GWR 2 8 0 at Minehead

Rebuilt West Country Pacific

Rebuilt West Country Pacific 'Braunton' at Minhead.

Rebuilt West Country the works and business end.

Standard class 4 tank

Prairie tank GWR

I could not end a study of loco's on the West Somerset without adding a product of Swindon

Derby 4F 0 6 0 and S&D 2 8 0

Following are a couple of studies of Derby design and output

Here seen at Minhead where they are both resident on the West Somerset Railway

Derby extended the design of the 4F to produce the S&D 2 8 0

Once again seen at Minhead and often running on the West Somerset railway

Saddle tank on the ELR

This one working on the East Lanc's Railway an is 0 6 0 with inside cylinders but sadly a full length tank.

Lord Mayor Hunslet engines saddle tank

Of course KWVR is the home of Lord Mayor which is a Hunslet saddle tank and was one of the first loco's purchased by the KWVR. Here some pics from a recent visit to Ingrow where the loco is on permanent display in the carriage museum.

                 This engine featured in the film 'The railway children' which was shot on the KWVR

Short Saddle tanks

All the shortened or truncated tanks I can find are 0 4 0 arrangment's and with outside cylinders

Corby Saddle tank

This was taken some twenty years ago at the KWVR's Oxenhope station. It shows a saddle tank engine bearing the name 'CORBY', doubtless after the steelworks where many such locomotives worked.

I have found reference to many different types of saddle tank but non with this particular pattern of shortened tank on an 0 6 0 wheel arrangement and with what I believe to be inside cylinders.

The Hunslet saddle tank which was the basis of the J96 austerities has a full length tank and outside cylinders

This drawing, by Roger West, shows a standard Hawthorn Leslie in its final guise as an oil-burner. It is from measured sketches of 14, which in the early months of 1971 was the Platelayers locomotive.

Any ideas anyone???

LNWR locomotive stock

Typical of the locomotives working around Laisterdyke would have been older LNWR stock. Fairburn tanks would have been for local passenger services to Leeds Wakefield and Halifax on the Lanc's York's line

Laisterdyke junction

Laisterdyke junction was one of the busiest on the outer ring of Bradford junctions and good yards.

GNR lococmotive stock

Typical of the GNR locomotive stock allocated to the lesser lines such as Queensbury and the Shipley Idle branches were C G's and J class engines. These lettered classes being GNR in 1924 it was all change as the LNER re designated the stock. However under GNR designation C's were usually 4 4 2's G's were 0 4 4's and J's were 0 6 0 tender engines.

The Idle line

Or should we call it incline. I have just walked up it and can assure you it was quite a pull and I am sure with a locomotive and several hundred tons of goods wagons behind it must have been an effort on the crews.

Mineheads new Turntable

It is of course now possible to turn Locomotives at Minehead. The turntable was completed the year before last

Southern West Country 'Braunton'

I shall be abck at the West Somerset next week. So lots of Photographs of whatever is running down there.

Dudley Hill station pictures

As can be seen Dudley Hill was a complex junction both before the station and after with lines from Laisterdyke branching to Low Moor and the down lines from Wakefield also branching to Low Moor and all beneath road level.

Dudley Hill and Tong was an important station as it served many large manufacturing bases such as Associated Weavers, Crofts Engineers (old Newton Bean and Mitchell engine works) Cawthra's modern textile mill as well as  numerous smaller concerns.

Dudley Hill station nr Bradford

Here I have peiced together some plans and drawing's with dimensions for any model builder who would like to build a station such as the lovely Heckmondwyke. The stations were London and North Western and Duddley hill Looks very much like Heckmondwike. I shall one day have a go at it myself in OO gauge. The  entrance and booking hall were at street level which was above the level of the line. In my following pictures of the remains during demolition you can see how it worked.

Low Moor and Heckmondwyke stations

At the turn of the last century the railway system around Bradford had achieved it's maximum size. To the south of the city where L&Y and Midland main lines past through, great stations were built to serve the outlying areas. Here we see Low Moor and the bottom picture is of the superb station at Heckmondwyke

Dover

My last sea going association with trains was my time spent in Dover as an engineer officer on the cross channel ferries. Quite some time after the postcard here depicts of course. here we see Prince of Wales pier with the packet boat loading passengers directly from SE&CR train doubtless from London and all points south east of there.

Many thanks by the way to all my readers we have just crossed the 500 hits mark. Conservative to some but to this new blogger quite a milestone. So many thanks dear readers and viewers, do continue and if you have a particular interest my email is teachertalk1234@yahoo.co.uk do drop me a line.

