Great Western Railway Journal Volume 11

Issue Numbers

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Issue No. 81 (Winter 2012)

Pangbourne station on 30 December 1962. Ian Nash. front cover
Covered in thick snow.

John Copsey. Bulldogs at work. Part 1. 2-23.
Class evolved from Duke (of Cornwall) class in 1898 in the form of No. 3312 Bulldog which had a larger boiler (with dome). Initially it carried straight nameplates on the firebox. In 1899 No. 3352 Camel entered service with a standard No. 2 boiler which was domeless. Nos. 3332-51 were built as a batch and were similar to No. 3352: and had combined number and nameplates fitted to the cabside. All these locomotives conformed with the Duke class in having curved frames. On 25 November 1900 No. 3351 Sedgemoor was tested on Hemerdon bank with a 9 coach train weighing about 220 tons from a standing start at Plympton. The bank was climed in 19 minutes with some slipping, but the inspector did not recommend routine working of this type without assistance. In 1900 a second batch was constructed (Nos. 3353-72), but these had straight frames to reduce fracturing. There were further conversions of the Duke type to the Camel type beginning with No. 3273 Amorel in 1902 and further new builds until a final batch of 15 emerged in 1909/10: these were named after birds. The class was greatly affected by boiler evolution at Swindon from domed to domeless to the short cone type to the fully coned. Allocations and duties (some established via accident reports) are considered. See also Part 2 on p, 98 and general memories of Class in letters in Issue 84 from Bill Crosbie-Hill and Christopher Hext..

Chris Turner. Reading Goods. Part 2 — Vastern Road Yard. 24-45.
Part 1 in Volume 10 beginning page 422; see also short feature in Backtrack, 2014, 28, 714.

Key: page 36: Wagons visible (some parts of image may have been retouched) include ones owned by Wyken of Coventry; T. Simmons of Reading; George West of Reading; S.M. Sound & Son of Reading and W. Farndon, Agent of Rugby. Photograph probably taken from top of hydraulic water tower, especially as 10-ton hydraulic crane near centre of image.
Coverage of coal merchants is extensive and includes notes on Reading Co-operative Society; C. & G. Ayres; George William Talbot; Dunlop & Sons and Toomer. Outwards traffic included scrap metal from G.R. Jackson Ltd and tinware from Huntley, Boone & Stevens. Inwards traffic included bananas, iron & steel, farm equipment, wheat, animal feed, potatoes, petrol and cement, and containers for Woolworth and Reading Co-operative Society.

Alan Hall. The evolution of the 44XX class. 46; 58-60.
NB: the captioning relating to page 58 is not clear and its impossible to read the numbers off the reproductions: the essence of this photo-feature is the fitting of extended bunkers to the 44XX class and this amplifies the previous feature on this class in the previous Volume/Issue

John Lewis. GWR horse traffic and horseboxes. Part 4 – Modern horseboxes. 47-57.
Notes that Lot 1267 was gas lit and that Mansell wheels were fitted. Lot 1268 was dual braked. No. 223 was written: Lord Lavington, Beckhampton, Marlborough. Lavington had a brilliant trainer Fred Darling who was responsible for several racehorses which became the names of Gresley Pacifics: Captain Cuttle, Coronach and Felstead. See also Part 5 (p. 90)

22XX with snow plough passing Pangbourne signal box on 2 January 1963. Ian Nash. rear cover
Less snow around than visible on front cover!

Issue No. 82 (Spring 2012)

57XX No. 4615 entering No. 4 platform with emp[ty stock on Sunday 21 April 1963. W.G.C. Smith. front cover

John Copsey. Passenger operations at Paddington station. Part 7, 62-89.
See also reminiscences from Chris Rayward on p. 239
Illustrations:

John Lewis. GWR horse traffic and horseboxes. Part 5 – Modern horseboxes. 90-5.
Diagram N16 built from 1937. Also briefly considersthe 150 horseboxes constructed under British Railways at Earlestown Works, but to an LNER design (some of which probably were allocated to the Western Region) and the final 115 built to a new design, also built at Earlestown of which Nos. 96355-8 were allocated to the Western Region. As in the previous series (see Part 4, p. 47) horseboxes were sometimes hired for lengthy periods: No. 509 toFred Darling of Beckhampton, Marlborough between 1937 and 1941; to F.C. Templeman of Lambourn (who had ridden Grand Parade to vicory in the 1919 Derby and was name given to A1 Pacific); Nos. 519 and 520 to Lord Astor, Nos. 522, 524 and 526 to O. Beel of Lambourn , 527 to Sir Abe Bailey via Marlborough station, and Nos.  535 and 590 to J.V. Rank of Druid's Lodge via Wishford.

A Honeybourne visit. Colin Metcalfe (photographer). 96-7
See also Issue 79 page 362 et seq 15 July 1952: diesel railcar on 13.43 Kingham to Worcester; nameboard (HONEYBOURNE JUNCTION for...) and No. 1408 on 12.55 to Cheltenham auto trailer service

John Copsey. Bulldogs at work. Part 2. 98-120.
Cites RCTS. The locomotives of the Great Western Railway. Part 7. Dean's larger tender engines. Part 7 and Reed Diaries held by Great Western Trust. Part 1 began on page 2. See also letters from Dick Potts and from John Hill on pp. 357/60

94XX No. 8433 entering No. 3 platform with emp[ty stock  with Thompson leading coach on Sunday 21 April 1963. W.G.C. Smith. rear cover

Issue No. 83 (Summer 2012)

No. 4951 Pendeford Hall on Class C parcels train passing Iver on Down Main. front cover.

Dick Potts. Birmingham Loco: a study of the Great Western's sheds at Bordesley and Tyseley. Part One – Brunel's Engine & Carriage Depot, Bordesley. 122-39.
On Friday 1 October 1852 broad gauge Firefly class 2-2-2 Harpy reached Birmingham. On 11 December 1853 Firefly Bellona and Tiger; Star Dog Star and Prince Elk, Prince, Queen, Sylph and Witch (all 2-2-2) and "4-2-2" Wizard were stationed at Birmingham and their drivers were Thompson, Johnson, Pickering, Davidson, Greenall and Greening. In June 1855 a locomotive running shed was opened at Bordesley. The broad gauge reached its zenith there in about 1862, then gradually declined and ceased from 1869. Thus Bordsley became a standard gauge shed. The GWR Enginemen and Firemen Mutual Assurance Society was established in 1865. ASLEF established a branch in Birmingham in 1886.

Colin Metcalfe. A glimpse of Wiveliscombe station in the 1950s. 140-51.
See also letter from Alan Wild on p. 300 and further information from Robin Markes and picture on p. 480. Town has since became famous for its fight to retain its public library. See also letter in Issue 95 from Robin Markes on Horse Dock on signal diagram: during WW1 there was an Army Mule Depot at Wivelscombe and this was supplied with mules imported from South America, Portugal and Ireland landed at Avonmouth. See Sue Farrington. Wivelscombe: a history of a Somerset market town. Colden, 2005.

More breakdown cranes. 152
upper: Ransomes & Rapier 36-ton crane of 1912: No. 3 at Stafford Road shed during visit by Birmingham Locomotive Club in 1938
lower: Ransomes & Rapier 45-ton crane of 1938? No. 16 at Old Oak Common: supplied with Govenment aid as part of Air Raid Precautions for WW2 (P.J. Garland)

John Copsey. '56xxs' in the English Divisions. 153-75.
Welsh 56XX class described in Issue 29 (p. 243); 30 (p. 329) and 31 (p. 407).. See also letter from Brian Pugh on p. 300. See letter from John Bates in Issue 95 page 420 on use of 56XX class at Stourbridge mainly on freight, but also on excursions: to Stourport-on-Severn (Nos. 6617, 6693 and 6674 noted on 8 June 1957 and on football specials to Hawthorns Halt (for West Bromwich Albion) where the class could cope with the 1 in 42 between Cradley Heath and Old Hall.

Letters. 176-7; 180

Paddington. Bill Crosbie-HilI  
Reference photos on page 327 of GWRJ No. 78 showing No. 7034 at Platform 1 on 13 July 1954. The seven-coach formation was the maximum load for the 13.15, when accelerated with start of summer timetable on Monday 14 June 1954. This train was due in Temple Meads at 15.15, not 15.33 [the departure for Weston - Ed] as stated in caption. Bath was 14.52-14.54 with 4 minutes recovery time for the last stage to Bristol. Reading was to be passed in 34½ minutes, Didcot in 49 and Swindon in 71. Writer did not know how things went on the opening Monday, but was informed that Bath was reached at  14.52 on Tuesday. Writer timed train on Wednesday 16th when, after a punctual transit of Reading, train brought to a stand at Didcot to allow an Oxford to Bristol parcels to trundle across to the down relief. Writer caught the train many times and it was never on time at Bath; locomen relied on the recovery time onward to Bristol as they had to report to the inspector there. When writer suggested to one fireman they ought to make Bath 'right time', he replied "You'd have to go it". On Saturdays the load was 8 coaches with the same timings. Many people worked on Saturday mornings so this train was often very full indeed. On one Saturday in the winter of 1954/55, No. 4073 made a splendid start passing West Dray ton at 73 mph. The cold wind got the better of the Bath Road crew and the driver eased to give the fireman a breather.
The other fast trains introduced on 14 June 1954 were the 08.45 down and 16.30 up Bristolian workings and the 19.50 Paddington to Bristol. This left, as table notes, from Platform 4 and was only allowed 34½ minutes to Reading in the working timetable. On Friday the load was increased to 9 coaches and there is a run on record of Old Oak's No. 5085 reaching Reading a full minute early with the heavier load. The accelerations of 1955 involved the 10.55 down Pembroke Coast Express'. Writer timed the inaugural run with No. 5074 and driver J. Jenkins of Landore. The load was 8 and a very vigorous and noisy working of the engine (in filthy condition) was ruined by an 11 minute stand at Patchway for a freight to clear the Severn Tunnel.

Paddington. R.S. Markes
Picture of the Arrivals Side facade at Paddington highlighted the 'Square Deal' issue which is well documented and illustrated in O.S. Nock's Volume 3 of the History of the GWR. As both the banner and the poster on the (specially parked?) Southern Railway lorry appear to be in pristine condition, writer propose photo dates from November 1938, when a vigorous campaign was inaugurated in the Press and by posters and streamers 'A Square Deal Now'. On 23 November 'a deputation of railway chairmen waited upon the Minister of Transport to present a memorandum stressing the case for revision of the methods of charging rates for merchandise traffic'. This may be the actual date of the photo if, as I suspect, it was posed and taken by an official GWR photographer for campaign PR purposes.

