR Wainwright R1 Class 0-6-0T No. 31174 on 25 October 1958. The pannier had recently arrived to be trialled on the Folkestone Harbour branch as a replacement for the ageing R1’s that had worked the line for nearly 50 years. Such was their suitability that a further six locomotives arrived from March 1959. R C Riley (RCR 12920).

Below: The vanquisher and the vanquished stand in the shed yard at Folkestone Junction on 4 April 1959. Collett 0-6-0PT No. 4616 prepares to move off shed for its next duty down the branch to Folkestone Harbour station, as R1 Class Nos. 31107, 31010 and 31047 await their impending withdrawal.

R C Riley (RCR 13116).

34

At just under a mile in length and with gradients of 1 in 30 in places, the ‘Boat Trains’ on the Folkestone Harbour branch had always needed both piloting and banking assistance to provide the requisite traction and braking in both directions. Here No. 4610 leads the down 1.0pm ‘Golden Arrow’ service from London Victoria, out of the exchange sidings to begin the descent to its quayside destination (a further two classmates are attached to the rear of the train). The pannier has had SR style lamp irons fitted including extra ones beneath the fire iron brackets, one of which is employed holding the indigenous white disc. The chalk escarpment of Creteway Down dominates the background. 4 April 1959.

R C Riley (RCR 13119).

FROM THE ARCHIVES:

GALLOPING ALICE he 2-6-0 wheel arrangement was a T comparatively late arrival on the British locomotive scene although its numbers grew rapidly in the 20th Century. Overseas it was a different matter and moguls built by UK commercial manufacturers found their way to many corners of the British Empire and beyond. Beyer Peacock & Co Ltd of Gorton, Manchester was one such supplier, selling examples of this handy, general purpose type to a variety of operators. Intended for use in regions where lightly laid track, sharp curves and steep gradients abounded, well-built locomotives of sturdy reliability and with small driving wheels were popular.

Beyers supplied two basic styles. One had inclined outside cylinders in the fashion of the 2-4-0Ts found in the Isle of Man. The other had a more modern, refined appearance with low running plate and horizontal outside cylinders. Built to both standard and narrow gauge, they were sold in significant numbers between 1875 and the late 1920s. They found their way to far distant locations including among others, South Australian, Western Australian Government, Cape Government, Central Uruguay, Minas & Rio [Brazil], Buenos Aires Great Southern, Costa Rica, Smyrna & Cassaba [Turkey], Argentine Great Western, Imperial Japanese, Algeciras (Gibraltar) railways, and not forgetting the Midland & South Western Junction.

A particularly successful example of this fleet was New South Wales Government Railways Class R of which 70 (works Nos. between 2073 and 2337) were supplied 1881-5, and of which the last survivor (running No. 2510) was preserved following withdrawal in 1960. Beyer Peacock works No. 3679 was built in 1895 based on the Class R drawings and judging by the gauge, was probably intended for South America. The buyer apparently defaulted so the MSWJR was able to complete the purchase, presumably at an attractive price. Numbered 14 by its new owner, the engine was apparently in ‘tropical’ condition and became the first 2-6-0 in 20th century British service following withdrawal of the Great Eastern Railway’s Neilson moguls in 1897.

The MSWJR put No. 14 to work on through freight services, proving sufficiently useful for the railway to order a new locomotive of same type. Delivered by Gorton Foundry in 1897 as No. 16, it was similar except for minor variations in boiler dimensions.

Also, the cab and rear overhang were longer to make the footplate more comfortable. The cab roof of No. 14 extended forward from the spectacle plate

36

as a sort of sun shade, then a common feature of BP locomotives destined for warmer climes. No.16 also had this feature as protection against the fierce Cotswolds sun.

No. 14 was withdrawn in 1914 and dismantled. The boiler was retained to provide steam for washouts at Cheltenham shed while frame, motion, wheels and tender were sold. Following provision of a new boiler, it found later use in colliery service. It was the only MSWJR locomotive (as opposed to exSwindon, Marlborough & Andover Railway engines) that failed to survive into GWR service.

No. 16 became GWR No. 24, and was rebuilt in February 1925 with a superheated No. 9 boiler, a Swindon-style cab, and a standard 2500 gallon tender. Swindon seemed keen on rebuilding exMSWJR engines but this was lavish treatment for an attractive albeit rather obscure machine. The loss of its ‘colonial’ styling removed a colourful element from the fleet. Regarded with affection, it was nicknamed ‘Galloping Alice’. * GWR ownership saw relegation from front line freight duty over the MSWJR route to pick-up goods work between Stoke Gifford and Swindon. In early 1930, there was a brief episode of glory when No. 6003 King George IV suffered a whistle failure while hauling the 11.45 am Bristol-Paddington and stopped at Badminton. No. 24 heading a Down pick-up goods was the only available replacement.

Running tender first, Alice took the express as far as Swindon and probably had to gallop that day.

Its leading dimensions, as rebuilt: Boiler Barrel - length

10' 6"

- inside diameter

4' 5"

- pitch

7' 5"

Firebox - inside length

5' 10"

Heating Surfaces [sq ft] - tubes

961

- superheater

75

- firebox

104

Grate [sq ft]

n/a

Boiler Pressure [lb/ sq in]

160

ISSUE 4 Cylinders Tractive effort [lb - 85%]

Another example of impromptu replacement of motive power on a Bristol-Paddington express concerned ‘The Bristolian’ in the autumn of 1954.

Something was amiss with the locomotive as it passed Badminton and to find out what was wrong, the driver stopped at Little Somerford alongside a goods train standing in the platform road. The goods driver shouted that his engine was ‘all right’. With a co-operative signalman and without reference to ‘authority’, engines were exchanged. No. 7904 Fountains Hall took over and though arrival at Paddington was almost 15 minutes late, the timing was 58 minutes from passing Swindon to reaching the terminus. After all, the Modified Halls were very good engines and probably Hawksworth’s best design.

18" x 26" 23,870

Wheel Diameter - pony

2' 9"

- driving

4' 0"

Wheelbase

8' 0" + 5' 7" + 5' 5"

Weight [tons] - total

41.6

- adhesive

33.3

- maximum axle loading

11.45

Readers are invited to provide accounts of other impressive performances with unusual motive power.

* Some sources (e.g. A Pictorial Record of Great

Western Engines Part 2, Page 131 by JH Russell, OPC 1975) refer to the nickname as ‘Galloping Gertie’ but the balance of opinion favours the title of this article. ‘Gertie’ seems to have more usually applied to freight classes that were regarded as plodders i.e. 2-6-0 Aberdare and 2-8-0 30xx (ROD).

An extended article by Mike Barnsley about railway connections to Marlborough is planned for the next issue.

Ex-MSWJR Beyer Peacock 2-6-0 No. 24 stood at the entrance to Swindon shed yard with the General Stores building to the rear. The locomotive is seen in its post February 1925 modified Great Western condition, retained until final withdrawal in July 1930, having run 83,000 miles from rebuild. Although undated, one wonders if this photograph was captured following its starring role rescuing the Bristol-Paddington express in early 1930. The nickname of ‘Galloping Alice’ is probably attributable to the similar export version supplied to the New South Wales Government Railways in Australia between 1881-1885.

37

SIGNALLING QUESTIONS & SOME ANSWERS t is easy to dismiss GWR and BR(WR) signalling ISignals practice as having changed little over the years. mostly dropped to show ‘off’ and distant signals were, post-1927, yellow instead of red; but much did alter in appearence and operation.

WT Issue 1, Page 24, referred to Reading East Main Signal Box where the down ‘Cornish Riviera’ (and other expresses) was belled on to Reading West Main Signal Box as a ‘branch passenger’ (1-3), indicating the Berks & Hants ‘branch’ route rather than the ‘main line’ to Didcot. This was an example of local working, covered by ‘footnotes’ or local instructions issued for a specific location in the form of typed sheets, authorised by the Signalling Inspector or Superintendent of the Line.

In general terms, the following identifies the stages where ordinary working would apply at Box B which has been offered a train from Box A in rear:• If the section from Box A is clear, the train may be accepted by Box B under ‘Line Clear’ (Regulation 4). This confirms there is 440 yards clear, forward of Box B’s Home signal.

• If the 440 yards forward of Box B’s home signal is not clear (e.g. blocked by a stationary train/ vehicle or conflicting shunting movement), Box B refuses to accept the offered train by not responding to the bell signal.

• Under these circumstances, having refused to accept the train, what would usually happen is Box B telephones Box A to explain why a normal response is not possible.

• Refusals can be a normal occurrence, perhaps due to heavy traffic at a busy location, or to a preceding train running out of course.

Provided the train service was not particularly excessive, such a refusal by Box B to accept a train could be a rare occurrence, but often at junction and or busy stations and where there were often conflicting movements it could also lead to regular delays to the timetabled service.

Such conflicts might therefore mean the working at box B might well be adjusted under what is known as Regulation 5. (Sometimes shortened to ‘the warning’.) This type of working would be specially authorised by the District Superintendent and confirmed in the footnotes – local instructions- that applied to Box B. Regulation 5, to give its full title, ‘Section clear but station blocked’, applied only in clear weather. For safety sake it did not apply in poor visibility – ‘fog or falling snow’. The signalman at Box B given a ‘fogging point’. (Every signal box has a ‘fogging point’; a fixed object which if no longer visible requires the signalman to operate only under Regulation 4 [440 yards clearance] and /or call out fogmen to supervise train movements).

38

The application of Regulation 5: • Box A offers the train to Box B but which does not have the requisite 440 yards clear of its Home signal.

• Box B responds to Box A with bell code ‘3-5-5’ meaning ‘section clear but station blocked’.

• Box A acknowledges by repeating ‘3-5-5’ and only then does Box B turns/ pegs its block instrument to ‘Line Clear’.

• Boxes A and B are thus both aware of the situation; but this advice must also be communicated to the driver.

• Advice to the train’s driver is effected as follows: 1. In ‘knowing the route’, drivers are aware of locations where Regulation 5 might be applied.

2. Box A’s starting signal remains On until it is clear that the driver has reduced speed preparatory to stopping.

3. Box A then lowers its starting signal before the train stops; the driver acknowledges what this means by tooting the whistle in acknowledgement.

4. Alternatively Box B’s signalman might display a green flag; (remember the old rhyme White is right and red is wrong, green means go gently along – consequently a green flag held steadily conveys the same message).

5. A third method with mechanically-operated systems is for the signal to be pulled off very slowly as the train approaches so that the arm moves similarly. This technique conveys the same message but requires practice to perfect and is not possible with an electrically operated semaphore.

6. Regulation 5 could also apply in clear visibility at night – if authorised – but with traffic density at night usually less, it was therefore less common. For ‘green flag held steadily’ thus read ‘green’ lamp held steadily.

Before the train passes Box A to enter the section leading to Box B, the situation might change with full Line Clear (Regulation 4) at Box B now available (i.e. the full 440-yard clearing point). Box B then sends 3-3-5 to Box A which acknowledges and pulls its signals Off. A train can thus be accepted under Regulation 4, or Regulation 5 (if authorised under local instructions) or Regulation 5 changing to 4 but NEVER from Regulation 4 to 5. One of the few remaining locations where this procedure applies is at Bewdley South on the Severn Valley Railway where an arrival from Arley destined for Kidderminster may be accepted under Regulation 5 if another service is on its way from Kidderminster.