Exeter St Davids

Exeter St Davids was always another atmospheric station for me as many holiday spent in Devon, travelling on the Devonian, we always felt almost there at Exeter. Sadly we had another good hour to an hour and a half over the Devon banks to Torbay. Here we see a typical mix of company locos from Southern, and GWR all regular callers at St Davids

Maunsel's Schools Class 'Repton'

One of mine from many years ago now when 'Repton' first moved to the North York's Moors. Here see her gently simmering at Grosmont with a train for Pickering and all intermediate stations. I was taking some of my school pupils on a three day trip to Whitby and couldn't miss the opportunity. After all a School's class loco was appropriate for a school trip was it not. 

Callender work

Barry Freeman produces many railways paintings which are used in callenders and may well make collectors items  in years to come. We  must of  course support our railways  artists as without  the income  from  their prints and callenders they would been soon on the bread line so do support them.

                                                            http://www.barry-freeman.co.uk/

Jubilee 'Alberta' at Leeds.

Leeds station was always a reliable spot to find Jubilee's and Black Fives. Most often rostered on the Leeds to Nottingham and the Leeds to Glasgow trains and others such as Leeds Sheffield. Here we see 'Alberta' simmering nicely prior to departure with a Leeds Galsgow which she would haul up the Settle to Carlisle line. Three cylinder engines, they were troublesome in the beginning, being rated as 'poor steamers' by their crews and sometimes worse than the locos they were to replace on just such long hard drags as the S&C. However rebuilding the boilers with a 28 element super heater and smaller blast pipe creating greater draught and some work on the valves turned these engines around and they soon became very popular engines once the steaming qualities had been improved.

Lanc's and York's 1300

The most popular wheel arrangement for mixed traffic engines had to be the 0 6 0 tender engines. The L&Y 1300 was the precursor to the many Midland engines most notable the Derby 3f's and 4f's

Midland Railways 1000

Here we see Midland compound 1000 on the Leeds Manchester line just out of Horsfall Tunnel heading into Todmorden. This was the other line to Copy Pit out of York's for Lanc's. It was and still is one of the busiest Pennine crossing points  

Bolton Abbey to Embsay 6619 departs

GNR Shipley the sole survivor

Shipley (Windhill) is the only survivor of the GNR's loop around NE Bradford

During the 1860s, two small railway companies were formed to promote suburban railways in Bradford, the Bradford, Eccleshill and Idle Railway and the Idle and Shipley Railway. Their schemes - and the companies themselves - were taken up by the Great Northern Railway, which built a line looping through the villages to the north-east of Bradford: from Laisterdyke, through Eccleshill, Idle and Thackley to Shipley.
The line was open to goods traffic on 4 May 1874, and to passengers on 18 January 1875.^[1]

The terminus of the new line was called Shipley and Windhill Station. The station was on the north side of Leeds Road, west of the Bradford Canal, and less than 330 yards (300 m) from the existing Shipley Station on the Midland Railway. It was built to the same distinctive pattern as other stations on the line, with a short mitre-roofed tower in the centre.

Passenger service on the line ceased on 2 February 1931, and the passenger station closed, though goods traffic continued on the whole line until October 1964 and as far as Idle until 1968.
The railway line is featured in Simon Ormondroyd's Windhill Tales, based on life in the area in 1964

GNR Shipley to Laisterdyke

GNR built a spur from the Leeds main line at Laisterdyke which ran through Eccleshill, Idle, Thackley and down into Shipley where it terminated at a separate station to the Midlands main Aire valley route

Almost all the stations were built to the same pattern. Eccleshill, taken at the turn of the last century, shows how they looked when in busy use. Sadly the others are demised after Dr Beecking's axe fell on them.

Bronte heritage lost

What a superb addition to the already massive interest in the Bronte sisters and their books. Thornton was their Birthplace which was one of the stations on this little railway. It linked to the Keighley Worth Valley line at Inglrow, what a wonderful  tourist attraction the whole would have made. Sadly this part of the story is lost forever.

The Night mail

How well I remember this from school, almost as well as 'Dirty British Coaster with a salt caked smoke stack'.

York's Lanc's Highlands

Copy Pit just like the highlands of Scotland in a smaller way. Hope the engine men in the days of steam got a chance to admire it, though I have to doubt it. Climbing copy pit in a steam loco was all work and no play.

Bradford Exchange

Bradford Exchange station was always my favourite place for spotting named trains and larger locomotives.