No. 18000. Edward Chaplin
Concerning No. 18000 at Paddington (p.319 upper of GWRJ No. 78): 1986, issues 2 and 3 of Steam Days, Chris Leigh articles noted:
SD2, p.27: 'by 22 May 1950, 18000 had taken up duty on the 15.30 PDN-PLY and the next day's 07.15 up working – duties with which it was to become synonymous in the early 1950s.' Then follow accounts of its activities, failures, etc, during that year and into 1951, and on the next page 'On 4/6/11 September 1951 No. 18000 again worked the 15.30 p.rn. PDN-PLY in company with the dynamometer car, and in each case returned on the 07.15 up working on the following day. The load was 12 coaches.
The book The GWR Gas Turbines - a myth exposed, by Kevin Robertson (Sutton Publishing) uses the above data but on p.50 adds 'there appears to be a degree of conflict over the actual dates of the dyno car trials reported as having taken place from 8 to 15 September'. That book continues with more data with failures, modifications, etc.
From above a September 1951 date for train No. 154 plus the dyno car gets his vote. [It was the 15.30 to Penzance. Ed]

No. 18000. J. Batts
In 1946, Gas Turbine locomotive No. 8000 was ordered, but nationalization intervened. In BR service, GWR 8000 had 10000 added to the number, and was finished in LMS black and chrome.  When No. 18000 completed its BR duties, it was passed to the VIC for use as a mobile test bed. It was put in the care of the Swiss railways, SBB/CFF/FFS. They were just about to introduce a new class of electric engines with numbers starting at 18000. They found it simpler to renumber their unbuilt engines than to alter something existing, and anyway, they were proud of the curiosity they had acquired. With the history comes mystery. What was the intended GWR livery for 8000? Where would the numberplates have gone? What name (if any) was proposed (obviously not Kerosene Castle) — would it have been St. Paul's Cathedral as rumoure d, to start a new 'Cathedrals' class and where would the (presumably straight) nameplates have gone?

Distant signals. Brian Hillier  
Keith Ettle's letter reminded writer of unusual arrangement provided at Ashchurch in the 1950s when a new signal box was provided in place of the two previous boxes, Ashchurch Junction and Ashchurch Level Crossing. Ashchurch Junction was located at the south end of the station platforms and controlled the junctions to Tewkesbury and Evesham branches, as well as the goods yard at the south end. Ashchurch Level Crossing was located at the north end of the platforms and controlled up and down goods loops, together with the flat crossing where the spur from the Evesham line to the Tewkesbury line crossed the main line. Ashchurch Crossing's distant signal from the Birmingham direction was sited conventionally at braking distance from the outer home signal and Ashchurch Junction's distant was a lower arm beneath Ashchurch Crossing's outer home. There was a similar arrangement on the line from Cheltenham. When Junction and Crossing boxes were abolished and the new box provided, the usual arrangement would have been to retain just a single distant signal on each line and abolish the lower distants. However, it was almost a mile from the first home signal to the last starting signal on each line, and any driver receiving a caution at the distant signal would probably crawl from signal to signal until he saw the advanced starter off before opening up. The lower distants beneath the outer home signals were therefore retained, so that if 'line clear' was received from the box in advance after the train had passed the conventional distant at caution, clearing the 'inner' distant would encourage the driver to get a move on. The inner and outer distants were worked by the same lever, the inner mechanically and the outer electrically. Mention was also made of colour light signals in tunnels on the Southern Region. It was standard practice on the Southern to control the signal at the entrance to the tunnel such that it would not clear unless either the signal in the tunnel was at clear or, if the tunnel signal was at red because of a preceding train, then that train had a proceed aspect at the first signal beyond the tunnel. The idea of this was to minimise the possibility of a train being stopped in the tunnel.

Gloucester. Colin S. Jones
Concerning Julian Martin's letter in GWRJ No. 79 which in turn relates to colour photographs in Issue 76 pages 238 set seq and rear cover: writer lived and worked around Gloucester from 1964 until 1968. For most of that time he worked on Eastern Avenue, in the buildings in the right background of the main picture in GWRJ No. 44 pp. 194 et seq individual pages not indexed in this volume: pages 200-201 and, from above, on page 218, virtually opposite the site of the original 'T' station (page 205).
For the first few months he had to make a quick getaway on Friday afternoons, using the pathway over the footbridges (starting with that on page 205 referred to above) and through subways (page 210) to get to Central station in time for the 17.20 to Swindon and Paddington. Certainly when he travelled, the down main platform at Central station was used bi-directionally, I cannot remember ever having to cross over to the up platforms, and the only service that I can remember using the up platforms was the Chalford push-pull unit, which waited in a bay at the up end. The Paddington train came in from Cheltenham behind a tank engine which was quickly released and replaced by a tender engine at the other end, as reversal was required at Gloucester. An equally prompt manoeuvre was performed at Swindon, where the arrival was almost simultaneous with one from Bristol. The ex-Cheltenham portion set forward into a siding just clear of the station whilst the ex-Bristol engine was detached and taken away. The ex-Cheltenham portion then reversed onto the front of the ex-Bristol carriages to make a full-length train to Didcot, Reading and Paddington, arriving at about 19.40, which gave my fiancée time to get there from her work. The Swindon manoeuvre ceased with otherwise minor timetable changes during that summer. My arrival at Paddington was barely changed, but required a change trains at Swindon, and the train from Bristol, although with more carriages than previously, rarely had any seats available, so I became one of the hoard sitting on their suitcases in the corridor. My return journey on Sunday night/Monday morning entailed being ready for the arrival of the stock for the 01.00 South Wales sleeper train, which used the original route through Gloucester, and 'bagging' a compartment in the Mark 1 carriages at the rear of the train by pulling the blinds down on the corridor-side windows – it usually worked and I got some sleep before arrival into Gloucester almost opposite the ticket barrier, with a chance of getting one of the few taxis waiting there at about 4.0 a.m.! (All that and my HM Forces rate weekend return cost the grand sum of £1 7s 6d.) After that we lived for a while in Tuffley Avenue, referred to by Mr. Martin, and I used the two pedestrian bridges that he mentioned. They led across both the ex-Midland and ex·GWR lines just after they separated, giving me access towards Eastern Avenue. The first of the branches, both off the ex-Midland line, that Mr. Martin referred to, curved sharply away near those bridges and is shown on the map on page 197 of GWRJ 44 and map 56 in R. A. Cooke's Atlas of the Great Western Railway as at 1947 (published by Wild Swan, revised version 1997) as 'LMS New Docks Branch'. The other ex-Midland branch into the docks was much nearer the city centre skirting a park. I can remember on one occasion sitting waiting on a bus while a train was hand signalled across the ungated Stroud Road crossing. (GWR access to Gloucester Docks was some way to the west, described in a subsequent issue of GWRJ.) Our next home was nearer the city centre and my walk to work took me past the back of Horton Road engine shed and over Tramway Crossing (Horton Road Crossing), shown and described in detail in GWRJ Nos. 45 and Issue 49. Besides the scheduled train movements there were times when shunting moves used the lines over the crossing, so the traffic delays could be considerable, and my boss did not accept that as an excuse for being late. A year or so later, BR changed the layout at Standish and Tuffley junctions so that trains from Swindon could run into Eastgate ex-Midland station and then on to Cheltenham without reversal, so we had to get used to using that station instead, and its platform always felt bleaker and less welcoming. (Was the signal box at the south end of the station on stilts over the lines between the platform ends and Barton Street level crossing, with the large wheel operating the crossing gates clearly visible through the box windows, or is my imagination stronger than my memory?) It was at this time and on the ex-Midland route that we had one of our more frustrating journeys: fully related in letter, but typical of ex-LMS delay.

Horseboxes. J. A. Smith  
On page 226 [actually 224 lower] of GWRJ No. 76, John Lewis states in a photo caption that a GW Paco is the lead vehicle at Crewe on a train to Oswestry via Whitchurch, hauled by 'Duke' 3288 Mendip (withdrawn  March 1936 ABH), photograph circa 1931. Whilst there is pre-grouping photographic evidence of Cambrian engines at Crewe, I have never been aware of any GWR running or powers between Whitchurch and Nantwich Market Drayton Junction. Was GWR traction used, during the grouping period, between Whitchurch & Crewe? See also letter from I.J. Glover on p. 357.

'517' Class. Anthony J. East  
Reference articles in GWRJ 74/75 concerning the 517 class. Their variety is clearly displayed: delighted with the photograph of 1469 on p. 129 of GWRJ 75 showing it with a domeless boiler, and a high Belpaire firebox: this boiler must have come from a 2101 series 0-6-0ST (or PT). On pp. 208-9 of GWRJ No. 20 there is a photograph of No. 544 sandwiched between Nos. 2124 and 2135 at Croes Newydd in 1928: the picture of No. 544 on p.123 of GWRJ No. 75, is clearly another shot of the same scene. Looking at drawings of the two classes of locomotive, East believes the 2101 dorneless boiler would fit the 517 chassis, but it would be interesting to know if any more 517 class also had this type of domeless boiler.

'517' Class. Ron Davies
Photograph of the 517 class locomotive 1428 at Dauntsey station with a train for Little Somerford (GWRJ No. 75, p.131) has another historical interest in that the station canopy is now at Yatton station over platform 2, the up platform, and once covered the Clevedon bay as well. It was brought to Yatton following the original canopy being destroyed by an up goods train one early morning following the sinking of one of the supports into the Yatton platform, and the canopy fouling the up main line.

'517' Class. David J. Tomkiss
Your kind reply to my letter left the location of the lower photograph on page 74 of GWRJ No. 74 wide open, but John Hodge's letter in Issue 79 gave me a clue and started a train of thought. I also could not reconcile the photograph with anywhere on the Barry Railway that I knew, but had not thought to concentrate on the English side of the Bristol Channel. I knew it was not Ilfracornbe or Minehead and probably not Weston-Super-Mare , That left Clevedon, Portishead old station and an outside chance of Avonmouth Dock. A search through my photographs gave a match. The wooden structure, awning supports, awning, crossover and the fact that the photograph was taken from ground level are all characteristics of Clevedon station, and the Barry's Red Funnel fleet called at Clevedon pier. Even the gap in the woodwork showing between the engine's funnel and dome equates to a public entrance.

Honeybourne. Roger Franklin 
Writer's father, Geoff Franklin, started work on the railway in the early 1950s as a porter at Long Marston, and after a few years moved to Honeybourne as a shunter, and stayed there until his retirement in 1969. He firstly worked in the station yards with a short spell as Goods Guard, which he could not get used to. When the new sidings were put in at West Loop (which he called Poden Sidings), he moved there as head shunter and worked shifts. He was made redundant when this closed and was offered a job as Signal Lampman for the area. This was a considerable drop in basic salary but was made up by the regular booked travelling time to get to the various locations. Unlike Gordon Canning, his area was a lot wider than just Honeybourne and Evesham because of the run-down of facilities in the area. He worked at various times at all locations between Moreton-in-Marsh and Pershore on the Oxford-Worcester Line, and from Milcote to Toddington on the Birmingham-Bristol Line. Also for a time, he went to Defford on the ex-LMS line. Travelling time was based on getting to the various locations by train, but Dad used his old Ford van and usually finished well before time and came home: like most railwaymen in the area he had another job, a smallholding to grow vegetables and keep a few cattle and sheep. Handling paraffin caused chest illness and the use of his son in assisting with the lamp duties. The Staff Institute or Railway Club was an important part of social life.