ISSUE 4 A delightful, true tale shows how old habits persisted over the years. A certain signalman was undergoing his annual rules examination by the local District Inspector. He was a man of many years’ experience having worked at the same location for most of his service, and was only a few years short of retirement. Having satisfactorily answered all the rules questions, the Inspector stood back to watch him operate the box. The advanced starting signal at this location had recently been changed to a colour light in the progressive abolition of mechanical signalling. The box ahead accepted an offered train under ‘Regulation 5’. Previously, the signalman would have pulled the lever until he felt the tension of the wire and with calculated experience would then slowly complete the pull. The arm would thus drop slowly thereby warning the driver of the situation.

The new colour light signal was still operated by a lever but with a cut down handle (4” sawn off the top and the ends rounded over). It was now little more than a switch requiring minimal effort. The signalman moved the lever slowly and when asked why, he replied ‘..so the light comes on gradually….’.

Above: This view started the debate about 5’ pressed metal arms. The positioning of the signal on the opposite side of the running line should be noted as this was usually done for purposes of clear sighting. However at this location there are no evident obstructions so probably the GW right hand drive of its engines meant that its positioning was thus advantageous for drivers. The controlling signal box, at least for the stop arm, is also in rear of the signal (meaning behind the stop arm if faced head on), hence there are no blackout shields fitted to the spectacles. Both arm positions and lamps are also electrically repeated.

Transport Treasury.

Regarding the arms of distant signals, mention has been made of the colour change from red with white stripe to yellow with black chevron from 1927, although this was of course a gradual process.

Concurrently, the colour of the distant signal lever in the controlling signal box was changed from green to yellow.

The length of distant signals’ arms (and also stop signals) could be two, three, four or five feet. Mostly 5’ arms were used on main routes and where posts were above a particular height. Also where a bracket for a junction was provided, the 5’ arm would apply to the principal route and a 3’ or 4’ arm to the subsidiary line.

Five feet signal arms for both stop and distant were installed until circa 1955 when BR(WR) ordained that the maximum length arm was to be 4’ with 5’ arms remaining until needing replacement. This process also took time and many 5’ arms remained until the end of mechanical signalling while local signal stores might still have had unused supplies.

Replacement of wooden arms with metal appears to have started prior to WW2 but 5’ metal arms were quite unusual as in the examples shown on this page.

Left: The down distant signal with 5’ arm at Heytesbury, between Warminster and Codford on the Salisbury branch from Westbury. The end of the wooden arm is cut in a ‘swallow tail’ which was intended to reduce the chance of the wood splitting. The presence of the two sets of insulators and the battery box by the trackside confirm that the lamp and arm positions were repeated in the controlling signal box.

Ivan Beale courtesy Gerry Beale.

39

WESTERN TIMES

Above: This Ward cartoon appeared in Railnews. A copy of this page was displayed in Newbury East Junction Signal Box in 1978 when this was a fringe box to Reading Panel. It was certainly appreciated by the men!

Four feet metal arms on standard tubular post (all products of Reading Signal Works) at Bourne End. The route priority is shown by the height of the respective posts; that on the left is the starting signal for Cookham and Maidenhead while the lower post controls movements from the main platform onto the Marlow branch. Note that the 3’ arm starting signal for Marlow from the bay platform branch is to the right. In later years, Bourne End was signalled for trains to depart from either main platform in either direction.

Eric Miles / Transport Treasury.

40

ISSUE 4 Left: If there was ever such a thing as a ‘standard’ GWR signal, this is probably the closest to it. These are 4’ arms, but note that the slot in the distant does not start at the extreme ends. A ladder is installed at the rear, with a pair of platforms for the lampman. In certain urban areas, a full time lampman might be employed but otherwise it was the task of a local porter or the signalman himself, in between trains. Track circuit diamond attached, which design had been used from 1929 onwards – white front, black on the reverse 1’ 6” long and 8” high; usually the post was painted black 12 inches above and below the diamond in order to stand out clearly.

Prior to the use of the diamond indicator an illuminated worded sign had been used. The presence of the diamond / sign eliminated the need for the fireman to attend the controlling signal box to remind the signalman of his trains’ presence, sign the Train Register and confirm a collar had been placed on the lever of the appropriate signal.

Top right: Boundary changes between regions meant that differing practices could be imposed although the presence in 1954 of upper quadrant arms on a WR tubular gantry at Portishead, well within GWR territory, is puzzling.

Above: Mixed GWR and Southern signals at Ludgershall (former MSWJR route) looking north towards the point where the branch to Tidworth diverged westward away from the ‘main’ Savernake / Marlborough route. Signalling on this line was a mixed affair both on the ground, and in the design of the signal boxes and their equipment. From left to right:- WR tubular post and metal stop arm; SR bracket with upper quadrant arms; GWR timber post and 4’ arm with cash register for indicating one of two routes at the crossover; similar configuration with cash register by the bridge.

Bottom right: The strangest of them all was a BR(W) upper quadrant signal at Oxford North on 13 September 1953. In 1948 British Railways issued a dictat that all replacement signals should be upper quadrant. Replacement was a continuing process and in a test exercise at this location, Reading Signal works installed what was in effect a cast iron spectacle upside down on the post so that the arms would rise when pulled off. It remained so for its entire working career. Its removal was accompanied, so folklore has it, by a circular from Paddington to the WR as a whole, ‘Reference Notice No ….. of 1948, The experimental upper quadrant signal installed at Oxford North has not been shown to indicate any particular advantage over the existing type. All future mechanical signal renewals will therefore conform to lower quadrant practice’. One final swipe at nationalisation a quarter of a century later!

41

WESTERN TIMES

Above: Westbury shed when new on 21 April 1915. This was a standard straight-through style Churchward building with four roads ending in stub sidings at the far end. The design provided for an extension although this was never carried out.

The GWR Magazine reported that each of the four roads had a pit 199’ long and ‘…could accommodate 12 tender engines or 20 tanks engines’. This was clearly an error as the shed building was 210’ long and a 4-4-0 Bulldog and tender measured 56’ 2” over buffers. The locomotive standing just beyond the coal stage was ‘County’ 4-4-2T No 2221.

GWR Official.

Below: The lifting shop (84’ x 40’ with a 68’ pit road) was on the south side of the main building. It contained a 35-ton hoist, forge and machine tools while the stationary boiler with lofty chimney to maximise draught was housed in the annex in the foreground. The stores were behind the lifting shop and extended back to the eastern end of the shed. The small building and chimney at the south eastern end of the stores was the original sand dryer. In the far distance on the right, a 4-4-0 ‘County’ is standing on the 65’ turntable. Outside pits were also provided on the four shed roads; during World War 2 a cover was erected over the ash disposal roads for blackout purposes.

GWR Official.

MODERNISING THE WESTERN:

WESTBURY ENGINE SHED 1915 he process of modernisation is an ongoing T programme designed to replace old for new, inefficiency with efficiency and so far as the railway

By the 1900s, Westbury was a busy railway crossroads with routes converging from east, south, west and north so it was no surprise that locomotive facilities were deemed necessary. Consequently in the September 1915 issue of the GWR Magazine it was reported under ‘Departmental News’ of the opening of the new locomotive depot. The magazine gives basic details as might interest the casual reader but with an interesting comment that the Directors had in fact authorised the facilities some time ago. Perhaps the delay was caused by the obvious wartime situation.

is concerned, deal with changing traffic flows and requirements. We may think of modernising as a word that applies to the period 1955 onwards with BR’s fabled Modernisation Plan, but we should not forget that the GWR was continuously going through this process in most aspects of its operations. In this piece we give one example of modernisation over a century ago, the new locomotive depot at Westbury in Wiltshire.

An engine shed had existed at Westbury back in the 19th century although little detail appears known.

According to Eddie Lyons and Eric Mountford in Great Western Engine Sheds 1837-1947, revised edition, (OPC 1986) a shed had opened in September 1848 but closed c1862/3. Nothing is then mentioned until 1915 by which time the importance of Westbury as a junction had increased considerably with the opening of the Stert and Westbury cut-off in 1900 and further west the extension of the route from Castle Cary through Somerton to Cogload in 1906.

Westbury shed received its first allocation probably around the time of the official photographer’s visit in April 1915 and remained in use for a few months over half a century closing in September 1965.

Below: The coal stage and water tank, the latter able to hold 45,000 gallons. Close examination of the views reveals the shed appeared to be in partial use at least at the time the views were taken (according to Derek Phillips in his book The Story of the Westbury to Weymouth Line, OPC 1994) the first engines had been stabled at the depot in February 1915.

GWR Official.

43

WESTERN TIMES Interior view. The orientation of the shed was east-west and in consequence it is not surprising the rear doors are closed to avoid a funnel effect. The allocation of the depot naturally varied according to period but commenced with 4-4-0s of various types including examples of the County series as previously seen. There were also 43xx, 28xx, plus various 0-6-0 and 2-4-0 tender engines. Tank engines were represented in different forms including in 1922 two members of the 39xx 2-6-2T class. By 1934 ‘Saint’ and ‘Hall’ classes were noted, whilst as time passed so older types would disappear and newer build, ‘County’ 4-6-0 and ‘Grange’ classes appeared. In addition engines from other depots would arrive for servicing between turns.

GWR Official.

Forty seven years later and the ‘newness’ has definitely worn off. Westbury shed on 20 October 1962 clearly showing the additional sidings added to the left of the shed building, stabling examples of its modern day allocation. The facilities would survive just under a further three years, closing in September 1965.

R C Riley (RCR 16867) / Transport Treasury.

44

MAUD

R C Riley (RCR 15175) / Transport Treasury.

45

MODERN TRACTION:

BLUE IS THE COLOUR Top: We begin a short examination of British Rail corporate blue-liveried diesel motive power, with Swindon Cross-Country Class 120 DMU standing in the derelict remains of Swindon Town station during the visit of the ‘Somerset Rambler’ railtour on 27 February 1971. The tour was organised jointly by the Wirral Railway Society and the Great Western Society (Bristol Branch), travelling from Bristol around the county visiting places such as Bath, Chippenham, Westbury, Cranmore, Taunton, Wapping Wharf and Portishead. The plan to take the unit up the Dulcote Quarry branch near Wells was abandoned due to the unsafe nature of the trackwork. These comfortable 3-car units were built at Swindon in three batches between 1957 and 1961 for the Western and Scottish Regions.

This set with Driving Motor Brake Composite No. W51575 nearest the camera is from batch three, distinguished by the train number indicator box not found on the earlier builds.

Transport Treasury.

Middle: North British Type 2 (Class 22) DieselHydraulic No. 6326 is pictured at Exeter St Davids stabling point on the early morning of Saturday 18 September 1971. Alongside is green-liveried Brush Type 4 (Class 47) No. 1742 which at this time was based in the Birmingham Division (D02) on the London Midland Region. Compared to the majority of Class 22s of the period, No. 6326 appears in quite a good external condition paintwise and has also not lost any of its lower body valances, a very common occurence later in their lives. Other class members active at Exeter on this day were No. 6336 and No. 6322 which worked in on the 9.20am freight and vans from Barnstaple. The Laira-allocated locomotive would only spend a further two weeks in traffic before withdrawal on 3 October and prompt despatch to Swindon for eventual scrapping in March 1972.

This brought to a close a criminally short working life of less than eleven and a half years.

Roger Geach.