Bradford goods

Little boys always found good vantage points were they could see locomotives at work. For me we see several here. The most productive was City Rd Goods as seen from the aerial picture in the Princeville district of Bradford. The track in the middle might look ready for the Olympics but in reality it was the dog track. You could always see lots of trains from the bridge over the line which gave access to the dog track. Another good viewing place was the main gates of the goods yard. The dark satanic mills are much in evidence in the top right picture. Bottom right we can see Great Horton Good yard. The line to the left is the main line from Queensbury. Gt Horton as always a busy good yard with many manufacturing bases n the area not the least of which was Courtolds. The yard could be easily seen and observed from the over bridge which carries Arctic Parade over the railway. When the station fell into disuse ot was taken over by Baird Television.



One last one from the East Lanc's

Well worth a visit and of course not too far from Copy Pit. It took us the afternoon without rushing but you could spend the whole of that time in the East Lanc's

Copy Pit Line and summit

If on clicking the pictures they don't seem to appear then in the blank page which opens click the Magnifying glass and it apears.

I had long been aware of the tales told by old railwaymen of the climb to Copy Pit summit. The climb is long and hard from both directions, Burnley and Todmorden. Heavy freight trains were almost always banked by engines from Rose Grove Burnley and even lighter freights and passenger trains experienced difficulties if manned by less experienced crews

So after our sojourn at the East Lanc's Railway I decided to drive back via Burnley then onto the A 646 Burnley Todmorden road which takes you through some beautiful country up through Cliviger Gorge and through Copy Bottom past the site of Copy Pit colliery now disappeared but that which gave it's name to the run. The country side is indeed stunning and well worth a Sunday afternoon drive (keeps the wife happy) and of course the A 646 follows the Copy Pit line in  it's entirety The summit is reached on or about the place where the A 646 crosses the line.  

From the summit the the gorge passes to Theivley scout. Thieveley Scout was scoured out when a huge glacial lake burst through towards Todmorden 100000 years ago, the area around Thieveley Scout by Thieveley Farm was a popular Victorian Picnic site at the turn of the last century

The line is still in use for both passenger and goods. As we had sandwiches and tea a timely sprinter past by on it's way from Todmorden to Burnley.

Copy Pit Summit

Railway Summit. This is the summit of the line between Todmorden and Burnley. The photograph does not lie, what appears to be the highest point is just that. In the days when you could sit behind the driver and see through his window, the track appeared to "disappear" as you climbed towards the summit.

I am most grateful to Malcolm Street for this excellent picture and description of mounting Copy Pit summit.

Where to find the ELR

Very easy to get to and of you come in from the North off the M65 then some beautiful country

East Lancashire Railway Ramsbottom Station

So down to Ramsbottom which is about fifteen min in the car. Wow what a lovely little town nestled right in the Lancashire dales. The station is superb and very atmospheric with reminiscence of the 1950's and before. Bordered on the north side bu a gated level crossing it also forms the cross over point for what is mostly single track.

  

Being the cross over point it is a very bust station and has the added bonus of seeing two trains in at the same time. Photographers bliss.

East Lancashire Railway

Well the forecast said summer was out west so west we went to the East Lanc's Railway. First to Rawtenstall at the head of the line up from Bury and Middleton. I lovely station and town nestled in the Lancashire side of the pennies. The first train in was Diesel hauled.

Bradford and district rail map circa 1900

As can be seen the greatest travesty suffered by the city of Bradford was the lack of a rail link between the two stations of Exchange L&Y and Foster Sq Midland. It would have given a direct route through to Scotland via the Midlands Settle to Carlisle from all points south and west of the city.

LMS 46229 Duchess of Hamilton

The Duchess before she was given her dress back.

Hughs crabs and the Devonian

The topography of the Yorks Lancs railway was such that powerful locomotives were needed to shift goods around the network. Hugh's came up with a big hauler in his 'Crab'. They were a common sight around the network and often moved further afield. it was said of this engine that is would continue to pull where others including the likes of Black Fives would stall. 140lb's on the steam chest and a Crab would continue up Copy Pit, where others would have stalled long before.

The bottom two pics show my favourite train 'The Devonian'. Bradford to Paignton. Always the beginning of those two wonderful weeks away in Torquay. Usually hauled by a Jubilee or Black five.

Holmside preserved

Many and varied were the small locomotives working in private or council use. Here is Bradfords Holmside which used to work the Esholt Estate where Bradfords waste was dealt with. Not just the usual sewerage but the waste products of washing & scouring  raw wool such as lanolin  which made Bradford significant profit's

Railways poster art