Wivelscombe with carrier's cart in loading dock: horse named Prince. 180

Moreton Cutting. M.G.C. Smith. 178-9; rear cover

Issue No. 84 (Early winter 2013)

No. 6985 Parwick Hall with up Cheltenham Spa to Paddinton express passing through Pangbourne on 27 April 1963. Ian Nash. front cover

Brian Penney and Richard Parker.Worcester Locomotive Works. 182-201.
Established in 1853 by David Joy when he was Locomotive Superintendent of the Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway later the West Midland Railway and located at Rainbow Hill, There were plans to resite the Works south of Shrub Hill in 1909 and 1944.  See also letter from Mike Thomas on page 357.

John Copsey. Express traffic working over the Northern main line, 1937-38. Part 1 – Paddington/Oxford & Wolverhampton. 202-13.
From the 1860s there were attempts to establish through passenger services via the South Eastern Railway via Reading, but these failed to generate sufficient traffic and further development had to wait until the 1890s when services were developed both via Reading and via Basingstoke and the London & South Western Railway. The arrival of the Great Central Railway at Banbury in 1900 further stimulated activity.
Illustrations:

Chris Turner. Pangbourne in the 1940s. 214-29.
Includes the reminiscences of two local lads who became clerks at the station during WW2, one of whom later rose to be General Manager of the Southern Region, namely John Palette and John Hiscock. Hiscock, who was born at Goring-on-Thames was recruited by the Pangbourne station master named Hill and started work in May 1941 when aged 14. John Palette was born into at Didcot and his brother and sister worked for the Great Western. He bagan work when 14 in August 1942 in the station master's office, but moved to Pangbourne in January 1943, Station Master B.T. Llewellyn was regarded very highly by Hiscock for his caring attitude towards young staff. At that time the railway had a monopoly in public transport as there were only meagre Thames Valley buse services. The 07.10 Oxford to Pddington was very popular with the local gentry who travelled first class. Regulars included Leslie Haywood of Upper Basildon, Captain Henry Crosthwaite of Little Bowden and George Hope of Basildon Home Farm, who was generous to the railway staff at Christmas. Monies were placed in the travelling safe conveyed on the 08.42 Didcot to Reading where it was forwarded by another train to Paddington. Passenger-rated freight was often carted by C. & G. Ayres, carriers. Milk arrived in churns on the 06.20 Paddington to Worcester and was collected by horse & cart from the Jas Ashworth dairy. Grimsby fish arrived for Colebrook & Co. Passenger Luggage in Advance arrive for Pangbourne Nautical College. Coal arrived for Ayres, Toomer, Frost and Bishop. Toomer was frequently in dispiute over demurrage payments. Electrical goods were despatched for Tenaplas of Basildon. Sugar beet was handled. Wartime traffic was heavy and included stores for the RAF on Goring Heath. Military casulaties arrived in ambulaance trains for military hospitals at Whitchurch and Ibstone. See also letter from David Tomkiss on page 356 and errata /addenda from Chris Turner.
Illustrations: see also Issue 81 front cover & rear cover and this Issue front cover and rear cover

Christopher Hext and John Copsey. Branch goods trains from Newton Abbot: an engineman's records of the Postwar Era. 230-8.
Fearnley Hext started as an engine cleaner at Newton Abbot on 7 October 1918 when aged 16. He was promoted to fireman in August 1920 and moved to Neath, spending some time at Cathays and Duffryn Yard before returning to Newton Abbot in June 1924, becoming a driver in March 1941. Records taken from his journals show the loadings on freights operating on the Moretonhamstead and Christow branches. Locomotives included 57XX No. 9717;  45XX Nos 5530 and 5552. See also Part 2 beginning page 274 and letter from Andrew Fiderkiewicz
Illustrations:

Letters. 239-40.

Paddington. Chris Rayward.
Queries what became of model of King class and coaches which used to be displayed in glass cases at back of The Lawn in 1950s. See letter from T.W. Wykes on pages 355-6 anf from Brian McCord

Paddington. T.W. Wykes.
Notes closure of Ranelagh Bridge yard caused working arrangements to be changed: on 31 July 1963 writer observed that crew working Cathedrals Express were relieved by Old Oak Common crew at Paddington who worked locomotive out to Old Oak Common, serviced it and returned it in time for return 15.15 departure

Paddington. Eric Youldon.
Caption correction: Castle built April 1924 not 1948: exchange of identity between Nos. 4082 and 7013: therefore, 7013 built in 1924 to keep number associated with Windsor Castle

Paddington. Alan Williams
Refers to manuscript diaries (presumably kept to check his wages) of Landore fireman Trevor Jones who at the time of an entry for 13 November 1961 was firing for Bill Fowler noted that "derailed at Paddington":  locomotive was Castle No. 5080 Defiant. His regular driver was Jack Jenkins known as "Electric Jack". See also letters from Bill Crosbie-Hall on page 357 and from Henry W. Toomer on page 480.

'Bulldogs' at work. T.W. Wykes.
See p. 20 lower: argues that locomotive was probably not No. No. 3345 Smeaton, but may have been No. 3346 Godolphin. Page 119 lower (No. 3454 Skylark) suggests date incorrect should be 16 June 1951: locomotive cleaned for SLS special to Swindon on following day

'Bulldogs' at work. G. Chennell.
Suggests not 3378 River Tawe but 3380 River Yealm and advances reasons for this.

'Bulldogs' at work. Bill Crosbie-Hill. 240.
In June 1944 he saw Nos. 3363 and 3364 exit Devizes Tunnel on 07.15 Trowbridge to Paddington. Also memory of rapid acceleration behind No. 3341 on a stopping train from Newbury to Devizes (portion off 18.00 ex-Paddington) in February 1945. Most of his memories were of class on freight or engineering trains.

'Bulldogs' at work. C.J. Hext.
Boyhood memories of class at work in Newton Abbot. Started an engineering appreniceship at Newton Abbot in October 1952 whih was completed at Swindon where his final work was on bogie of City of Truro.

Horseboxes. John Lewis.
See GWRJ Number 78 page 340 for way in which groom's doors were hung (adjacent to horse compartment); also N1 type lacked illumination and quotes Issue 72 page 475 and Steven Brindle's Paddington station

Horseboxes. Mike Barnsley.
Destination Baydon

Errata in GWRJ Nos. 81 and 82
See 81 p. 19 lower and 110 [precis entries changed No. 3380 and bloater]

11.00 ex-Shrewsbury stores hauled by No. 4914 Cranmore Hall entering Whitnash cutting with long train of very mixed empty stock. H.J. Stretton-Ward

No. 7029 Clun Castle with 09.15 Paddington to Worcester passing through Pangbourne on 11 April 1964. Ian Nash. rear cover
Regretably colour image lacks clarity and gives impression of evening twilight.

Issue No. 85 (Late winter 2013)

No. 4902 Aldenham Hall passing Langley with down parcels train on 3 March 1962. M.G.C. Smith. front cover

John Copsey. Cambrian 0-6-0s in traffic on the GWR by John Copsey. 242-61.
See also letters from Mike Barnsley (p. 420) on use of No. 844 at Reading in place of MSWJR 2-4-0s

John Copsey. Express traffic working over the Northern main line, 1937-38. Paddington/Oxford & Wolverhampton. Part 2. 262-73.

In close up. C.F. Tickle.
Photograph of safety valve and clack valves with bonnet and covers removed (at Barry scrap yard); castings of safety valves and top feeds at Swindon on 28 April 1963

Christopher Hext and John Copsey. Branch goods trains from Newton Abbot: an engineman's records of the Postwar era. Part 2. 274-82.
Freight working on the branch lines to Ashburton, Brixham and Kingsbridge. Petrol traffic to the Brixham branch tended to be worked as special trains. See also Part 1 which begins on p. 230 and letter from Andrew Fiderkiewicz

Penzance to Long Rock in pictures: photographs by Mike Ellis and captions by Jack Matthhews. 283-98.
See also correspondence from Nigel Stevens on pages 355 and 479.

In close up. C.F. Tickle. 298 lower
Photograph of stationary boiler at Oxley shed on 4 October 1959

Iver in March 1962. M.G.C. Smith. 299
Colour photo-feature: Castle class No. 5051 Earl Bathhurst approaching Iver on down Pembroke Coast Express on 3 March 1962; No. 6143 leaving Iver with up freight on 3 March 1962.

Letters. 300

'56XXs' in England. Brian Pugh  
Writer was firing in Slough in the early 1950s and well remember the arrival of 5697 on shed towards the end of 1953. She was shedded at Didcot then and we had her on several occasions working a goods train down line and leaving Slough at about 3.0 p.m. This turn was known to us as 'The Biscuits' for it involved picking up vans from the Huntley & Palmer's works at Reading. We had relief at Didcot, then worked a '61XX' Passenger to Paddington, then all stations back to Slough. The '56XXs' were not all that popular with us. Putting a lamp on the front top bracket required hanging onto the handrail with your left hand and swinging the lamp up and over with your right. Towards the end, some of them had brackets welded to the smokebox doors to make this task easier. I don't think that they would have been very popular shunting in Moreton either, the all-vacuum brake made that job difficult.

Wiveliscombe. Alan Wild  
The Taunton to Barnstaple line on the GWR system map the route was shown as a main line and it came as a surprise to find that the winter passenger timetable provided for only half a dozen trains each way. When the opportunity to visit the line arose, in 1962, the steep grades and often quite sharp curves revealed that the only justification for 'main line' status arose from its through expresses on Summer Saturdays. In the article six freight trains in each direction are listed on Mondays to Fridays. This seems a considerable over-provision for a rural line serving no significant industry. As writer's own travels were nearly always at weekends, he never saw a freight train on the line and always assumed that the traffic could easily be handled by no more than two trains daily. Does anybody have details of the normal loadings of the trains identified in the table on page 148, and the type of traffic involved?
On another matter: does any reader know of a photograph of the 17.20 Milford Haven to Paddington fish train? According to the 1959/60 WTT, it ran M-S from Cardiff to London but was actually listed as 'from Milford Haven' in Sections A & B. In the Welsh books it had a 'Q' path up to Cardiff. In the 1962/63 WTT it is shown as the 21.16 from Cardiff Canton to Paddington but with the same 'Q' path in South Wales. Presumably when the 'Q' path was not required, the 21.16 from Cardiff conveyed traffic delivered there by the 15.45 Milford Haven to Severn Tunnel Junction train. On writer's infrequent visits to West Wales (without benefit of the WIT) he never saw the 17.20 p.m. service, but then he could very well have been away from the mainline at the appropriate time. He doubts if anybody ever photographed the train east of Cardiff. To writer's knowledge this was the only perishables train in the country to run with Class' A' headlamps and it would be gratifying to see photographic evidence!