Bottom: Photographed from the moving DMU on the railtour featured in the top image, No. 1200 Falcon stands alongside the former De-Tubing House (The Barn) at Swindon Works. Built as a sole prototype Type 4 Co-Co design by Brush Traction at their Loughborough Works (after which it was named) and delivered in October 1961, Falcon was fitted with the same twin Maybach MD655 engines as the ‘Western’ class, but the power was delivered via generators and electric traction motors rather than the latter’s hydraulic transmission. Initially trialled on the Eastern Region, it was transferred to Bristol Bath Road in 1965 and remained on the Western Region until scrapped by Cashmore’s of Newport in April 1976, despite preservation attempts.

Transport Treasury.

46

Above: The pioneer ‘Hymek’ Class No. (D)7000 stands on Cardiff Canton shed on 23 July 1973. The Old Oak Common (81A) allocated Type 3 was likely making its final visit to Wales as it was withdrawn from service during the following week and moved to Swindon for disposal. Delivered from Beyer Peacock Ltd in May 1961, its Bristol-Siddeley / Maybach MD870 engine delivered 1,700 bhp via a Hydraulic Mekydro type transmission (hence the nickname Hymek). Transport Treasury.

Below: The 4A07 Penzance-Plymouth vans passes through Saltash behind No. 47 080 Titan on Sunday 28 April 1974. The former D1665 was one of seventeen of the original Western Region allocated Brush Type 4s to be named, their distinctive Egyptian font plates fitted to the lower bodyside making them instantly recognisable amongst the 512-strong fleet. Without doubt one of the most successful diesel classes, this example was to have a service life of over 34 years.

Roger Geach.

Above: It was out of the ordinary to see Eastern Region based locomotives in the West Country. Finsbury Park-allocated Brush Type 2 (Class 31) No. 31 103 is seen at Taunton on the 8 May 1974. The time is recorded as 12.10pm and the locomotive is making its way into the yard north of the station to work a freight service back eastwards. Class 31s began taking over some Hymek duties and first started to appear at Bristol Bath Road, which received an allocation from autumn 1971. Many of these ex-Eastern Region locos were transferred to the Western Region still wearing green livery. The first recorded visit to Exeter Riverside Yard was on the 7 April 1972, when Nos. 5828 and 5843 arrived with the midday Avonmouth to Tavistock Junction special freight. This example was delivered as No. D5521 in March 1959 and was initially designated as a Class 30 by nature of its 1,365 bhp Mirrlees power unit. Reclassification from 30 to 31 occurred in October 1966 upon fitting of the much more reliable 1,470 bhp English Electric 12SVT engine.

Roger Geach.

Opposite top: Brush Type 4 (Class 47) No. 47 026 at rest in front of the former steam shed at Long Rock near Penzance, bathed in the mid-morning sunshine on Sunday 9 February 1975. The locomotive had worked down in the early hours on milk empties from Acton and later that day it worked the 1A49 12.05pm Penzance to Paddington service as far as Plymouth. Laira-based at this time the engine was not well liked by the ‘Western Class Enthusiasts’ in the south-west, as it often deputised on traditional ‘Western’ allocated diagrams. Already over ten years old, some remedial repair work has clearly taken place on the cab front that has not been particularly well touched in! Destined to remain a Western Region engine for the remainder of its working life, it was equipped with Electric Train Heating and renubered 47 597 in December 1983 and withdrawn on New Year’s Day 2003.

Roger Geach.

Opposite bottom: The first departure of the day on Sunday 9 March 1975, the 1A35 10.05am Penzance-Paddington express, gets underway from the Cornish terminus with a combined horsepower of 5400 bhp at the drivers’ disposal. Wrong headcodes being displayed were a common feature on trains across the Western Region by the mid 1970s, a practice gravely frowned upon in steam days. The lead locomotive is ‘Western’ Class diesel-hydraulic No. (D)1065 Western Consort incorrectly purporting to be 1A43 which was a Swansea to Paddington service. The hydraulic is working in tandem with with English Electric Type 4 (Class 50) No. 50 014 which at this time was still under lease to British Rail from its builders.

Double-heading was common in Cornwall for loco balancing purposes and is probably the case here, with one locomotive destined for Plymouth Laira. The Western had arrived that morning on the down newspaper train from Paddington, which was responsible for conveying the Fleet Street printed press to the far west in those days.

Roger Geach.

49

WESTERN TIMES

50

ISSUE 4 Opposite top: On 29 June 1975 English Electric Co-Co No. 50 003 stands outside the Laira Diesel Depot in company with a ‘Western’ diesel hydraulic, the type the Class 50 was intended to replace. No. 50003 had arrived on the Western Region in advance of the mass transfer of class 50s for the new West of England timetable that commenced on Monday 6 May 1974. The locomotive was based at Plymouth Laira for crew training (together with No. 50 027 at Penzance and No. 50 050 at Bristol Bath Road), and was known to Exeter enthusiasts as ‘Policeman Plod’ due to its habit of plodding along and then failing.

Roger Geach.

Opposite bottom: Monday 25 August 1975 sees No. 50 001 arriving at Bodmin Road at the head of the 1B25 9.30am Paddington-Penzance secondary express. Note the Up home signal located on the Down platform for better sighting because of the bend and the station footbridge (behind the camera). The signal box was normally only open for two shifts by this time and later closed when the clay traffic to Wenford Bridge finished. Freight through to Wadebridge was withdrawn in September 1978, passenger services having already ceased at the end of January 1967, to be replaced by a bus! The signal box survived as a private cafe and the line to Bodmin General and Boscarne Junction now forms the Bodmin and Wenford Railway. Bodmin Road was renamed Bodmin Parkway on 5 November 1983.

Roger Geach.

Below: The Inter-City 125 High Speed Train units were introduced onto the Western Region from 1976 and were instantly responsible for reducing journey times from Paddington to Bristol and South Wales by almost 30 minutes. No. 253 023 is seen accelerating away from Didcot with an up working to London on 16 April 1977. The set consists of the original 2+7 formation of Power Cars (DMB) W43046 and W43047, x2 Trailer Firsts (TF), Trailer Unclassified Kitchen (TRUK), Trailer Second (TS), Trailer Second Buffet (TRSB), x2 Trailer Seconds (TS). After a short period in service the inclusion of two catering vehicles was considered extravagant and in most cases the TRUK was replaced by an additional TS.

51

THE PROPOSED DIRECT LINE FROM PEWSEY TO SALISBURY iltshire has traditionally been an underW populated part of southern England, almost solely reliant on an agricultural economy and with

the GWR was planning in the opposite direction with the intention ultimately of reaching Southampton by way of a new line that would have diverged south east of Salisbury. It would have passed close to Alderbury Junction and the L&SWR route south to West Moors, and then traversed open country in a south-easterly direction towards its coastal destination. Little is known of this venture which seems to have proceeded no further than preliminary planning.

little indigenous industry, at least until Messrs Brunel and Gooch got to work in the 1830s. Towns were few and for the most part remain comparatively modest in size, as exemplified by Pewsey and approximately 21 miles almost due south, the county town of Salisbury. Between the two settlements lies the empty expanse of Salisbury Plain, an area that offered minimal local traffic potential which makes the investment interest engendered in the late 19th Century by competing railway interests all the more intriguing.

However, the GWR gained Parliamentary authorisation on 16 January 1883 for a new standard gauge conventional railway from Pewsey to Salisbury. No construction work took place and the purpose of gaining legal approval seems to have been solely to block the L&SWR’s northerly ambitions. The cost and effort were probably justified as a means of reinforcing a de facto territorial demarcation to ensure that the interests of Bristol and Southampton remained within the control of the two companies. Further incursion by either into foreign territory risked creation of undue friction with adverse impact on the operational efficiency of the ‘joint’ locations. Such antagonism was in the interest of neither party and the GWR, having thus saved face, withdrew from further aggressive activity, despite the cost that had been incurred. The Pewsey to Salisbury section as a stand-alone venture that penetrated an area of slim traffic potential was a poor substitute compared with what a connection into Southampton might have offered. With hindsight, this line would have been a minor threat to the L&SWR, as its southern junction would have been near to the GWR’s own Wilton station, thus creating no additional GWR lines or connections into Salisbury.

The physical structure of the Great Western camouflages a dense ghost network of proposals for routes that failed though a multiplicity of causes including over-reaching local ambitions, shortages of capital, speculative mis-adventures, greed, unrealistic dreams and so forth. Despite shortage of population, the area proscribed by Salisbury Plain first became the focus of such attention in 1845 with Joseph Locke’s abortive Manchester, Southampton and Poole Railway, part of whose course was planned through the Avon Valley between Pewsey and Salisbury. In 1863, the directors of the Berks & Hants Extension Railway (on whose line Pewsey itself was situated) reported at their half yearly meeting of 31 December 1863, a proposal for a route from Porton, east of Salisbury, north through Amesbury to a planned junction at Woodborough, 3½ miles to the west of Pewsey on the B & H route.

This was rejected due to non-compliance with ‘standing orders’, a term whose meaning appears lost in the mists of time but apparently related to Parliamentary sanction. That idea seemed to receive no further attention.

Then in 1882 the Bristol and London & South Western Junction Railway Bill was promoted by the L&SWR. The proposed a route from two miles west of Grateley on the Basingstoke-Salisbury line running across the Plain via Amesbury and Shrewton to Westbury and on to Bristol by way of the Somerset & Dorset Joint, or the North Somerset line. The GWR bitterly opposed this threat to their Bristol traffic and ensured Parliamentary defeat of the Bill the following year.

There the matter rested until passage of the Light Railways Act of 1896, which was intended to ease construction and operation of minor or ‘light’ railways thereby opening up hitherto railway-less areas to the benefits of modern transportation. The Act made sanction cheaper and simpler to secure, provided that it conformed with its criteria. Instead of the full Parliamentary procedures, the Board of Trade could authorise new routes, subject to supporting research which proved the need for the investment.

The GWR’s opposition to the L&SWR’s ambitions apparently included its own plans for a railway between Pewsey and Salisbury by following a course similar to that which the L&SWR had intended in its hope of reaching Bristol. However,

In general terms, the 1896 Act was not the success the Government and Board of Trade had sought.

Unlike in mainland Europe where light railways, sometimes running alongside public roads, were a feature of the landscape for decades. The criteria

52

ISSUE 4 contained within the Act allowed few advantages while still requiring infrastructure similar to that associated with a conventional railway. Further, by this time most of the principal lines and branches were often the first to close.

backwater could only offer poor revenue and there was no demand for through traffic except for that which was already routed via Westbury over a line that was not heavily used.

A more probable purpose lay in connection with the extensive training activities conducted in the area by the Army in respect of which special trains ran to Patney & Chirton (west of Pewsey) and also to Codford on the line between Salisbury and Westbury. This was traffic that the GWR hoped to tap further, and cheap local routes would have offered a bonus. The GWR’s proposal was supported by various local authorities, the Board of Agriculture and the general public, but not as it transpired by the organisation that mattered most – the War Office. Despite the Board of Trade approval, the proposed route was already being challenged by the War Office which around that time was negotiating purchase of great swathes of Salisbury Plain for use as a military training area.

Probably unknown to the GWR and the Board of Trade, the War Office was canvassing the L&SWR for a railway from the south which would be broadly similar with the 1862 scheme.