Excursion traffic. J.C. Kirby  
In the late 1950s when I was a fireman at Newport Ebbw Junction (86A) we had a turn one Saturday bank holiday. It consisted of running our engine (43XX 7319) tender first to Aberbeeg, pick up 10 bogie coaches, proceed to Brynmawr, thence to Bristol Clifton Downs (for zoo) via Severn Bridge, stopper 'B' lamps to Newport, then non-stop 'A' lamps to destination. No less than the following were utilised:
3 conductor drivers
1. Aberbeeg - Brynmawr - Aberbeeg
2. Lydney Junction - Sharpness - Stoke Gifford
3. Stoke Gifford - Clifton Down - Bristol SPM 828 2 Pilot Engines
1. 56XX Aberbeeg - Brynmawr
2. 43XX Clifton Down - Dr Days - Bristol SPM
Can this manpower used be bettered?

'48XXs' in Cornwall. David Collings  
In response to an article which appeared in an issue of GWRJ some time ago, which mentioned that according to the official registers, a '48XX' 0-4-2T was allocated to the Helston Branch in the 1930s, but that apparently no photographic evidence had yet come to light. Unfortunately, he had subsequently been unable to seek out the particular issue in which this comment had caught his attention, despite several searches through the backnumbers. To cut a long story short, he was in the Midlands during the Autumn oflast year and decided to pay a visit to Kidderminster Railway Museum. To his amazement, he came across two photographs held in their collection of No. 4868 at Helston on 10 June 1936. One photo shows No. 4868 standing by the loading bank during a pause in shunting operations, and the other shows the same engine passing the locomotive shed area on its way out of the station with an up passenger service to Gwinear Road. The coaches appear to be in a relatively new condition and of the steel-panelled Collett type which he understands first appeared on the Helston line during the early to mid 1930s. The loco ash pit is prominent in this view and the ash bunker is to the right. The line from which the photo has been taken continues away behind the photographer for a short distance and leads to the engine shed.
On page 449 of the Autumn 2011 issue (column on right), mention was made of a '44XX' hauling a passenger train on the Helston Branch which comprised a pair of Tri-Composites. According to my notes, the coaches were given an E designation on the registers when they were built, even though they were in practice Tri-Composites at that time, although I stand to be corrected on that one! In any event, the 2nd Class designation was soon to disappear.

Errata
In GWRJ No. 84, the photographs on page 208 (bottom) and 212 (bottom) both show the Down (not Up) platform at Banbury, with local trains from Oxford and/or to Leamington

Carriage cleaning at Penzsncc. 300.
Leslie Overend photograph which shows windows being cleaned on coach with destination board "WEST OF ENGLAND CREWE & GLASGOW"

No. 4921 Eaton Hall approaching Langley station with up van train on 3 March 1962. M.G.C. Smith. rear cover

Issue No. 86 (Early Summer 2013)

Up Royal Duchy hauled by King class passing Laira on 8 September 1959. Colin Strevens. front cover

John Copsey. The '51XXs' at work. 302-19.
No. 99 was the prototype 2-6-2T (the other Churchward Standard designs were a 4-6-0 and a 2-8-0). It differed from the production series in having straight tops to the tanks and having a short-cone boiler. It entered service in November 1903 and on 18 December was sent to Brimscombe for trials as a banking engine. In January 1904 it moved to Southall and in July to Westbourne Park shed; and in September construction of the first batch of ten began which introduced the sloping tank fronts and long-coned boiler.  The initial locomotives lacked stays at the front end, front steps and flared bunkers. At least two chimney types were fitted (narrow and broad). From 1929 outside steampipes were fitted. Part 2 see page 392.
See also letter from John Hodge on p. 360 on intended use of older locomotives as banking engines and letters on page 420 from R.S. Simmonds on loan of 2-6-2T including No. 99 to Port Talbot Railway & Docks Co. and from Eric Youldon on external brake rigging and from S.C. Bromhall on p. 180 (V. 12).

John Copsey and Chris Turner. Oxford South Goods. 320-41.
Originally Oxford served by a broad gauge branch line from Didcot which terminated at Grandpont on the southern bank of the Isis which opened with a goods yard in June 1844. The extension to Banbury opened in September 1850 and left the original line at Millfield Junction. This was originally single track but was doubled. A new passenger station was built north of Botley Road. In June 1853 the Oxford Worcester & Wolverhampton was opened. The use of Grandpont gradually faded and it finally ceased to be used in 1872. A new goods shed was opened near Botley Road in September 1873. The Oxford Gas Company had its own siding from May 1886. The goods shed was extended in 1896. There was a shortage of marshalling sidings and the North End sidings were improved between 1895 and 1899. Traffic was increased by the transfer of traffic to station trucks and eventually this was replaced by distribution by lorry.
Basil Ayers who started as a junior porter during WW2 and who was a shunter in the Oxford South End Yard between 1947 and 1952 provided some of the information. 57XX class were used for shunting. John Davis provided further information. Walter J. Garrod who joined the GWR in October 1923 when aged sixteen was the Goods Agent at Oxford. Full load traffic included coal which was mainly handled at Rewley Road although some was also delivered via Becket  Street. Other traffic included potatoes and fruit, pectin, meat, china clay, livestock, Bulmers cider, petrol and animal feed. Further information from Allan James on page 480.

J.E. Norris. A glimpse of Knightwick. 342-3.
On Wiorcester, Bromyard & Leominster branch

Colin Metcalfe and Robin Markes. Kingswear (for Dartmouth) a riverside experience in the 'fifties'. 344-50
The broad gauge railway reached Kingswear in 1864,

John Copsey. Cambrian 0-6-0s. 351-4.

Letters. 355-60

Penzance to Long Rock. Nigel Stevens.
Concerning the caption on page 283, the ground frame was electrically 'released' from the signal box, 'Control' of the points was by the ground frame itself All the running lines in the Penzance station area were (and indeed still are) track circuited. The 'switches in a little box on the stop block of each road' are 'Vehicle on Line' switches. The track circuit relies on a low resistance path between rail head and wheel tread for its correct operation. If vehicles stand for a prolonged length of time, it is possible for oxidation to occur on rail head and wheel, causing electrical resistance to rise to a point where the wheels fail to shunt sufficient current and the track circuit relay energises, giving a false 'track clear' indication. The vehicle on line switches when operated don't, as implied in the text, indicate a vehicle on line. The indication is given by vehicle(s) being present. The switch prevents a false clear due to the circumstances indicated above. Possibly the switch may have been 'linked to the signal box' but more usually formed part of the track circuit wiring itself. The signalling of trains into the platform road is the sole responsibility of the signalman working to the operating rules aided by the controls supplied by the signal engineer. Whilst it is correct to say that track circuits are indicated in the signal box, the principal function of the track circuit is to be incorporated into the electrical controls and interlocking in the signal box.
In over forty years of studying GW and Western Region signalling writer had never come across the phrase 'full line clear'. For a train arriving at a terminus station, if the line is clear to the stop blocks, then the signalman can admit the train to the platform using the main arm of the signal controlling entry. If there is any obstruction, then he will use the calling-on arm if available. The track circuits in the platform lines will be connected to an electric lever lock on the lever operating the arm of the main signal admitting t rains to the platform. If the track circuit is occupied, the lever lock is inhibited and the lever cannot be reversed in the frame to lower the arm. The lever operating the calling-on arm, however, remains free to be pulled. Regrettably, he had misplaced his copy of journal No. 62, so was unable to check, but believed in both the article in that edition and in the one under discussion the author states 'The signalman at Ponsandane must have permission of the yard staff before admitting a train to the yard'. The June 1960 Sectional Appendix - Plymouth Traffic District gives no mention of such a special instruction. The appendix, however, has extensive instructions for working of the yard, particularly the East End at Long Rock where signalmen and yard staff must 'come to a clear understanding' over certain movements to take place. I cannot bring to mind any other example of where the signalman is required to obtain permission of yard staff before allowing a movement past signals under his control. Further weight is given to the non-existence of this instruction by considering how it would have been carried out in practice. We are talking 1960s, so only a limited number of telephones in the yard at fixed locations. If the signalman at Ponsandane accepted a train for the yard from Penzance station and he was unable to 'get permission of yard staff' to enter the yard, then he could end up with a train stood at the signal described blocking the up main until he was able to contact a member of the yard staff. Alternatively, if Penzance asked 'Line Clear' for a train for the yard and the signalman refused it until he 'got permission from staff to enter', this would lead to unacceptable delays and difficulties working the station at Penzance.
In the captions to the pictures that follow on from page 283 there are some correct descriptions referring to the signalling, but there are also a number at best incomplete or misleading in their content. With four signal boxes (Marazion, Long Rock, Ponsandane and Penzance) close to each other, in signalling terms the layout is fairly complex. For readers wishing a more accurate and complete knowledge of the signalling in the area, I suggest the following two sources of information. First, issue 137 (Sept./Oct. 2009) of the Signalling Record Society's journal The Signalling Record, which contains an article by Bruce Bennett on the history of signalling in the Penzance area. Secondly, signalling diagrams for the boxes concerned are available on Signal Box Diagrams, West of England, GWR & LSWR Exeter & Plymouth, a CD published by the Signalling Record Society. Details of how to obtain the CD can be found on the society's website www.s-r-s.org.uk. To those with knowledge of Signal & Telegraph Engineering. please forgive me for straying 'off message' regarding terminology in the vehicle on line switch description, but the piece was written so as to be understandable by as many as possible. See also further letter from Nigel on pages 479-80.

Cambrian 0-6-0s. Ray Caston.
A couple of Cambrian 0-6-0s, that reached Newport via the Mid-Wales Railway and Brecon, were the only ex-Cambrian engines that writer ever saw. The underline bridges on the route from Llanidloes to Three Cooks were always a matter of concern for the GWR civil engineers, the line being coded 'uncoloured' in 1926, and thus suitable only for the lightest engines. It is notable that there were no Cambrian 0-6-0s shedded at either Brecon or Llanidloes in 1934, and they seem to have been used sparingly over the route until the War Department requisitioned 100 Dean Goods, causing a serious shortage of motive power. Thereafter, the surviving Cambrian 0-6-0s were officially permitted, being specifically and individually enumerated in the 1943 Section Appendix and in subsequent working timetables. Apart from the timetabled goods trains, there was a regular flow of limestone for the South Wales steel furnaces, which from anecdotal evidence ran at least three times a week in this period.
By the mid to late 1940s, the survivors were appearing with some regularity at Newport on passenger trains from Brecon. Apart from those shedded at Brecon, engines with Oswestry shed plates were also noted. According to a Brecon driver, Moat Lane engines worked a three-day roster: on day 1, goods from Moat Lane to Talyllyn Jct (presumably the 15.40); on day 2, passenger from Brecon to Newport and return; on day 3, goods Talyllyn Jet to Moat Lane. This apparently carried on until the engines demise. One friend who lived near the West end of Newport station in this period, claimed to have seen most of the survivors at Newport. Personally, he would be very interested to know if anyone has photographs of the Brecon to Newport workings.