Nevertheless, the GWR was granted Board of Trade sanction on 6 August 1898 for the ‘Great Western Railway (Pewsey and Salisbury Light Railway)’. This was apparently the only occasion on which the GWR took recourse to this legislation in its own name although through subsequent acquisitions light railways that had been promoted by others were admitted to the fold. The 1898 order only refers to the line to Salisbury that would have followed the south to north route of Salisbury, Manningford, Upavon, Netheravon, Surrington, Amesbury, Wilsford, Dunrford, Woodford, and Stratford. By following the course of the Wiltshire River Avon, earthworks would have been kept to a minimum.

Although this might seem to be a genuine attempt to open up the area to railway transport and/or to block any future ambitions by the L&SWR, reading between the lines suggests an alternative motive.

Firstly the habitation of all the locations mentioned (excepting Salisbury) was small with that of Pewsey about 4,000. Even as a light railway this rural

Indeed, correspondence over the merits or otherwise of the GWR’s plan had been active since at least November 1897, making it strange that the

Extract from an 1845 map of ‘Projected Railways West of England Division’, House of Commons, 28 February 1845.

Lines shown in black already existed. Red / Blue were proposed. In the latter category, the reference numbers for relevant GWR/ LSWR area routes are: 21 - Basingstoke and Didcot Junction, 154 - Salisbury to Yeovil, 194 - Reading, Basingstoke and Hungerford (when opened better known as the ‘Berks and Hants’), 238 - Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth.

53

WESTERN TIMES GWR had been granted Board of Trade permission.

On 15 November 1897 the War Office reported (to whom it is not stated), ‘…the making of a line through the centre of land recently purchased for military manoeuvres would interfere with the object for which it was purchased’. Essentially, the situation was a mess between the GWR, L&SWR, Board of Trade and War Office. It might have been caused by poor communication, or lack of joined up thinking, or perhaps the GWR was being ‘kept in play’ lest negotiations with the L&SWR failed.

and the other from Salisbury to the southern border of WO land at Durrington. Matters stalled at that point so formal proceedings were convened to debate the issue between the parties at the Council House, Salisbury on 25 October 1897. These were still continuing on 3 March 1898 with no resolution in sight.

Below: Covers of the various Light Railway, Extension of Time, and Devizes Extension Orders. Information contained within includes such items as the route to be of the standard gauge, any bridge where the railway crosses a road to have a minimum ten feet clearance (13 bridges were proposed with a minimum 14 feet clearance, cattle guards or similar to be provided at level crossings, fences shall not be required except where the railway is in a cutting six feet or more below the surface of the ground, maximum axle loading of 14 tons. There is a lovely comment in Clause 27 of the Order whereby if electricity be used as motive power then special conditions shall apply and that insulators be provided. (Here the B o T were simply covering all eventualities and it should not be read that electric traction was even being considered).

Elsewhere we learn that 182 acres of land would be required and 602,800cu yds of excavation needed over the 20+ miles. The total cost of construction including stations, was £116, 406 13s 10d. Messrs John Fowler and James Inglis reported as engineers. As was practice at this stage, details such as track plans at the proposed stations or of the junctions at either end are not given.

On learning of the objection, the GWR expressed willingness to accede to the wishes of the War Office ‘…in every possible way as regards the running of trains…’. This included a commitment to make ‘special crossing places of an aggregate length of 3,000 yards’ over the 4½ miles of railway that would cross WO land. ‘Free access’ would be allowed to troops while there would be eight public level crossings and seven private crossings over the same portion of line. How any of this might have helped in practice is not immediately apparent.

None of these proposals were acceptable but the WO instead suggested that the GWR build two separate railways. One would extend south from Pewsey to the boundary of WO land near Enford,

54

In the hope of attracting support (from whom it is hard to imagine), the GWR undertook to build an additional junction line at Pewsey thus forming a triangle, which would allow through running to Devizes on market days. How this could be seen to assist their case in any way is unclear as market day traffic held no interest for the War Office. Col Yorke acting for the Board of Trade was meanwhile worried about the long stretches of unfenced line that would exist across WO land and passing close to several villages. Strangely, Yorke’s concerns were based on the lack of protective measures whose redundancy was a major point behind the light railway legislation.

It was left to Lord Cawdor, as GWR Chairman, to outline the position at the half yearly shareholders’ meeting of 9 February 1899. In reply to a shareholder’s question, he stated, ‘…the railway would cost £7,000 per mile to build and that whilst some 15 miles might be built the remainder could not be constructed until the War Office had withdrawn their restrictions and given their consent’. There matters rested despite a successful application in 1901 for a two-year extension for completion of the route, beyond the originally approved expiry of 1905. By 1907, construction had not commenced and the powers lapsed.

Without WO consent for the GWR, new rail connections were left to the L&SWR which opened a light railway commencing two miles west of Grateley through Newton Tony to Amesbury and eventually reaching Bulford in 1902. Further siding type extensions were made over the years although a later proposal to extend from Amesbury to Shrewton never materialised. Consequently, Pewsey never become a junction, triangular or otherwise, and the GWR was prevented from an extension towards Southampton from Salisbury.

The nearest the L&SWR came to Bristol was Bath and then only by using the Somerset & Dorset.

In the light of these facts, it is appropriate to review aspects of the GWR’s proposals. The suggestion that a Salisbury-Southampton connection was feasible is curious as the company already had from 1856 a substantial presence at the former point by courtesy of the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway. Also, if the GWR considered Southampton a valuable prize why attach the proposal to the concept of the Light Railway? From 1866 there had also already been a junction at Alderbury, east of Salisbury where the Salisbury and Dorset Junction route diverged on its way south though Fordingbridge to Verwood. It seems that Parliament by then was wise to competitive schemes traversing the same tracts of land. Even if Southampton had been the ultimate aim there was no guarantee the GWR would have succeeded and it can be assumed that the L&SWR would have mounted formidable opposition.

Right: From a somewhat damaged original map torn in half we have an indication of the proposed route shown in red.

WESTERN TIMES Finally, there were other ways whereby the GWR could have reached Southampton on its own metals. Firstly, there was a proposal in 1862 for a broad gauge line from Andover to Redbridge on the western outskirts of Southampton. The promotors of the nominally independent A & R company had fallen out with the L&SWR and thus considered a broad gauge line to be a better proposition. This notion was unrealistic as it would have been a railway in isolation, there being no other broad gauge lines anywhere along its route. The most likely candidate for reaching Southampton was of course via Newbury and Winchester but this could have been the source of further hostility between the two companies which was why the GWR would not openly back the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton company.

As the crow flies, it is 21.3 miles from Pewsey to Salisbury. By using modern public transport the journey is possible by train or omnibus. With the former, there is at least one direct train via Westbury yielding a journey time of a little under one hour (although mostly a change is necessary at that station). An alternative but longer by train route would involve an eastward service from Pewsey to Reading; south to Basingstoke, and thence west to Salisbury. Up until 1961, a dog leg by way of Pewsey – Savernake – Andover – Salisbury was possible although this option might not have existed had proposals for a direct line come to pass in the 19th Century. Additionally, there is the bus. Google advises that the express takes 61 minutes while the stopper calling at Durrington and Bulford Camp has an 88 minute timing. This certainly conforms with the light railway speed limit of 25 mph.

It remains unclear how much the GWR might have benefited by building at least the northern half of the line. Was corporate pride the driving force?

Moreover, if built as a light railway, would the infrastructure have been adequate for weighty military trains?

Acknowledgements and Bibliography: Rails Across the Plain: The Amesbury and Bulford Branch by Roger Simmonds. The Larkhill Military Railway by Jeffery Grayer (Noodle Books, 2011).

One of George Jackson Churchward’s legendary ‘Saint’ Class 4-6-0s No. 2990 Waverley at Salisbury. The engine has likely brought a through train in from Bristol and is waiting to move to the shed to be turned and replenished prior to a return working. Assuming this to be the case the loco lamps are misleading. Although the GWR had an operational terminus at Salisbury, this ceased to be used by passenger trains from September 1932 in favour of the Southern station alongside.

Shaftesbury collection.

56

Above: In the later half of the 1950s, the Up Cornish Riviera Limited storms through Pewsey station behind an unidentified Collett ‘King’ Class 4-6-0. The passage of this powerful spectacle has understandably attracted the undivided attention of the sparse population within the tidy station confines.

Below: Pewsey station again looking west towards Woodborough on 24 February 1965. Rationalisation is now underway as the goods shed has already been demolished and recovery of redundant trackwork is evident in the goods yard. The site of the triangle junction with the proposed line to Salisbury and connection allowing trains to run directly toward Devizes would have been just beyond the overbridge in the distance.

THE END OF MONARCHY he demise of the Great Western Railway at 0001 T hrs, 1 January 1948 obviously saw no immediate physical change in the institution’s

elsewhere through these vicissitudes but this event, chosen by Western Times as its deadline was a crucial stage in the course of irrevocable change.

appearance. Five minutes later, No. 5032 Usk Castle departed Paddington with a Birkenhead service to a volley of detonators marking the new owner’s first express to leave the terminus.

Another date in this dismal calendar that is sometimes overlooked, despite its symbolic significance, was 31 December 1962 which marked the redundancy of that epitome of Great Western steam power, the King class. Still working on the type of duties for which it had been built, execution was mercifully swift compared with the fate of front line passenger types on other regions whose retirement was drawn out over longer periods, often including a half-life on secondary duties. The Kings’ story in their final year is summarised in the table within this article and presents some interesting issues and queries concerning these mighty 4-6-0s.

Night-time noises apart, change in the early days of British Railways was gradual but it accelerated over time towards the melancholy milestone that saw the end of WR steam on 31 December 1965. (A few panniers survived into 1966 but beyond the Region’s jurisdiction). For those whose interests resided in new era motive power, 1977 brought sadness with departure of the diesel hydraulics. The GWR’s spirit lived on at Paddington, Swindon and

Above: A scene that typified the final months of the Kings in regular traffic, as Nos. 6018 King Henry VI and 6028 King George VI are captured at Cardiff Canton on 4 March 1962. Both were still operational and externally well cared for. The class’s decline had started late in 1958 when diesels took over the ‘Cornish Riviera Express’. A few months later ‘The Bristolian’ was dieselised and as more Kings became available, from the summer of 1959 they were seen at Shrewsbury on the ‘Cambrian Coast Express’ as well as working the Newton Abbot-Shrewsbury lodging turn. In the winter of 1959, Kings started working Paddington-South Wales services, and six members of the class were transferred to Canton the following year.

Alan Jarvis courtesy SLS. Opposite: Also on 4 March 1962, No. 6003 King George IV was stored at Canton with its chimney covered. Supposedly on OOC’s books since 15 February, its presence in Cardiff shows how official records could differ from the position on the ground. Behind is an unidentified classmate also in store, while No. 5214 remained ‘in use’ until September 1964. Both the 4-6-0s have been coaled ready for service as was practice when each locomotive arrived on shed from its previous working. Although not withdrawn until 25 June 1962, it is doubtful whether No. 6003 worked again, indicating that some were redundant rather than life-expired.

Alan Jarvis courtesy SLS.

58

The Kings represented the pinnacle of GWR steam from their introduction in 1927 although their antecedents go back to inception of the Stars in 1906. These 30 locomotives worked the heaviest trains on the GWR and BR (WR) for 35 years. This does not detract from the role and achievements of the Stars, Castle, Counties etc but the end of the Kings marked removal of the fleet’s flagship engines, and heralded the terminal phase of the steam-to-diesel transition.

One reason for keeping the Kings at work had been the more intensive Paddington-Wolverhampton timetable needed to relieve pressure on the West Coast Main Line, then being electrified. From mid-1962 onwards, BR (WR) had sufficient diesels for the workload, and with the new order’s improving reliability the then forward-looking management at Paddington could confidently pursue the changeover they anxiously sought.

Probably there was tacit support from BR HQ in stimulating regional competition over which would be the first to oust steam.

Analysis of the Kings’ replacement programme has revealed interesting details and inconsistencies.

For example, Nos. 6021 and 6025 received Heavy General repairs during 1962 only for the former to be withdrawn two weeks later and ten months later

Seven Kings posed for a publicity photo outside Swindon shed on 3 July 1930.

GWR Official (E267).

for the latter. This suggests that Swindon continued to work to a timetable governed by the traditional maintenance regime without consideration for, or in ignorance of, replacement plans. This suggests poor communication between senior management at Paddington and the works. It also raises the issue of whether meaningful costings were conducted or whether any consideration was given to the implicit waste of public money. Four departments should have been involved in the process:- Motive Power, Traffic, Works (meaning split of work between Swindon or Stafford Road), and Senior Management.

Left: A tour by No. 6018 King Henry VI was held on 17 November 1962.

Seen here stood at Hockley, the outward journey from Paddington went via Princes Risborough to Wolverhampton Low Level in two hours twenty minutes. The return journey involved 0-6-2T No. 6631 from Wolverhampton to Stourbridge Junction and thence via Dudley and Kenilworth to Leamington Spa. An LMS 2P 4-4-0 had been scheduled from there but the survivors were considered unsuitable so 0-6-0 No. 2210 was substituted.

Running via the StratfordUpon-Avon & Midland Junction route to terminate at Marylebone.

The return journey took 6½ hours. Leslie Freeman 7732/ Transport Treasury.

Opposite top: No. 6000 King George V in all its splendour and a credit to Stafford Road. This morning scene on 9 September 1962 was prior to the departure of ‘1Z70’, the-BR sponsored ‘Farewell to Kings on the Birmingham Line’ tour to Swindon, due to depart Wolverhampton Low Level at 10.17 am. Participants were allowed almost four hours at Swindon with a return to Wolverhampton scheduled for 9.57 pm.

Transport Treasury.

Opposite bottom: No. 6002 King William IV on display in September 1962 at Snow Hill where footplate visits were permitted. This engine was borrowed to cover for a failed diesel during this period. Even at this late stage, coverage for a failed diesel was not unique as when in late summer, a King worked a Saturday Down ‘Bristolian’. Also on 28 July, No. 6000 hauling 14 coaches had been noted passing milepost 41½ from Paddington, 42½ minutes after leaving the terminus; details of the actual working were not reported.

Paul Hocquard.

Above: Perhaps for the final time, No. 6025 King Henry III was in steam at OOC on 21 December 1962, three days after official withdrawal. The tender is fully coaled so was it being prepared for its next duty which might never come. Right to the very end, Kings could be called upon to deputise for failed diesels. Two of the last examples that month were No. 6018 on the 1.25 pm to Penzance and No. 6011 on the 10.50 am Birmingham line service on 2 December.

Transport Treasury.

61

WESTERN TIMES It might be concluded that in the enthusiasm to eliminate steam, the decision was predicated solely upon diesel availability without taking account of the Kings’ mechanical condition. The probable diesel production schedule might not have been taken to account, or might have been subject to frequent changes. It seems likely that new ‘Western’ dieselhydraulics were being erected at Swindon beside at least one King undergoing a Heavy General repair.

pair of Gas Turbine locomotives had not met expectations and short of constructing perhaps another 30 Standard Class 8 locomotives, the only option was to repair. Consequently, the cracks were welded and in the interim some of the Kings’ duties were covered by Pacifics borrowed from the LMR. Ironically, these had been designed by William Stanier, a former Swindon man. It was fortunate that these problems occurred outside the summer timetable, otherwise the consequences might have been more far-reaching.

In general terms, 35-year old locomotives that had spent their careers virtually exclusively on express trains to the West of England, Birmingham/ Wolverhampton and more recently South Wales would have understandably been showing the effects of hard work. Theoretically, machines can be repaired indefinitely but there comes a point at which little of the original will remain or the estimated life expectancy does not justify cost of renewal. This question might have arisen in the mid1950s when the whole class was temporarily withdrawn to repair bogie frame fatigue cracks. It is unlikely that class replacement then would have been costed as there was no immediate alternative.

Once considered as possible replacements, the

Several authors have commented that the Kings’ main frames were not in the best condition at the start of the 1960s due to age and wear. Boiler condition might have been another concern. Thirtyfour Standard No 12 boilers were constructed between 1927-1938, and a like number as replacements between 1951-1955. Detailed investigation in the 1950s had confirmed that the 280 lb/ sq in boilers fitted to the 4-6-0 Counties were unduly expensive to maintain. Perhaps the 250 lb/ sq in of the Kings coupled with the 4-row superheater might have exerted a similarly deleterious effect.

Above: On 21 July 1962 No. 6004 King George III stands cold and in a woebegone state, albeit with a full tender at it’s final home shed Cardiff Canton. Officially withdrawn from traffic on 19 September, it was quickly moved to Swindon Works and despatched by the cutters in ‘C’ Shop at the start on November.

Alan Jarvis courtesy SLS.

62 62

No.

Final Overhaul

Last HG Overhaul

Final Shed

Mileage

Withdrawn (all 1962)

Disposal

6000

U: SDN 21/6/62-18/7/62

1958

OOC from Oct 52

1,910,424

03 Dec

Preserved

6001

U: SRD 18/3/62-14/4/62

1956

SRD from Oct 54

1,910,044

04 Sep

Sold C&D 17/12/62

6002

U: SRD 20/6/62-9/8/62

1959

SRD from Jun 62

1,891,952

21 Sep

Sold C&D 28/1/63

6003

LC: OOC 17/1/62-15/2/62

1960

OOC from Feb 62

1,920,479

25 Jun

SDN 8/9/62

6004

HC: SDN 5/4/61-3/8/61

1958

CDF from Sep 60

1,917,258

19 Sep

SDN 3/11/62

6005

LI: SDN 28/3/62-28/5/62

1960

OOC from Sep 62

1,679,275

20 Nov

Sold CASH 17/10/63

6006

U: SRD 21/11/61-10/12/61

1956

SRD from Aug 30

1,593,367

15 Feb

SDN 21/4/62

6007

U: SRD 3/5/62-12/6/62

1959

SRD from Sep 59

453,512 + 1,437,609

21 Sep

Sold C&D 27/2/63

6008

U: SRD 23/1/62-23/2/62

1958

SRD from Feb 59

1,695,925

19 Jun

SDN 26/1/63

6009

LC: SDN 16/3/62-18/6/62

1961

OOC from Apr 28

1,935,102

21 Sep

Sold CASH 14/11/62

6010

U: NPT 1/5/62-21/5/62

1960

CDF from Sep 61

1,928,258

22 Jun

SDN 10/9/65

6011

HI: SDN 28/10/61-23/2/62

1956

OOC from Sep 62

1,718,295

18 Dec

SDN 25/1/64

6012

U: OOC 20/3/62-3/4/62

1959

SRD from Apr 62

1,910,525

21 Sep

Sold C&D 9/10/63

6013

U: SRD 1/3/62-21/3/62

1959

SRD from Jun 61

1,950,462

12 Jun

SDN 29/12/62

6014

U: OOC 23/5/62-18/6/62

1961

SRD from Mar 54

1,830,386

21 Sep

Sold C&D 7/3/63

6015

U: SRD 22/3/62-30/3/62

1960

SRD from Jun 62

1,901,585

21 Sep

Sold C&D 5/4/63

6016

LI: SDN 12/9/61-9/11/61

1959

SRD from Jun 62

1,811,207

13 Sep

Sold C&D 14/11/63

6017

U: OOC 5/3/62-2/4/62

1958

SRD from Feb 59

1,853,262

24 Jul

Sold C&D 24/4/63

6018

HG: SDN 5/12/61-22/2/62

1962

OOC from Jun 62

1,738,387

18 Dec

SDN 5/10/63

6019

HC: SDN 30/8/61-9/1/62

1960

OOC from Mar 62

1,912,309

21 Sep

Sold CASH 14/11/62

6020

U: SRD 2/5/62-29/5/62

1957

SRD from Jan 49

1,686,568

24 Jul

Sold C&D 9/5/63

6021

HG: SDN 22/7/61-7/9/62

1962

OOC from Dec 59

1,793,439

21 Sep

Sold CASH 14/11/62

6022

U: OXY 28/6/62-20/7/62

1959

SRD from Jun 59

1,733,189

21 Sep

Sold C&D 5/6/63

6023

U: OOC 19/2/62-12/3/62

1960

CDF from Sep 60

1,554,201

19 Jun

Preserved

6024

U: CDF 10/10/61-27/10/61

1957

CDF from Sep 61

1,570,015

19 Jun

Preserved

6025

HG: SDN 24/11/61-9/2/62

1962

OOC from Jul 59

1,836,713

18 Dec

SDN 16/5/64

6026

U: SHL 30/6/62-19/7/62

1962

OOC from Nov 59

1,622,350

12 Sep

SDN 28/12/63

6027

U: OOC 20/6/62-4/7/62

1959

OOC from Dec 61

1,836,535

21 Sep

Sold C&D 16/7/63

6028

U: SDN 16/4/62-10/5/62

1962

OOC from Jun 62

1,663,271

20 Nov

Sold BIRD 3/6/64

6029

U: OOC 16/4/62-2/5/62

1961

OOC from May 59

1,859,278

24 Jul

Sold CASH 14/11/62

KEY Repairs:

HC = Heavy Casual; HG = Heavy General; HI = Heavy Intermediate; LC = Light Casual; LI = Light Intermediate; U = Unclassified.

Locations: CDF = Cardiff, Canton; NPT = Newport, Ebbw Junction; OOC = Old Oak Common; OXY = Wolverhampton Oxley; SDN = Swindon; SHL = Southall; SRD = Wolverhampton, Stafford Road.

Contractors: BIRD = Birds of Risca; CASH = J Cashmore, Newport; C&D = Cox & Danks, Langley Green; WARD = TW Ward, Briton Ferry; W’HAM = Woodham Bros, Barry.

NB: Mileage for No. 6007 is split to take account of renewal/ rebuilding following the 1936 Shrivenham accident.

WESTERN TIMES

Above: No. 6013 shorn of name and cabside plates at the Swindon ‘Triangle’ reception sidings on 12 August 1962. This locomotive had been stood down from Stafford Road in June and was broken up two days before year’s end. Good habits remain ingrained to the end, as the front coupling has been correctly stowed.

Adrian Swain/ Transport Treasury.

Below: Nos. 6023 and 6024 in the Swindon graveyard on 21 October 1962. To the right stands an unidentified Castle and No. 6008 King James II still sporting its nameplate. All three Kings were June 1962 casualties. Nos. 6023 and 6024 by then had been sold while No. 6008 was broken up at Swindon three months later.

Adrian Swain/ Transport Treasury.

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ISSUE 4 As at 1 January 1962, thirty Kings were on the books but all had gone by year end while the Western diesel hydraulic fleet had grown from a singleton to 29 during the same period. The 4-6-0s were confined to three depots in 1962 – Stafford Road (the largest allocation) plus Old Oak Common and Cardiff Canton. Most interesting was the situation regarding Heavy General repairs, as defined in the table above. Nos. 6001/ 6/ 11 last received such attention in 1956 whereas Nos. 6018/ 25/ 26 underwent this treatment during the winter of 1961/ 2 implying a working career expectation of another 2/ 3 years. The position with No. 6021 is unclear as records conflict with one source recording HG completion on 7 September 1962 and withdrawal 14 days later. There may have been an error in recording dates as it seems unlikely that this engine spent over a year under repair.