Cambrian 0-6-0s. John Hodge
In the early 1950s, before the advent of the 465XXs [LMS Ivatt Class 2 2-6-0], Cambrian 0-6-0s sometimes worked the length of the former Brecon & Merthyr line on the 14.00 Brecon to Newport, returning on the 18.55. Writer has a record of No. 873 on this working on 21 March 1953. But by far the strangest, possibly ever, visitor to Barry Works was No. 895 which was there from 24 January 1953 until 13 March 1953 for smokebox repairs. I photographed it standing outside the works from a passing train, and A.C. Sterndale photographed it at Canton en route to Barry. Unfortunately, after release from the works, it was lit up and sent straight back to Canton, as Barry had little means of running it in, if indeed it needed it. In April 1953, I met the Barry Shedmaster, Ernie Breakspear, and got open house to visit the shed every Sunday, but I had unfortunately missed the engine I would have dearly liked to photograph at Barry, by a month! Why on earth the engine had been sent to Barry Works when Oswestry was far closer to hand, was one of the mysteries of the way allocation of engines to works was made.

Paddington. T W. Wykes  
For several years from the late 1940s onwards there were two models of 'King' class engines on the 'lawn' at Paddington. The smaller of these models, from memory 2½ inch gauge, was housed in a display case which incorporated a coin in the slot mechanism by means of which the engine's coupled wheels could be made to rotate. I believe that the takings were used to support railway orphanages. After so many years I cannot remember the cost of operating the mechanism, but as I used it on a couple of occasions, I must have considered it to be an affordable outgoing from my pocket money (probably about one shilling per week in those days!).
The second model (of No. 6000) was much larger, 7¼ in gauge, and was displayed with a Collett coach to the same scale and by the same builder, Mr B. R. Hunt of Johannesburg, South Africa. A photograph of the model appears in the book Model Steam Locomotives by Henry Greenly (eighth edition), the caption to the photograph stating that Mr. Hunt had presented the models to the directors of the GWR in 1947. After some years on the 'Lawn', the engine and coach were moved to a new position in the seat reservation office on Platform No. I before finally disappearing from Paddington station. Perhaps the presence of this symbol of an outdated technology in such a prominent position on the 'Lawn ' did not find favour with a BR management which, after announcement of the 1957 railway modernisation plan, seemed anxious to put as much distance as possible between itself and any connection with the steam locomotive. See also below and letter from John Trumper on p. 480 about similar model at Birmingham Snow Hill.

Paddington. Brian McCord. 356
The models referred to are on prominent public display in the National Railway Museum at York. They must feel very much at home housed in their glass cases immediately to the rear of the tender of the restored GWR No. 4003 Lode Star.
The 1/8th scale models of King George V and a matching carriage from the Cornish Riviera were originally presented to the Directors of the GWR at Paddington by their builder. the late B.R. Hunt of Johannesburgh, South Africa in March 1947. There was a model of Locomotion and an early carriage also on display at Paddington, but I am not sure where they are now. I am sure that all fellow enthusiasts who remember seeing these fine models at the back of the 'Lawn' (as I did) will be pleased to hear they are still in pristine condition to be appreciated by all who visit the NRM. See also letter from David Perks in Issue 90 p. 120.

Pangbourne. David J. Tomkiss
Regarding the article in GWRJ No. 84. 'PLA was sent out from and received for Pangboume Nautical College'. well. yes. but there was more to it than that. Just before the beginning of each term. some 300 trunks would arrive at the station and be sent up to the college. either on Ayers' lorry or the college Motocart (remember the Dinky Toys model?) and each trunk had to be labelled to name and divisional house. At the end of term. or rather the day before. the sixth formers were shanghaied to load up the trunks onto said Motocart and deliver them to the station. riding on top of the load down the hill and through the village. a very jolty ride and worse in the rain when we all tried to squeeze into the cab. On arrival at the station, the trunks went into the parcels office or bike shed. depending on whether via Reading or via Didcot. Mine would arrive home in Cardiff next day about half an hour after me. Some seven to ten days before the end of term, BR (WR) pre-booking forms would arrive at college and one of the brass would muster us all to book our tickets - child singles or returns. ordinary returns or CRTs (Cheap Return Tickets) which had to be used mid-week. so terms always ended on Tuesdays at 0700 hours and began on Thursdays at 1800 hours. Half-terms were Friday to Monday. so it was full-price tickets. The forms were returned to the station, often by one of us on a bike. and tickets arrived and were distributed a couple of days before we left.
Over the years. the times of trains varied. so I myself might go via Reading or Didcot and by winter 1961 there was no lunchtime up train from Pangbourne, so the half-term train came out ECS from Reading on the down relief. reversed through the crossover and ran non-stop from Pangbourne to Reading and took up its normal working to Paddington. The divisional manager stated that this was preferable to a special stop by one of the expresses. or so we were told.
Having joined the Rowing Top. I watched the comings and goings on the railway from a seat in a racing 8 most term days over three years. Steam was not confined to the railway and one day the Thames Conservancy's Inspection launch Donola swept past us in silence despite our best efforts. My most vivid memory is of walking back through the village and seeing 6139 in ex-works lined green. waiting on the overbridge while watercress from the Pang was loaded into the van ends of the late afternoon train, 8 July 1961. Once given 'right away'. it pounded off and could be heard all the way to Mapledurham cutting. On leaving college on 23 July 1962. the cost of sending my bike and trunk home to Cardiff at passenger rate was £2 15s. 5d. Referring to the map on pages 220/1. the boat house almost in line with the weighing machine (WM) was where the college kept its boats. while the houses below Shooter's Hill were the seven deadly sins.

Pangbourne. Chris Turner
Some errors occurring in the Pangbourne article in GWRJ 84. Page 217 - caption should have read '. . . from the Up Relief platform ... ' Page 223 - This is a Class' F' goods train. Page 226: 6910 on lower photo was one of several engines which in 1948 had been lined out in experimental black livery. Part of the work included brass smokebox number plates which the engine was still carrying in this photo.

Driver Jack Jenkins of Landore. Bill Crosbie-HiII  
Alan Williams, in his letter (GWRJ No. 84). refers to the above-named driver as "the legendary 'Jack Electric' ."
Alighting from the 10.55 Pembroke Coast Express at Newport. Driver Jenkins, quick off the footplate. was running past me to get a refill for his billy-can from the Restaurant Car window. As he shot by he called out. "Steventon to Swindon in 17 minutes!" Then. with a full can. he sprinted back to his engine (No. 5074). this time saying. "Be right time Swansea I shouldn't wonder". As we were ten minutes down, this would have meant very hard work for his fireman indeed.
I later heard he and his fireman were "always falling out". and he was not liked by everyone at Landore. He seemed the very antithesis of the calm. phlegmatic top link drivers I had met before. But if ever a man enjoyed his work it was Jack Jenkins! More from Henry W. Toomer on page 480

Branch goods trains from Newton Abbot. Andrew Fiderkiewicz
As a follow-up to the articles on Driver Hext's diaries and with the advantage of local knowledge, may I provide some additional information. After passing Newton Abbot East Box. the Moretonhampstead line actually crossed the River Lemon first and then the man-made Whitelake channel. Thus. in the aerial photo the captioned 'tributary' of the river is actually the tidal Whitelake channel and the driver's view on page 238 is of the Lemon river bridge not the Whitelake channel which is to the rear in that view. This channel was originally built to drain marshes but it then became the seaward end of the Stover canal when that was built from a tidal lock a little further inland to a junction with the later-built Haytor Granite Tramway at Ventiford (these two means of transport had facilitated the transporting of granite blocks for the 1825 rebuilding of London Bridge and for some of London's public buildings). The canal and the Moretonhampstead branch kept company in crossing the Bovey basin and for good reason. This area has large reserves of valuable ball clay (not china clay as quoted throughout the article). In fact, what are probably the world's most important deposits of ball clay are found here. in North Devon and in Dorset. Ball clay is more plastic than the coarser china clay and it found a market in the Potteries and abroad. so. as canal use fell away. the railway was in demand to export the clay.
To that end. sidings and loading docks were built all along the 6-mile stretch of the branch as far as Bovey Tracey. These were at the East Golds Works (as it was within the Newton Abbot East Box's branch home signal, access was by key from that box). Teignbridge, which had loading docks beside loop sidings on both sides of the branch. Teigngrace Halt. the separate Timber. Candy Pottery Company and station sidings at Heathfield, and then the separate Granite. Bovey Pottery Company and Bovey station sidings. As the branch then ran into the hills and out of the clay basin. the final six miles only had a single siding at Lustleigh plus the facilities at the terminus!
Until 1999 a proportion of the clay extraction was by adit or by shaft mining, so the various clay companies needed pit props as well as fuel to calcine the extracted clay or to fire it as at the Candy works (p. 236 seen behind the train) where finished bricks. tiles and pipes were produced. So. as well as class 1 wagon output. there would have been a demand for some class 1 input in coal. As the clay was transported in dedicated sheeted wagons. there would also have been considerable empties traffic along the lower stretch of the branch as shown by Driver Hext's diaries. This part of the branch still survives and. although there is currently no active clay traffic. Teignbridge sidings are currently in use for outbound wagon loads of timber.
Returning to the aerial photograph, it reveals a lot of detail. Alongside the outer faces of the up and down island station platforms are the scissor crossings used to facilitate the splitting and joining of passenger trains using the Torbay and Plymouth lines. The canopies have new sections, evidence of the damage when the station was bombed in August 1940. Each of the platform faces had two numbers. so the separate Moretonhampstead bay was numbered 9. This was only accessible through a wide gateway from the station forecourt and it can be made out to the right of the north end of the main up platform.
Also evident are the bombed remains of railway workers' cottages between the A380 box bridge over the southern station throat (the shadow of the box can be made out) and the wagon works. the large roof of which is to the left of the south end of the down platform. There seems to be a ready supply of wagons awaiting repair! The sawtooth roof of the engine shed is clearly visible to the left of the centre of the down platform and next to it is the large three-bay roof of the former South Devon Railay works where Churchward started his railway career.
The drifting smoke is from the electricity power station with a rake of coal wagons evident next to the tippler and conveyors. The River Lemon bisects the power station facilities and also very visible is the shadow of the power station cooling tower and the slightly offset circle of the tower itself. Certain passenger trains ran through between Moretonhampstead and Paignton, so these would have used the main platforms at Newton Abbot and not the bay platform 9 with its completely separate access. On page 275 in part two of the article, 4547 is actually standing at platform 9, presumably having just arrived with a terminating branch passenger train. Alongside the loco can be seen one rail of the up through line and hidden by the face of platform 7 is the up main.
Referring to the Brixham branch, the tail load in the photo on page 276 is almost certainly a fish van for attachment to the rear of an up train at Churston as that traffic was always important in the outbound direction. A spare Toad was kept at the terminus for working fish specials off the branch to Hackney yard, so the extra Toad in the photo on page 274 may have been worked back empty to Brixham in the train being shunted. On page 277 the viaduct under the up branch goods is in fact at Hookhills and the shorter Broadsands viaduct is about hal f a mile behind the photographer.
Moving on to the Ashburton branch, the views on page 278 show Tucker's malthouse behind the van and open wagon which are standing on the Tucker's siding. Due to the restricted nature of the terminus, wagons being shunted on this siding had to be moved by rope attached to the locomotive running on the adjacent track. Finally, in the photo on page 280, 4405 and its train are probably stationary at the stop board which required that all up goods and mineral trains stopped dead so that the required number of wagon brakes could be pinned down before departure down Dainton bank. A corresponding sign for the picking up of brakes was sited at the bottom of the bank beside the Aller Junction up main starting signal (in 1929 this was the scene of a fatal crash when an up passenger train struck the rear of a goods train stopped for just that purpose).