There is also uncertainty about the reasons for some withdrawals. There are several references to U = Unclassified repairs which depending on the work involved might be carried out at Swindon or a depot, possibly dictated by manpower availability and workshop space e.g. earlier in its career, No. 6021 underwent ‘U’ repairs at Exeter and Taunton.

A ‘U’ repair could involve attention to a hot axle box or tube repairs i.e. sufficiently important to be entered on the engine record card as more than routine maintenance but unfortunately details do not seem to have survived. With the growing diesel population, steam maintenance was curtailed while the number of maintenance staff was being reduced. Repair decisions were probably made on an ad hoc basis, determined by available resources in manpower and spares.

No. 6008 around the same time as the previous image, still awaits its fate in the Conyard. Visually, and apart from the tender, all that appears to be missing are the washout plugs and speedometer drive. What price now for those remaining souvenirs? R N Thornton.

WESTERN TIMES The Kings’ traditional pattern of employment made them Britain’s most specialised express passenger engines. In early days, they had been trialled on mineral workings but apart from occasional use on parcels services, they were almost exclusively deployed on express passenger work. In contrast, LNER Pacifics were regularly scheduled to haul vacuum fitted fish and parcels trains. Likewise, there were cases of Duchess Pacifics on parcels services and even downgraded to freight workings in their final days. The Southern Region rarely used rebuilt Merchant Navies on freight while an embargo on major steam repairs saw many fall by the wayside to the extent that there was a struggle for Class 8 steam in the last year or so, necessitating borrowed diesel power.

Management at Paddington might have been pleased with this ‘achievement’ but there were differing views as evidenced by No. 6002 on display in a bay platform at Snow Hill on 23 September to mark the end of steam on the Birmingham main line. This engine was apparently also on display 2 to 9 September, and in steam at least on the 4th when it was reported to have been purloined to substitute for a diesel failure. Total dieselisation of principal services might have been the intention but six days later, No. 6000 was noted assisting a failed diesel on a Wolverhampton-Paddington service. BR worked an official ‘Farewell to Kings’ tour on 9 September from Wolverhampton via Snow Hill, Oxford and Didcot to Swindon and return worked by No. 6000. The return fare, including entry to the Works and Museum was 22 shillings.

There were exceptions and in the Railway Magazine (August 196, page 582), correspondent Mr I P Lyman reported that No. 6003 (referred to in the July issue) had been in store at Cardiff Canton.

He had observed this locomotive at about 5.00pm on 30 June in very bad condition at Reading, hauling a fitted freight train on the Down relief.

Other ‘rescues’ occurred although some might have been scheduled diagrams: • •

Bulk, weight and axle loading precluded transfer to another region. No. 6018 worked from Kings Cross during the 1948 interchange trails but there was certainly no need for additional steam power on the ER in 1962. That region was already making massive inroads into their own steam fleet with the advent of the Deltics. It was therefore no surprise when No. 6006 was withdrawn from Stafford Road on 15 February 1962, the first to cease work.

Despite this report, it is recorded as being in Swindon Factory eleven days later. Are the dates wrong or had this engine been laid aside as ‘unserviceable’ but was then taken to Swindon for re-assessment? Or was the move merely to facilitate removal of serviceable parts? Perhaps the official withdrawal date was entered retrospectively, following confirmation by Swindon the requisite repairs could not be justified. This ambiguity might extend to the case of No. 6018 which was recorded as released from Heavy General on 22 February.

• • •

30 June: No. 6009 Paddington-Minehead (as far as Taunton).

30 June: No. 6018 Paddington-Penzance (as far as Plymouth). ?? August: No. 6000 Paddington-Falmouth (as far as Plymouth).

13 August: No. 6000 on a ‘light’ Up passenger service in the ‘Didcot area’.

16 September: No. 6011 in steam at Laira and later that day in steam at Didcot shed.

Nos. 6002/7/19/22/26 (all September withdrawals) were noted working during the week ending the 9th.

No. 6026 succumbed the following week and the first four went on the same day a fortnight later, implying a ‘stroke of the pen’ decision. Prior to this the Kings’ reign on South Wales expresses had rapidly drawn to a close, starting with the arrival of four Hymek diesels at Canton in April 1962 for driver training. It was planned that this type should cover the former King diagrams by June but were found to have inferior power compared with the locomotives they were intended to replace, leading to a reduction in their trailing loads. In July, the Railway Magazine reported that Nos. 6023/4 were stored at Canton with two operational class members working from South Wales. Nos. 6010/28 were mainly employed on Cardiff-Shrewsbury trains but this was a brief respite for No. 6010 as it had ceased work by August and possibly even earlier.

Contributions to the Railway Observer provide a valuable, almost unique record concerning what was happening on the ground. The RO (and other sources) indicate no further inroads until June when the following were withdrawn: Nos. 6003/8/13/23/24 and possibly Nos. 6004/10. Then Nos. 6017/20 and possibly No. 6029 followed in July. September saw the mass cull (13 engines) of Nos. 6001/2/7/9/12/ 14/15/16/19/21/22/26/27, coincidental with the ending of the Summer timetable. This left six (plus possibly No. 6029) operational. Nos. 6005/28 finished in November leaving Nos. 6000/11/18/ 28 to be written off at year end.

September 1962 was a bad month for Western Region steam generally according to RO. Apart from the thirteen Kings mentioned above, 62 named engines ceased work that month. This led to Nos. 6009/10/19-21/26/29 together in a line at Old Oak Common on 15 September, bereft of name and cabside plates. This spectacle evoked memories of

66

Above: An image that contradicts published information, No. 6018 King Henry VI is without doubt at Weston-super-Mare probably in 1963 due to the first coach’s B4 bogies. According to the RO, it had been restored to traffic following storage at OOC since the LCGB tour of 17 October. In March 1963 it was sent to Swindon for unspecified repairs and emerged on 18 April. It was despatched in error to Stafford Road but moved to Tyseley the following day. Almost as if ’running-in’, it worked the 6.05 pm Snow Hill-Leamington on 22 to 25 April 1963. The SLS reported it as ‘exciting’ to see it on this service but does not elaborate on whether this meant the motive power or the manner in which train was worked. Its boiler was washed out on 26 April ready for working the special on 28 April. While at Swindon had it been purloined for the train in this view?

George Heiron/ Transport Treasury.

Below: On the outward run to Swindon, No. 6018 stopped at Southall to allow tour participants to visit the shed. This event was heavily oversubscribed and bookings closed on 8 April. Six hundred passengers were carried in 12 coaches, reported as 391 tons tare and approximately 410 tons gross (although 19 tons for 600 persons seems optimistic). How BR was persuaded to resurrect the engine is not clear but the SLS Journal implies that the event may have been instigated by Pat Garland, a senior SLS officer who was well connected with BR. R C Riley 16981/ Transport Treasury.

WESTERN TIMES the classic pre-war publicity photograph of pristine Nos. 6006/8/12/20/22-4 ‘ready for the summer service’. A sad comparison but perhaps these were the only circumstances in which so many of the class were together in one place.

Shortage of suitable space and facilities for scrapping withdrawn locomotives forced sales to outside contractors. With Swindon unable to cope with the volumes, Old Oak Common and Stafford Road were used as assembly points for disposals to third parties. Concurrent with a line of seven at OOC, Nos. 6025/28 were stored in the carriage sheds. On paper they were available for service until December and November respectively but it is questionable whether they worked again. With so few left in service and no reports of workings in contemporary periodicals, the end was imminent. It was rumoured that factions within the WR – Motive Power or Traffic departments – wished to keep four as a reserve for the spring/ summer of 1963, two each at OOC and SRD. This was reported in the June 1963 issue of The Railway Magazine (p.442) but nothing eventuated.

The well-known exploits of No. 6018 on enthusiast specials in April 1963 are illustrated and described on the previous page and below, but less well known is that this engine was apparently used in ordinary traffic on at least one occasion that year.

The top image on page 67 shows this engine with ‘Class A’ headcode at Weston-super-Mare is reputedly dated 1963. Lest the year be disputed, note the B4 bogies of the Mark 1 coach behind the tender; fitting of this feature did not commence until that year. Also, for the last special working this engine carried a painted GWR-style buffer beam number. No. 6018 also displays a standard smokebox number plate and yet we know that for the last special working this was replaced with a painted buffer beam number – aka GWR style. The evidence thus points to No. 6018 working a revenue earning service sometime between January and April 1963 and yet officially having been withdrawn on 18 December 1962.

Below: No. 6018 at Swindon on 28 April, alongside No. 6011 King James I. This tour started from Birmingham and as it passed Tyseley every locomotive on shed and in steam whistled in salute, the King duly responded in kind.

Permanent way restrictions including single line working caused the special to pass Banbury 14½ minutes down, although this provided the opportunity for fast running in recovery, with 90 mph sustained for ¾ mile. Water stops were necessary on outward and return runs as all troughs were by then out of use. The most impressive performance was the ascent of Hatton Bank (1 in 103 for 2 miles 60 chains), where No. 6018 and its 400-ton plus load took just 9 mins 42 secs to pass Hatton North Junction at 48½mph.

Writing in the SLS Journal, Mr Garland commented that ‘No. 6018’s performance was close to the best of the class when in their prime’ and continued, ‘any suggestion of cutting up such a magnificent piece of machinery seems to reflect a policy of despair’.

R Harris.

Above: In a reasonable external condition No. 6025 King Henry III stands alongside the place of its birth, the iconic ‘A Shop’ at Swindon Works. This view likely dates from the in early weeks of 1963, shortly after its transfer from Old Oak Common following withdrawal on 18 December 1962. The engine appears visually intact, replicating the sort of view once commonplace for a new arrival awaiting works attention. It is stood on the roads leading into the Reception Shed, where a team of fitters separated locomotives from their tenders, removed the coal and water and drained the boiler. Several images depict engines without tenders at this location as the latter were assessed separately.

King tenders differed slightly to all other Collett 4000g types, so why they were not immediately condemned with the final demise of the class is unclear.

R N Thornton.

Right: July 1963 and an unidentified class member was still at Stafford Road, looking very sorry for itself.

The smokebox numberplate, shedplate (and no doubt the name and cabside plates) have been removed for safekeeping by the shed staff. By then there were ten locomotives potentially still with British Railways (excluding any awaiting delivery to scrap merchants and which might still be intact). Several withdrawn locomotives had been gathered at Stafford Road but this engine is unlikely to have been Nos. 6000 or 6018.

The remaining possible candidates are Nos. 6005/ 12/ 16/ 27/ 28.

Transport Treasury.

WESTERN TIMES An entry in contemporary Stephenson Locomotive Society records indicates that No. 6018 was to be preserved for sale to Mr Billy Butlin, in the manner by which LMS examples Nos. 46100 and 46203 had been saved. With the popularity of the 28 April SLS tour, a repeat was planned to Stratford-UponAvon on 21 September. In this connection, No. 6018 was noted at Old Oak Common on 15 September 1963 but the tour was cancelled at the last moment.

Again from SLS sources, the reported reason was that ‘…6018 is to be sold immediately…’. This did not eventuate, and assuming No. 6018 was still the original locomotive (see later), it was returned to Swindon and scrapped within three weeks.

As 1962 passed, the withdrawn engines were driven or towed back to Swindon. An observer at Swindon on 21 October noted No. 6026 in the works yard, Nos. 6008/13/23/24 on the dump. No. 6004 was being cut up, reported as completed by 3 November. In the sales to contractors, Nos. 6023/4 went to Messrs T Ward but both were later re-sold to Woodham Bros, a transaction that ensured their survival. No. 6000 King George V was also retained as ‘Scheduled for Preservation’ and stored at various locations within the Swindon complex. It languished until passing into the custody of Bulmer’s Cider, Hereford for restoration. In 1971, it became the first mainline engine to break the steam ban that had been imposed in 1968. (Flying Scotsman had an existing contract with BR that permitted its operation post-1968).

How the ban was broken was an interesting story. A reception was held (location unconfirmed) attended by high ranking BR officials, customers and their wives. During the evening, the wife of a BR VIP collapsed and was rendered first aid by the Chairman of Bulmers. With grateful thanks, the senior BR man later asked if he could do anything in return…..the rest as they say is history!

The final word is perhaps best left to the late Stan French, WR fireman of repute and latterly Locomotive Inspector at Swindon. Stan, a steam man at heart, was asked in 1985 shortly before his retirement for his thoughts on the HSTs, the current Western Region flagships. He replied ‘They are very good, but then so would a King be……one at either end of the train.”

In relation to the conflicting statistical data from available sources, the editorial team would welcome any information that might fill the gaps.

Bibliography and grateful acknowledgment to: www.gwr.org.uk/no-boilers.html; Peto’s Register Vol.1: King 4-6-0s (Irwell Press); The Book of the Kings (Irwell Press); The Railway Magazine; The Railway Observer; The Stephenson Locomotive Society Journal, April 1963 (Pat Garland) and 1969 (A F Cook); and also contributions from Gerry Nichols of the SLS, Andrew Royle at The Transport Treasury and the late Steve McColl.

Above: No. 6026 King John in a sorry state at Swindon on 10 May 1963. It was officially reduced to bite-sized chunks at the hands of the cutters’ torch in the Concentration Yard on 28 December 1963.

John Pearse / Transport Treasury.

ISSUE 4 Right: No. 6011 at Swindon on 24 November 1963.

This engine was reported as cut up on 25 January 1964, but stripping of cab fittings and careful removal of the cab roof has already begun on the line adjacent to ‘A’ Shop. Under normal circumstances this could indicate a case of cannibalisation to keep another class members in service, but by then Nos. 6000/ 18 were the only candidates still operating. The official withdrawal date for No. 6011 was 18 December 1962.

Transport Treasury.

Below: No. 6000 King George V was not looking its best at Swindon on 20 September 1964. At the time a rumour persisted that No. 6000 had badly cracked frames so No. 6018 was substituted.

Similar stories abound concerning SR Pacific No 34051 but remain unconfirmed. Whatever, No. 6000 has survived in preservation for far longer than it did in service with its previous owners. It is also the only King to retain its full height boiler fittings. Modern ballasting has raised rail height by about three inches and there is an account of this engine striking the underside of a bridge while on tour some years ago.

Behind the King is former Taff Vale Railway No. 28, a fortunate survivor sold by the GWR in 1926.

After ownership by the Woolmer Military Instructional Railway (later known as Longmoor) and then by a colliery in Co Durham from 1947, it was withdrawn in 1960 and two years later donated to the British Transport Commission for preservation.

Brian Wade/ Transport Treasury.

71

UNDER THE ROOF

Left: The last surviving ‘Stella’ Class 2-4-0 No. 3201 seen towards the end of it’s working life at Crewe on a train for Wellington (Salop). Passenger services on this line were always modest, there being only around six daily trains each way, which were finally withdrawn in 1963. It is standing under the canopy extension over bay platform number 8.

This Swindon built 1884 vintage loco was condemned in October 1933 and scrapped at Stafford Road Works.

Below: The pioneer William Dean ‘Duke’ Class 4-4-0 No. 3252 Duke of Cornwall is photographed in one of the southern bay platforms at Shrewsbury.

Built in May 1895, it is seen here with modified top feed boiler, large cab and short chimney, prior to its withdrawal in August 1937. The train could have arrived from either the Wolverhampton or Cambrian lines.

72

Top: Collett ‘66xx’ Class 0-6-2T No. 6663 simmers gently in the secluded confines of Platform 12 at Birmingham Snow Hill.

Whilst the image is undated, the loco was allocated to Leamington Spa shed (84D) from May 1962 until withdrawal in June 1963 and a chalked bufferbeam identity in lieu of the missing smokebox numberplate would suggest a date closer to the latter.

Despite the Class C (empty coaching stock) lamp positioning, it is possible that the train is about to form a stopping service out into the south Birmingham suburbs towards its home location.

Although overall roofs provided some relief from the elements, as can be seen the environment and especially the glass became notoriously filthy during steam days. Provision of the smoke hood would likely only provide a token solution.

Middle: The unmistakable main vista of Birmingham Snow Hill station hosts a scene soon to be lost forever, that of a ‘King’ Class arriving into Platform 7 with an up express in the late summer of 1962. The train is the 8.55am Birkenhead-Paddington (1V04), which until the end of the summer timetable was a shared working for either an Old Oak Common or Stafford Road ‘King’ to/ from Wolverhampton Low Level. Note the ‘Pullman Car A’ enamel sign suspended from the roof girders in the lower centre of the image, that related to the ‘Birmingham Blue Pullman’ which had commenced services on 12 September 1960.

These luxury 8-car sets arrived into the down Platform 5 from London at 2.05pm and 6.55pm daily (Mon-Fri). It is hard to comprehend that this bustling hive of infrastructure and humanity was to be swept away with the closure of Birmingham Snow Hill to through trains in March 1967 and to all traffic five years later.

Bottom: The station clocks are showing 1.35pm and in Platform 4 at Shrewsbury ‘Dukedog’ Class 4-4-0 No. 9017 and ‘Manor’ Class 4-6-0 No.7815 Fritwell Manor wait to head the down ‘Cambrian Coast Express’ onwards into Wales. The photo dates from shortly before withdrawal of the elegant 4-4-0 in October 1960, after which it was to commence a second life in preservation.

The magnificent mock-Tudor styled station at Shrewsbury was designed by Thomas Mainwaring Penson and opened in 1848, jointly serving the Great Western Railway and the London North Western Railway.

The station roof was further enlarged at the start of the 20th century, including canopies over the platforms that extended out onto the River Severn bridge at the south end of the site. Whilst the ornate Grade II listed main building remains to this day, sadly the intricate girder and glass overall roof has long gone.

Above: ‘Castle’ Class No. 4078 Pembroke Castle engages in a carriage shunt under the roof at Bristol Temple Meads. The graceful curved pitch of the train shed at this iconic location is arguably the most beautiful on the whole Great Western system. The date is thought to be early 1959, when the locomotive was a resident of the nearby Bath Road shed.

Below: The time is 5.37pm and the commuter exodus is underway across the concourse at Paddington. In Platform 1, more famously associated as the departure road for the ‘Cornish Riviera Express’, Collett 61xx Class 2-6-2T No. 6124 patiently waits for it’s five-coach suburban set to fill before heading west along the Thames Valley.

BOOK REVIEW The Wellington, Much Wenlock & Craven Arms Railway Adrian Knowles Lightmoor Press (ISBN 978 1911038 993) Printed on silk art paper with colour laminated board covers, 308 pages. 275mm x 275mm. £50.00

As an enthusiast with a bookcase or two already burs�ng with volumes it is not always easy to jus�fy adding yet another tome to the shelf – or in this case the floor as there is literally no more room. Consequently there has to be a compelling argument for a new �tle, especially on an area where a text has been previously wri�en.

That said, when the publisher and authors names are combined the results were almost a foregone conclusion and I can honestly say I was certainly not disappointed.

(Whilst some books are sent gra�s to us for review and consequently there might appear to be a moral obliga�on ‘to be kind’, be assured Western Times will always be objec�ve. ‘The Wellington, Much Wenlock & Craven Arms Railway’ book was not one of those sent free and was instead purchased ‘blind’ by one of the editors for no other reason than he was interested in the topic and poten�ally also the presenta�on). The presenta�on is also very different to the usual Lightmoor product. Instead of the 273mm x 215mm portrait size we have become accustomed to over the years for line histories, this is to a larger square format – and it works well indeed.

The design is also different, perhaps best described as ‘fresh’, certainly again very different from previous books – and that is not intended as cri�cism of what has gone in the past, but now there is ‘space’ and this shows up well in the presenta�on. Do not get the impression that this space has resulted in areas of white void either, resul�ng in the need for in excess of 300 sides and in consequence the price. No, this is a quality book proven by the fact that as it lay on the table ‘Mrs Management’ who has absolutely no interest in railways whatsoever, picked it up and was thumbing through the pages with the occasional hum of approval.

To one who par�cularly enjoys two aspects of railway history, unseen period views and tangen�al connec�ons, Adrian Knowles has found plenty to please. The chapter list need not be repeated as it is to be expected a comprehensive work but in the la�er category there is for example history and illustra�on of The Albert Edward Bridge, the Steam Railmotor Experiment, Ironbridge Power Sta�on, etc.

From a subjec�ve viewpoint the inclusion of several colour pain�ngs by Sean Bolan is a bonus whilst the author’s own colourisa�ons on the cover and within are absolutely second to none. Colourising old photographs may be a conten�ous point to some, but all I can say is that before stepping down totally on the other side of the fence first take a look at Adrian’s work in this book. This is railway history described and illustrated to a whole new level and consequently one others should indeed aspire to.

KJR.

Have you had a book on the GWR published recently?

If so we would be happy to provide an objective review.

Speak to your publisher and ask them to send a copy to the address on Page 2.

75

THE GREAT WESTERN TRUST (GWT) - BULLETIN No.3 was a new volunteer at Didcot Railway Centre Isimilar (DRC) when a lunchtime break found a group of recruits sitting on the edge of the then empty

railway financier in the UK and Overseas, he was Chairman of the Great Central Railway from 1899 until 1922 and then a Director of the LNER. His estate was so extensive that upon his death, an asset management company was formed to administer it!

turntable pit, hardly exchanging chit-chat as we were complete strangers to each other. A much more senior member, Fred Gray, could not stand this and the rest is the history of the Trust, and is also my own involvement. Fred found lying in the goose grass nearby the dismembered remains of the Welford Park Booking Office, from the Lambourn Valley Railway. The modest LVR and the GWR’s role in its recovery awoke me to its fascinating story.

His son inherited the title and directorships, and changed his name to “Butler-Henderson” which will be familiar as the preserved GCR loco in the National Collection. After nationalisation, BR renamed A4 60034 Peregrine as Lord Faringdon in his honour. In passing, R R Nelson was the GWR Solicitor from 1875 to 1909.

The Trust has gathered various hardware artefacts from the line but original documents have proved extremely rare. Only one had been secured, the LVR’s 16 page booklet issued circa 1901/ 2 entitled Excursions to King Alfred’s Country. Fast forward to 2021 and that situation changed on opening the boxes bequeathed by the late Tony Atkins of Bristol (a railwayman of long standing), and we are so much in his debt in consequence. Until opening the Atkins box, I had not known the true story of the LVR up to its takeover by the GWR as neither MacDermot nor the modern LVR-dedicated books provide any explanation.