Worcester Works. Mike Thomas.  357
The writer spent two years there, going straight from school to the Carriage & Wagon Works office in August 1960. The manager then was a Mr. Pritchard who was an ex-Southern man. The Works Manager at Wolverhampton (who controlled us for admin purposes) was at this time Mr. H.J.B. Nutt.
My two colleagues in the office were Harry Collins (Chief Clerk) and John Summers. In charge of the carriage side was Archie Richardson, brother of the Loco Shop's foreman Ernie.There were two wagon foremen: Arthur Francis and a Mr. Sutton who dealt with the outdoor aspects mainly. Arthur checked the piecework books which the gangs submitted. They had a small office just north of the lobby from ours. The carriage foreman had a very small cubby-hole just inside the main shop and up some steps.
One of my duties was to keep the register of vehicles booked in for repair and the date they left after completion. A '57XX' pannier was provided to transfer stock from and to the nearby goods yard. In addition to this pilot we had a road vehicle used as a shunter. This was a small 4-wheeled tractor unit fitted with a large steel buffer beam. It was painted in the same red and cream livery applied to railway lorries at the time.
The carriage section dealt with a great miscellany of vehicles from cafeteria cars to auto-trailers. I particularly remember the series W9658- 9662 as regular visitors (refreshment cars from memory). The department also specialised in conversion jobs. This entailed taking a redundant coach or parcels vehicle, stripping it out and installing mess and tool facilities for one of the engineering departments. These jobs were in shops for months at a time. Another odd job we covered involved sending a painter over to the steam shed. His task was to paint the smokeboxes of engines with a black coating. Not sure what he used but it certainly spruced up 85A locos for a time.

Horseboxes/engine working, I.J. Glover
Reading the letter pages of No. 83, I was interested in Mr. J.A. Smith's comments about GWR (Cambrian) locomotives working forward from Whitchurch to Crewe. As explained in article, published in GWRJ No. 65 ('A Western on the Green') page 23, on Saturday mornings during the war and up to about 1947, a Cambrian loco of the '84XX' series would arrive with a freight at Gresty Lane Arrival Roads for forward working. It could have been an isolated agreement with the LMS which came to an end at the cessation of hostilities.
Another reminiscence came to me recently. On odd weekday afternoons, for possibly a month, in 1944 or 1945 we were at Nantwich on a lineside footpath between Shrewbridge Road and the station crossings. A down special passenger headed by a 'Star' came briskly through, its reporting No. 020. It may have been troop movements, but its speed meant that it must have come down the bank at Market Drayton Junction signal box and not off the GWR branch. Perhaps a record of what the reporting number signified exists?

[Mr Smith's comment on Whitchurch to Crewe trains was correct in the sense that the Great Western did not have running powers over the Shrewsbury to Nantwich Jet section (apart from the Crewe Line Jet to Crewe Bank Goods portion at Shrewsbury). But that in itself did not prevent through engine running by arrangement between two companies for operating convenience or mileage balancing, on a regular, periodic or temporary basis. For example, that over the Banbury to Swindon section by the LNER on one train per day, and by the GWR from Banbury to Leicester (ex-GCR) during the regular, alternating period, on which a permanent arrangement for those trains was made; this equated to running powers, and was later recorded thus, but not for any other through trains except by special arrangement - which was seemingly a quite regular occurrence between the two - Editor]

'Bulldogs' . Dick Potts
In the early 1940s I was watching the trains at Small Heath constantly. One day, I missed another spotter who called at my house, and told my Mother that Frank Bibby was at Small Heath. When I got home from school, she told me "Frank Bibby wants to see you at the station". I rushed off to the station but 'FB' had gone, so on to Bordesley Metal shed I went, but it had gone. I was frustrated, as it was the last 'Bulldog' I needed to see. When I got home, my mother asked "Who is this Frank Bibby?" When my father got home (he was a driver at Tyseley), I always asked him what engine he had that day, and yes, it was Frank Bibby He had it on a Bordesley to Worcester goods train. I never did see' FB' and I never got to fire one of the class either.

'Bulldogs'. John Hill. 357/60
See articles in 81 starting p. 2 and 82 starting p. 98 about the' Bulldogs' as they were such a feature at Exeter St. Davids, where my spotting days started in 1943 when I was at junior school. The incredibly knowledgeable Eric Youlden and Tom Reardon were a couple of years ahead of me at school and already in-situ at the West end of platform 5 and as senior boys, quite unapproachable.
No. 3451 Pelican was usually West End Pilot, sometimes 3341 Blasius with 3395 Tasmania usually East end Pilot, with 3335 (ex-Tregothnan) often about as well. If I recall correctly, West End Pilot was tender-West and helped out overloaded or sick locomotives over Whiteball, whilst the East end would help out to Newton Abbot or even further if Newton Abbot had no pilot to spare. Exeter's 'Collet Goods' 2230 was sometimes seen on pilot duty, possibly when the duty 'Bulldogs' had been requisitioned?
I have fond memories of Pelican for she was the first locomotive onto which I had been invited to the footplate one day in 1943 when she was standing inside the West end of platform 6. I had just been given a guided tour of the footplate when two FW I 90s swept up over West Box, banked over hard with cannon firing at the loco shed and yard - it felt like at me! It was all over in two or three seconds and one did not even have time to feel frightened, but I have a clear 'video' in my mind to this day of the nearest 190 pilot looking down at us from about 100 feet up as he flashed by. Bill Crosbie-Hill mentions in his letter the good performance of Blasius on his train to Devizes in 1945 and considered she may have been working home to NA, but I think it more likely she was working home to EXE in 1945. The late Jack Gardner, engineman of TN, told me that they were always pleased to relieve an EXE locomotive as they were very well cared for.
Another sharp childhood memory is of going to St. Davids one Wednesday afternoon (no school) and at the top of the platform 5/6 steps, looking across at the Loco to see what was on shed, to see a gleaming, polished vision on the turntable, 2936 Cefntilla Court, a Landore '29XX', a prize cop indeed! It was one of those rare times when there was no other lad present to share this wonderful experience and when I told the gang what I had seen, the following Saturday, I was accused of fudging'. Landore locos were never seen over in Devon.
I subsequently found that 2936 had come round from RAF Pembrey with a squadron who were relieving another squadron of first line duty at Exeter, where we had Polish and Czech Spitfire squadrons and was taking the relieved squadron back to Pembrey the same afternoon after coaling and servicing.

3100 Class. John Hodge. 360  
When these engines were converted [in 1938/9 KPJ] from the original 3150 Class, they were intended as improved banking engines. No. 3100 went to Gloucester for Sapperton in January, to Worcester in May and STJ in December. Nos. 3101/2 went to St. Philips Marsh for Filton in May and June, but both moved to Llanelly in September. No. 3103 went to Leamington for Hatton in September, moving to STJ in December. No. 3104 went to L1anelly in November.
The allocations did not change during 1940, but in 1941 3101 went to Neath and 3102 to Landore in April, and 3104 also went to Neath in August. There are reports from former enginemen that while at NTH and LDR they worked the workmen's wartime trains to Tremains at Bridgend. In future years Nos. 3101/2/4 moved to the Birmingham area but it was 1946 before No. 3100 went to Tondu and 3101 at Ebbw.
The allocation to Llanelly has so far failed to find an explanation of what work the three engines might have done at the depot, or its sub-shed Pantyffynnon. Can anyone offer any solution please? The engines found a use as good semi-fast passenger engines and worked local freight, but their banking use seems to have been a failure. With this in mind, it seems doubtful if the GWR would have proceeded with the conversion of the remaining 3150s if WW2 had not intervened.

Appeal C.J. Webb
Would like to know if any readers have any pictures of the Shawford Viaduct, Winchester (DN&S) being built or know the viaduct's number.

[0-6-0PT No. 3795 being re-railed with aid of ramps and chain and power provided by BR WR tender loco.] 360
Editor asks when and where: answer from J. Leach p. 420 also page 480 letter from Richard Harries.

King class on 09.30 ex-Paddington passing Laira on 8 September 1959. Colin Strevens. rear cover

Issue No. 87 (Late Summer 2013)

Witney station c1960. front cover

Stanley C. Jenkins. Witney & the Witney Railway. 362-89
Witney manufactured woollen blankets and suffered from competition from the northern textile industry and lack of railway communication caused by excessive competion between the broad gauge Great Western and standard gauge London & Birmingham/London & North Western Railways to use the valley as an approach to Cheltenham which was already served by its railway from Swindon. Charles Early, a young blanket manufacturer, Walter Strickland and Malachi Bartlett, the founder of a well-known Witney building firm, plus some gentlemen farmers were the main instigators of the local Witney Railway. Opposition from the Great Western was strong but an Act was obtained on 1 August 1859. The line was inspected by Henry Tyler and opened on 13 November 1861. The East Gloucestershire Railway which extended the railway to Fairford, but originated with greater ambitions received its Royaal Assent on 7 August 1862 and opened in January 1873 and demanded changes at Whitney notably a new passenger station, whilst the original station handled freight only. Continued p. 468.