So this wealthy and influential financier was the hidden enabler in the GWR acquisition. Perhaps his presence in the local area swayed his heart to such an act? Had he not done so, the LVR could so easily have slipped away and its meagre assets sold off.

Many years later, Fred Gray and his formative gang of volunteers (including myself) would not have had that moment at the turntable pit. During the restoration of Welford Park Booking Office, another significant incident occurred when Fred espied in the store of the then formative hardware collection, another LVR-related item. This would become the nucleus of the “Small Relics Museum”, opened in August 1982 with Fred its first Curator. Two years later the Great Western Trust was founded, with Fred its Chairman and myself its founding Secretary.

We hold the original legal document "The Lambourn Valley Railway Company and Sir Alexander Henderson Bart - HEADS OF AGREEMENT - R R Nelson Paddington Station W" dated 24 February 1904 and rubber stamped Item No. 27882 in the GWR Deeds Department archive.

So, thank you Sir Alexander Henderson and Welford Park Booking Office. The item was the cash bag brass plate as illustrated, though its modest cash contents were always a mere trifle compared to today’s £6M.

The answer lies in its contents as to who were Sir Alexander Henderson and R R Nelson, and why the GWR Deeds Dept considered this document so important. Beyond the complex legal language, it basically states that with the LVR in financially desperate straits, Henderson bought up £50,000 of their Share Stock (roughly equivalent to £6 million today) and then entreated the GWR to purchase the Company from him! Miraculously, the GWR did so which is why they held this crucial document, created on mock vellum with all signatures witnessed. The document is accompanied by two other papers key to the transaction.

Peter Rance - GWT Trustee & Collection Manager.

A sum of £6m today is hardly a trifle, let alone one to risk, so who was the generous benefactor?

Henderson (1850 -1934) was a Liberal Unionist Member of Parliament, from 1902 the First Baron Faringdon (of Buscot Park), and a financier. He began his career with the accounting firm Deloitte and then became a stockbroker. Well known as a

Above: The GWR Welford Park cash bag brass plate referred to in the text, which now resides in the collection held in the Great Western Trust’s ‘Small Relics Museum’ at Didcot.

76

ISSUE 4

Above: No images of Welford Park during the independent Lambourn Valley Railway days appear to have survived. This view of nearby East Garston shows what were probably similar facilities, with the low 9” high platform common to the line and ballast above the sleepers. The hut seen at the Lambourn end was used by the porter and was similar to the preserved building from Welford Park. Layout wise at Welford Park there was also a short run round loop – the location being the mid-point on the 12 mile journey from Newbury to Lambourn.

Right: The beautifully restored Welford Park Booking Office as it stands today at the Didcot Railway Centre. For most of its life there was just a single member of staff at Welford Park who acted as signalman, clerk, and porter.

77

THE GUARD’S COMPARTMENT ISSUE 1

two locomotives appear to have received cabs at Stafford Road works, Wolverhampton as the RCTS states that this works fitted cabs with the rear wheel splasher still visible unlike Swindon which took the cab side sheets over the splasher front. However, these were Southern Division locos (RCTS 4) in the 19th Century.

Front Cover Image Further information has surfaced about the circumstances whereby Class 9F No. 92220 Evening Star came to head the ‘Capitals United Express’. In 1956, the regions of British Railways were encouraged to develop individual identities which led to WR footplate crews seeking to improve locomotive performances. The Eastern Region had previously used a 9F at least once on a passenger service when 90 mph had been achieved and perhaps WR crews had learned of this. The first recorded use of 9Fs on WR was in 1959 on relief passenger trains in a style akin to employment of 2-8-0 Class 47xx on such duties.

In 1960, a regular turn was instituted whereby the 10.30 am Cardiff-Portsmouth was 9F-hauled to Salisbury, and presumably on the return working.

Then on 27 June 1960, the Britannia booked for Up ‘Red Dragon’ failed on shed and Driver E. Brown offered to take No. 92220 instead. He reported an excellent run hauling 450 tons with the engine working at 16/ 17% cut-off on the easier stretches.

This engine was therefore purposely booked for the same duty on 28, 29 June and 1, 15 July. Higher authority then descended on Cardiff District Motive Power Office to exclude 9Fs from this work although No. 92220 was noted on the ‘Merchant Venturer’ on 25 June 1961. By then, the Somerset & Dorset line was under WR control and four 9Fs were transferred to Bath Green Park for the summer service. No. 92220 on the last working of the ‘Pines Express’ in 1962. Further information on Class 9Fhauled passenger trains welcome – Ed.

“Nos. 1109 and 805 are in a later condition as they have the Swindon 1881-1906 livery with orange lining either side of a black line, as introduced by William Dean. However, No. 1088 from the same period is a Stafford Road product where black lining edged by two white lines (not scarfed) was retained on cab sides and boiler bands. What cannot be observed is the blue/green main body colour and the Windsor brown frames and wheel spokes used by this works. John Lewis in Great Western Way (second edition) gives a good estimate of these colours. There is also a photograph of a contemporary model of an Armstrong goods in Swindon’s Steam museum. This livery was standard at Stafford Road on both tender and tank locomotives 1884-1894 when the formidable George Armstrong was demonstrating his independence from his former subordinate, William Dean.

“The photograph of No. 794 is puzzling as the presence of the S4 boiler, Dean chimney together with a one-piece handrail around the smokebox indicates early twentieth century between 1902 and 1909 (RCTS 4). It should therefore have full Swindon style black and orange lining but there only seems to be an orange line on the lower edge of the framing.

“It is interesting to compare historians’ accounts of locomotive practice with what contemporary photographs reveal, albeit in black and white. There is much truth in the statement that just because two GWR locomotives were in the same class, it does not mean that they would look the same. Readers wishing to know more about Stafford Road liveries should refer to British Railway Journal editions 56, 57 and 58 published by Wild Swan, where Brian Arman provides a definitive account.”

Roger Davis referred to the photographs of the Armstrong 0-6-0s: “All of the 388 Armstrong goods were built at Swindon between November 1866 and October 1876 and it is interesting to observe the changes evident in the photographs and the history of their development as outlined in RCTS Locomotives of GWR Part 4. This says that the fitting of cabs started in 1879, so it appears that all of the photographs were taken after that date while those of Nos. 238, 883, 1109, 805 were in the 1880s as locomotive brakes are absent. Also, they have chain link couplings and lower-pitched boilers.

“I think Nos. 238 and 883 are the earliest as they are in the 1867-1882 livery with ‘scarfed’ pea green and white edging to a black line on the cab sides and tender. To see this livery more clearly look at photographs of Armstrong Goods Nos. 681 and 876 in Locomotives Illustrated edition 157. Nos. 238 and 883 are apparently in a similar condition. These

David Cook (of the 4566 Group) noted the article about the Newton Abbot Breakdown Train, especially the photograph of Tender Van No. 89 and Tool Van No. 141 (the latter mentioned as located on the Severn Valley Railway). He added that Tender Van (David has always heard it called a Riding Van) No. 89 is also based on the SVR. Both were used by the 4566 Group [as a workshop (89) and parts storage (141)] during the original restoration of No. 4566. Despite originally living in Bewdley, David spent many nights sleeping in 89!

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ISSUE 4 ISSUE 2

Chris Bellett (Retired S&T Engineer) referred to the article on Reading Signal Works and the query (WT1, Page 68) about when BR (WR) started to relocate lever frames at the rear of the signal box. His copy of WR Signal Engineers Office, Reading Standard SD203 dated 23 December 1954 states: ‘Originally, WR Locking Frames were installed in the front of the signal box, the signalman facing and pulling away from the running line.

Modern practice is to install the frame at the back of the box with the instrument shelf above the levers, the signalman thus having his back to the running line when pulling the levers. This arrangement affords the signalman complete access to the windows with an unobstructed view of the running lines. The Back-to-Line position applies to all new signal boxes. In cases of locking frame renewals, or signal box renewals on a Like-for-Like basis, the position of the frame depends on the extent of the renewals necessary to the signal box itself in addition to other circumstances. Each case is therefore considered on its merits’. Chris concluded that although the date given is that of the document’s issue, it was likely that the changes started to occur then, or soon after.

Mike Young pointed out that the B-Set diagram depicted (WT2, Page 44) is actually E140 (not E145 as reported) by virtue of the shorter (7’ 0”) bogie wheelbase.

David Patrick referred to the photograph on (WT2, Page 77) of Churchward Concertina brake third and the lining query. The coach is in the GWR’s final carriage livery introduced 1946/47, long after linedout panelling was discontinued in 1922/23 and certainly none would have survived WW2. The other vehicle also carries the double-waisted lined livery, numbered with a ‘W’ pre-fix. This indicates the date to be in the early post-nationalisation period prior to a decision on the new BR carriage livery. Overhauled vehicles were turned out by Swindon in a hybrid GWR livery without indication of ‘ownership’ other than the pre-fix indicating Western Region .

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ISSUE 3 Alan Rutter queried through Guards Compartment, the presence of a locomotive and three coaches standing to the right in the yard at Hungerford and readers were asked to provide an explanation.

Brian Wheeler (ex-WR steam fitter at Reading and later Supervisor/ Manager on WR) advised that this was a Reading to Hungerford stopping service, usually headed by a good Class 61xx from Reading. It worked chimney first to Hungerford, returning bunker first. If a 61xx was unavailable, a recently overhauled pannier tank was used. Locos in the latter category included Nos. 9403 and 9704.

Editorial query – did a Class 97xx regularly work this far west?

Editors’ note: The interior of Llandilo Signal Box on 22 November 1955 with rearward-facing lever frame. This was a new signal box opened 20 March 1955 to replace the former North and South boxes. The frame had 54 levers spaced at 4 inch centres with locking by vertical tappet 5bar. The box was to a design introduced circa 1952 and had a flat roof. The Signalling Record Society records eleven similar structures. Llandilo was closed 30 August 1985.

WR C13706.

Fred Finney informs regarding the weedkilling train images on (WT3, Page 23), that Russell (GW Engines Vol 2, Page 236) records the location as Taunton in 1937. This is supported by “Return to Taunton” on the Construction/ Pt Way Brake.

0-6-0PT No. 5727 was then allocated to Slough.

Fred Finney identified the Bulldog depicted in the upper photograph on (WT1, Page 18) as No. 3452 (not No. 3453); the lower photograph on (WT1, Page 25) was taken by Maurice Earley in 1946; upper left photograph on (WT1, Page 27) was the work of Dick Riley, dated 16 August 1959.

Mike Young referred to (WT3, Page 40) upper photo caption which identified the B-Set as a diagram E145 because of the recessed guard's door. He has pointed out that Diagram E140 also had this feature and the bodies were identical. The only difference was 7' 0" bogies with E140 while E145 had the newer 9' 0" type. As the running gear is not visible, this set could be of either diagram.

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WESTERN TIMES

Robert Darlaston referred to (WT3, Page 34) and pointed out that Diesel Railcar No. 18 was curiously allocated to Llantrisant from November 1946 to November 1951 where it normally worked the Cowbridge branch but also appeared on the service to Penygraig (see above image taken by R C Riley on 5 May 1951). On closure of the Cowbridge branch, it returned to Reading for the Lambourn service until withdrawal in May 1957.

Andy Viles has kindly provided some additional photographs of weed-killing trains (WT3, Page 19) at Wells, Somerset in the mid-1950s (below and right).

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