Passing Solihull. Colin Metcalfe. 390-1
Castle class No. 5061 Earl of Birkenhead on 09.18 Margate to Birkenhead on 2 April 1957
No. 6006 King George I at Bentley Heath Crossing on Up Relief line with Birkenhead to Paddington express during spring 1953
Castle class No. 5045 Earl of Dudley on Sunday 08.05 Birkenhead to Paddington on 15 January 1956
No. 5185 on Down Relief line with Leamington to Moor Street service on 2 April 1957

John Copsey. The '51XXs' at work. 392-408
Part 1 see page 302. Building began again with No. 5190 in October 1934 and continued to 5199 in December. Withdrawal of the last 41XX series of 4-4-0 made 41XX available again and Nos. 4100-4109 emerged in August 1935; followed by Nos. 4110-4119 in late 1936 and Nos. 4120-4129 between December 1937 and June 1938. This Part includes the WW2 period when some locomotives were allocated to Cornwall to handle traffic diverted off the GWR and onto the Southern Railway to avoid bomb damage in Plymouth: see letters from Maurice Dart on p. 479 covering WW2, and from Chris Mitchell on postwar use due to turntables being out of action in Cornwall. Table 3 (page 405... lists workings between 1945 and 1949. See letter from J.C. Leach on page 479.  Part 3 see page 436 (covers British Railways and withdrawal from service). See also letter from N.P. Newman in No. 93 pages 254/263 which comments on post WW2 GWR livery of No. 5173

Positioning of water cranes, etc. 409-11

Chris Turner.  Cricklade station in the fading years. 412-17.
On the former Midland & South Western Junction Railway; also includes Moredon Power Station which opened in 1929 to serve the Borough of Swindon. Illustrations: Ordnance Surver 25 inch map 1920; down platform & signalbox, signalbox; 57XX No. 7749 on evening Swindon to Cirencester train on 25 June 1937; Moredon Power Station c1950 and c1955; Aberdare 2-6-0 No. 2670 shunting at power station in 1937

Ebley Crossing Halt. Roy Denison. 418-19.
Scenic colour photograph of 14XX with Stroud Valley auto service in October 1962.

Letters. 420

51XX Class. R.G. Simmonds.
Firstly, and with reference to GWRJ No. 86, I can add a little detail to the activities of the 3100 class in South Wales during the first twenty years of the last century. In March 1907 Albert Hertz, the locomotive superintendent of the Port Talbot Railway & Docks Co., reported to his directors that additional locomotive power was urgently required to cope with the increase of traffic. Tenders were obtained for engines designed to Hertz's specification, but then put on hold until the type of boiler to be fitted was resolved. However, by November 1907 negotiations for the GWR to work the railway portion of the PTR&D were nearing a conclusion, and the matter was dropped. Instead, the general manager was able to report to the directors that month that two GWR locomotives had been hired under the terms of the proposed running powers agreement. These were No. 3121, which was at Duffiyn Yard from 22/11/07 to 27/3/09, and the prototype No. 99, there from 10/4/08 to 23/3/09. Further, Nos. 3126 and 3132 were sent to Duffryn Yard in June 1919, the former departing in November 1922, and the latter still being there at the Grouping. These four represent only a small part of the total of 77 GWR engines allocated to Duffryn Yard between 1907 and 1922, a figure which includes five which were sent there twice.

51XX Class. Eric Youldon
Whilst studying the selection of 51XX class photos in GWRJ No. 86, writer detected a feature of which he had not previously been aware. This was the way that brake rodding changed in a bewildering fashion from outside to behind the coupled wheels between engines. For example, 5122 and 5136 on pages 316 and 317 were built and photographed about the same time and illustrate the two layouts. There must be an explanation for these changes – does anybody have it? See letter from Bob Crump on page 479. Further letter (and table) from Eric Youldon on p. 479
Referring now to Oxford South Goods in the same journal, try as I might, I couldn't get the caption details on page 338 to tally with the photograph, but if I turned the caption through 90° anti-clockwise, everything seemed to fall into place. Am I right?

Cambrian 0-6-0s. Mike Barnsley.
The recent articles (GWRJ Nos. 85 & 86) on the Cambrian Railways 0-6-0s brought back memories for me of a happy hour spent on Criccieth station, watching one of the class shunting the local goods. Besides the transfer of No. 908 to Didcot in 1933, according to the Railway Observer for September 1939, No. 844 had been transferred to Reading, apparently as a replacement for an ex- MSWJR 2-4-0 on the 4.38 p.m. Reading-Savernake, and the 8.42 a.m. return train the following day. The latter train was noteworthy as it had the distinction of carrying a class 'A' headcode.
A replacement for the ex-MSWJR 2-4-0 was probably necessary at that time because No. 1336 had been stopped in August, and sent to Swindon for an Intermediate repair. Before this was completed, No. 1335 was also stopped for repairs. As the third 2-4-0, No. 1334, was at Didcot, there were no 2-4-0s available at Reading during the September.
I haven't found any other mention of the Cambrian 0-6-0s at Reading, so it probably would only have stayed at Reading until both the ex- MSWJR 2-4-0s had returned in the October.

Cambrian 0-6-0s. Brian Penny
In GWRJ No. 86, page 351, the lower photo of No. 895 was taken in Worcester goods yard and was manned by a Worcester crew. The loco entered Worcester Factory on 1July 1951 for a light classified repair and was one of the last locos to be dealt with under the M&EE shopping programme before the Factory transferred to Motive Power Department ownership during that month. It was released to traffic on 29 August and spent a short time working Worcester turns before returning to Oswestry. I recorded carrying out running repairs to the loco's spring gear on Worcester Shed on 13 September and I would think that the photo was taken during the first two weeks of September 1951.
Although Worcester did not carry out a full repaint, locos passing through the Factory had their smokeboxes painted black before being outshopped and this became a hallmark of the Factory. Although 895 carried the OSW shed code, as shown, behind the buffer beam, I recall that it also had the Llanidloes shed code stencilled on the side frame footstep on the right-hand side.

Pannier derailment. J. Leach.
Photographs of 0-6-0PT No. 3795 (GWRJ No. 86) having come off the road: No. 3795 was a Bristol locomotive and was allocated to St. Philip's Marsh MPD at least from 1948 to the middle 1950s. From the photograph it is still coupled to the shunters truck. The location writer believe to be Stoke Gifford Marshalling Yard, on the Up side. This was the only yard which was in a cutting. I also refer to GWRJ No. 82 on the workings of the 'Bulldogs'. As a schoolboy in the 1940s one of our highlights was to watch 3453 piloting a 'Castle' on the 10.10 P2 (4/30 TM) up the 1 in 75 bank from Stapleton Road to Filton Junction. But I never found out what its working was to get to Bristol. See letter from Bob Crump on p. 479

Appeals
Mr R G Simmonds would like to know if any reader has a photograph of GWR 12-ton 6-wheel travelling hand crane No. 213? This crane was originally No. 206 built in 1894, transferred to the PTR&D as PTR No. I in January 1913, and renumbered No. 213 in 1922, a new No. 206 having been built in 1913.

The 6024 Preservation Society are currently carrying out a heavy overhaul of the loco and tender at Minehead and at Barton Hill, Bristol. At the same time they are researching the tender to try and establish how it came to be with 6024 following the loco's withdrawal in 1962, and then being sold on later that year to Woodham Brothers at Barry. They believe the tender now with 6024 to be number 2425 (identified, so far, by components fitted to it) which never ran with the loco in service. Tender 2839 was the last one coupled in service days. Does anyone know how 6024 and 2425 came to be paired?. See letter from John S. White on page 479

Witney station. rear cover
Upper general view of goods station and shed on 3 October 1972; lower: trailers, mechanical horse and Bedford? lorry in carmine & cream livery c1960.

Issue No. 88 (Autumn 2013)

No. 4959 Purley Hall on Class CC fitted freight passing West Ealing yard on 9 September 1961. M.G.C. Smith. front cover

Chris Turner. The 9.25 Hinksey goods: a guard's duty the Oxford to Princes Risborough line. 422-31
The 09.25 was worked by a 61XX tank engine; the guard had to apply the brake through Wheatley Tunnel as the rail could be slippery. Monty Turner was the station master at Tiddington. Usually most of the train was detached and shunted at Thame

Jack Matthews. Left behind. 432-5.
Guard on up 14.00 Penzance to Crewe perishable traffic got left behind on platform at Saltash station when loading flowers due tgo misunderstanding on the part of the footplate crew: he had to walk over Royal Albert Bridge which he did not like as had no head for heights. Another time he was left behind at Camborne on a down newspaper train and he had to take a taxi to St. Erth to catch up with the train. Another misunderstanding took place at St Austell on a down train detaching vehicles and the train nearly departed without him due to difficulties in communication.

John Copsey. The '51XXs' at work. Part 3. 436-49.
Part 1 began on page 302 and Part 2 on Page 392. Covers the period under British Railways which began with their continued use on expresses between Chester and Birkenhead and between Cheltenham and Gloucester, but ended with their withdrawal with the introduction of diesel multiple units. During this period they were rarely seen in the London Area. See also letter from Robert Darlaston on p. 263 of Number 93. See also letter from Robert Nicholas on pp. 247-8 on new green No. 4164 at Dyffryn Yard in 1948.

See also letters from Paul Grant, Eric Youldon. S.C. Bromhall, D.J. Fleming and Neil Woodland in Issue 90

Newport (Mon) in 1946. Peter Copeland (photographs) and Mike Christensen (notes). 450-7.
Letters from Ray Caston and Allen Pym in next Issue: both query dates for some of photographs and wording, especially that relating to relief lines and Caston notes that signal box fitted with route setting frame was not built specially. See also letters from Mike Christensen and David Tomkiss in next volume on page 120 and in Volume 13 from David J. Smith.

W.G. Bagnall Ltd. Continuing in the service of British Railways. 458
57XX of 1929; 94XX in 1949: drawings of Nos. 6721 and 9409.

Colin Metcalfe. A glimpse of Milcote in the 'Fifties. 459-67.
Milcote was on the Oxford Worcester & Wolverhapton line from Honeyboure to Stratford-on-Avon which the Great Western converted into a secondary main line in the 1900s

Stanley C. Jenkins. Witney & the Witney Railway. Part 2. 468-77
Began on page 362. Freight traffic: incoming coal to power mills, imported wool in bales, blankets outwards, gloves, headgear including for military, brewery traffic, engineering traffic, milk traffic and parcels including mail order traffic from Whitney Blanket Co.

West Ealing. M.G.C. Smith. 478
Colour photograph of condensing 57XX No. 9709 shunting milk tank wagons on 9 September 1961.

Letters. 479-80,

'51XXs' at work. Chris Michell
Regarding article on '5IXXs' Part 2 in issue 87, refers to page 402 where stated that 4168/9 went into storage at Swindon on being completed. In fact, they were sent immediately to Penzance to cover duties during one of the periodic times of maintenance of the turntable. He recorded 4168 on shed at Penzance on 15 September 1948 and 4169 on 19 September, though they probably arrived a few days earlier than this. Neither loco had any shed codes. As an aside, 4121 of Birkenhead was also one of the locos drafted in for these duties. An exciting time for us young spotters. I cannot recall how long they remained at Penzance, but imagine they had left by the end of the month.

'51XXs' at work. Maurice Dart
Regarding the allocation of these locos to St. Blazey, the shed normally had one of them for duties on services to Newquay. The allocation during the 1940s was boosted by the arrival of 5157 (replaced by 5140) and 5158 to provide suitable motive power if the emergency situation arose that due to enemy action around Plymouth GWR trains needed to be diverted over SR metals to Exeter. The route used was Bodmin Road - Bodmin - Wadebridge - Launceston - Halwill -- Okehampton - Exeter, Interestingly, 5158 is shown as working a passenger train from Bodmin Road to Bodmin on 29 January 1946. This was very unusual and could possibly have been a diversion. Mention was made to their use on the main line when work was being carried out on turntables at Penzance and Truro sheds. These periods roused much interest and excitement among local enthusiasts as locos of classes 3100, 5100, 5101, 6100 and 8100 from a wide variety of sheds appeared. Additionally, several newly-built 6100s were allocated to Cornish sheds for a period and writer recall sseeing them working through St. Austell regularly around 1943/44 carrying TR shed stencils.

'51XXs' at work. J.C. Leach
See Table 3 for workings of '5IXX' class from Bath Road. The 06.58 North Filton to Westbury was the main train from North Bristol for the employees of J. S. Fry's factory at Keynsham. Writer used this train on a daily basis during the 5½ years when working at Bath. The train used the avoiding line between Dr. Day's Junction and North Somerset Junction. The train called at Keynsham from 7.27 to 7.34. It did not call at St. Anne's Park or Saltford stations. The 1961 timetable shows it calling at St. Anne's Park. Locomotives used on this service were 4152 and 41S5, but by the mid-1950s, 6102, 6107 or 6114 were frequently seen having been displaced from the London Division.

'51XXs' at work. Paul Carter
Please let me pick you up on one point. You refer to six of the '51 XXs' as first casualties. In fact they were rebuilt to re-enter traffic and live on as members of the '81 XX' class. Below new numbers carried as '8IXXs':

No. 8100 therefore had 3 previous numbers during its life - 99, 3100 and 5100!

'51XXs' at work. Bob Crump
Eric Youldon was asking reason for the difference in the brake rodding between some of the '31XX' and the '51XX'.
When stationed at Stafford Road shed, writer was informed to be careful of 31s and 51s with brake rodding outside the wheels as the brakes could be slow acting when cold; these engines were automatic vacuum and steam braked the same as the 57s. In the RCTS Locomotives of the Great Western Railway Part 9, page 128, second column, paragraph 2, it states that the original drawings for 3100/11-29 had steam brakes and double pull rods, but 3130 onwards were vacuum braked. Also 3100/11-20 were fitted with steam-operated two-way water pick-up apparatus, but this was soon withdrawn after one of the 36xx class split the tanks taking water at speed.

'51XXs' – double pull rods. Eric Youldon.
Further to letter published in GWRJ No. 87, Steve Broomhall has drawn attention to page J28 in the RCTS Locomotives of the Great Western Railway Part 9 (Standard 2-cylinder classes) which includes the statement about 5100 and 5111 to 5119 having double pull rods. However, there was significant inconsistency in practice. Table below shows locomotives illustrated with double pull rods. See yet further letter in Volume 12 on page 180

D=double pull rods: W=without double pull rods

6023/6024 (1962) . John S. White
With reference to 6024 and her tender 'swap' and the request of the 6024 Preservation Society for information, the following may help solve the mystery.  One of the Railway Magazines of 1962 pictured 6023/6024 languishing in the Con Yard at Swindon without their tenders. The Barry Story states that 6023/6024 were withdrawn in June 1962, but did not arrive at Barry until December 1962. When the decision was made not to scrap them at Swindon, maybe the original tender(s) had already been broken up, hence replacement(s) had to be found for the journey to Wales.

'Bulldog' at Bristol. Bob Crump  
Information about 3453 assisting a 'Castle' from Temple Meads and how it arrived in Bristol. Letter writer had written in the past that he started work at Pontypool Road in 1944 as an engine cleaner. At this time 3453 was relegated to working the Hereford Fly every day. Crump cannot remember the exact month, but 3406 then became the regular engine on the turn to Bristol. What he does remember is cleaning 3406 on the morning shift because the letters on the nameplate were lovely and rounded with no sharp corners. The engine left shed later during the morning for the station, where it took forward a parcel train to Bristol, returning as stated assisting the 'Castle' as far as Pontypool Road. Unfortunately, the letter does not state the load of the 'Castle'. He thinks possibly this was a way of saving a margin, whilst returning a light engine to its home depot as there was no return working. Unfortunately, he does not know where the parcel train originated from or any times associated with this working. Looking at a picture of 3406 on page 6 of Tony Sterndale's Great Western Pictorial No. 3, the train looks to be a long, heavy one for a 'Bulldog' and more than likely required assistance from Severn Tunnel to Patchway.

Penzance to Long Rock. Nigel Stevens. 479-80  
In my previous letter concerning the working of traffic into Ponsandane yard from the Penzance direction at Ponsandane signal box, in GWRJ No. 86, I expressed the opinion that the 'permission of the yard foreman' must be given before the signalman could admit a train or engine to the yard, did not exist. Further information has come to light to suggest that such a situation did exist. I have been unable to ascertain whether the seeking of permission was an official box instruction or a working arrangement between local staff. The thinking behind the method of working was that movements took place from the yard towards Penzance via the trailing mains crossover at Ponsandane. The yard foreman could, quite legitimately, form up a loco and vehicles for Penzance and allow them to move up to yard exit. These vehicles would then be standing in the path of an incoming movement. Also a movement into the yard could come to a stand just within the yard. The signalman may or may not have been able to see this standing train. I am still of the opinion that it must have been difficult to operate for reasons previously stated but concede there was good reason for the arrangement.

Oxford South Goods. Allan James.  480
Writer grew up in No. 17 Mill Street overlooking the railway in the 1950s and did much of my early train-watching from the back of our house and from Osney Lane bridge. One full load traffic which deserves a mention is coal slack for the electricity generating station in Arthur Street (at the bottom of the map on page 332). This would arrive in wagon loads in Becket Street yard and be unloaded by a mobile crane with a grab into waiting lorries. These were short wheelbase tipper lorries, probably ex-government, which I believe were owned by C. Weller and Sons. A shuttle of up to four lorries would ferry the coal the short distance to the power station and dump it in a larger hopper there.

Driver Jack Jenkins. Henry W. Toomer
I feel the need to sing the praises of Driver Jenkins as I had the privilege of travelling with him on the footplate of No. 5004 Llanstephan Castle, from Swansea to Paddington hauling the Pembroke Coast Express. This was one of, if not the best, trips I ever made on the footplate, due to the skill and professionalism of Jack. In spite of four PW slacks making 8 minutes late passing Didcot, he produced a 1 minute early arrival at Paddington. I detected no problems with him and his fireman, just the opposite - they worked as a team the whole trip. From Swansea to Cardiff quite a few distants were sighted first by the fireman, and he conveyed the position to Jack. When I got to work next morning at Goring & Streatley box, my mate I was relieving asked me how I got on, and I said the only way to describe the driver was that he was an artist. A couple of months later Oswald Nock had a trip with Jack Jenkins, who also called him an artist. See also letter from Bill Crosbie-Hill on page 357 and another in Volume 13 page 60.

Birmingham Snow Hill model loco. John Trumper  
One item in the letters page of GWRJ No. 86 brought back memories of my visits to Birmingham Snow Hill station as in the booking office area was a model of a GWR engine, similar it seems to that described by your correspondent T.W.Wykes. I remember it was in a glass case with a slot mechanism to take money which made the wheels turn and I'm almost certain it was of No. 6000 King George V with its bell. I would guess it was of 2½ inch gauge. I was only six years old when war broke out, so I think it likely I saw it postwar when I was old enough to be trusted to visit Snow Hill on my own.

Pannier derailment. Richard Harries  
Believe the location is the headshunt at the eastern end of the upside yard at Stoke Gifford. This was a location at which he spent many hours in the mid/late 1950s trainspotting from the bridge which crossed the South Wales main line and the east end headshunt, which then extended eastwards beyond the bridge into a steep-sided grass cutting alongside the up South Wales main line. The bridge was also adjacent to the entrance to the down side yard. This description would correspond to the pictured headshunt in a cutting alongside a double-track main line. Unfortunately, there are no shadows to indicate the orientation of the lines. Pannier No. 3795 was a long-time resident of St. Philip's Marsh (Bristol) depot, 82B, and the presence of a shunter's truck indicates one of the major yards around Bristol. To the best of my knowledge, the only yard with a headshunt in a grass-sided cutting is the upside yard at Stoke Gifford.
Although I have no knowledge of the precise incident, the angle of the shunter's truck under the front of the pannier would suggest the weight of a train being drawn out of the yard had forced the truck under the locomotive, either due to locomotive brake failure or an error of judgement in brake application by the driver. My recollection for the mid/late 1950s is that the upside yard at Stoke Gifford was generally shunted by a single 57XX or 8750 pannier, although occasionally a 94XX pannier was used. In the same period the downside yard was shunted by one, or two, of the then new standard English Electric diesel shunters (later class 08) of which the first members 13000-13003 were allocated to St. Philip's Marsh.

Wiveliscombe Station. Robin Markes 
During the preparation of the 'Glimpse of Wiveliscombe Station in the Fifties' article writer contacted his cousin Jane Hewitt, who lives in locality. She made enquiries among the townsfolk of 'Wivey', who are proud of their local history [and have fought to keep their public library]. During WW1, in 1915, an Army Mule Depot was established in the area to the north and west of the town. Demand for transport animals for use on the Westem Front in France and elsewhere far exceeded the supply at home, and Wiveliscombe received many thousands of mules transported from South America, Portugal and Ireland. They were unloaded at Avomnouth and sent by the trainload to Wiveliscombe - usually on Sundays, when there was no passenger service. After unloading at the Up platform, they were led through the town - four mules to a man - to nearby farms to be given a few days' rest to recover from their journey. After this they were broken to harness and trained for war work. This view shows mules in the station forecourt yard. This much is recorded, and illustrated with contemporary photographs, in Wiveliscombe: A History of a Somerset Market Town, published by Sue Farrington (Wiveliscombe Colden Publications, 2005, reprinted 2013). The book also contains an illustrated history the line.

No. 2887 running tender-first as light engine on Down Relief road passing West Ealing yard on 9 September 1961. M.G.C. Smith. rear cover