Western Times Issue 1 by TransportTreasuryPublishing

Contents Introduction

The GWR Traffic, Locomotive and Engineering Divisions

Locomotive Miscellany from the Archives of R C Riley Part 1: Four-Coupled Tender Engines

Swindon Works May 1920

Shepherding the Branch Line “Cornish Riviera”

I Spy Strangers

by Jeffery Grayer

The Newton Abbot Breakdown Train

Book Review

A Few Closed Lines

Passenger Divisions and Suburban Sets

Modern Traction

Some Early Incidents and Accidents

John Armstrong

GWR Barrows

by Amyas Crump

Reading Signal Works: An Initial Perspective

The Station Diagram Books

Modernising the Western: Part 1 - Laira

The Guard’s Compartment

WESTERN TIMES

Churchward Mogul (perhaps No. 4360) at the east end of Salisbury LSWR station with what is a through goods from the GWR to the Southern. Between London and Exeter there were six such interchange points for traffic between the two companies; the west London line, Basingstoke, Andover, Salisbury, Yeovil and of course Exeter itself. GWR engines would come off at Salisbury and be replaced by Southern motive power following which the usual destination would be Eastleigh for remarshalling. In the right background is the former GWR terminus which boasted two platform lines plus two centre sidings.

ISSUE 1

Snakes alive – and nothing to do with the famous notice on the Princetown branch. A pet grass snake carried in a box by a boy travelling from Birmingham to Stourbridge escaped when the box lid was opened and disappeared into the upholstery. After a search at Stourbridge Junction the train went on with the compartment locked, in case the snake should escape and alarm passengers. The coach was subsequently stripped of upholstery at Cardiff but it was still not found. A final recourse was for the vehicle to be taken to Swindon where it was put into the disinfectant chamber and after treatment ‘Hissing Sid’ was no more. From the Railway Magazine, July 1958. 9

SHEPHERDING THE BRANCH LINE “CORNISH RIVIERA” cts of Parliament, Board minutes, surviving A technical studies document the formal story of the establishment and expansion of the Great

signalling procedures will be explored in later issues.) At Reading, there was a change in this pattern. On the approach, Kennet Bridge Signal Box (approximately one mile to the east of the station) would determine the state of the section from there to Reading Main Line East Signal Box (at Old Junction) in the usual manner. A quarter of a mile beyond the station stood Reading Main Line West Signal Box, beside Basingstoke Line Junction (i.e. the connecting route southwards to the London & South Western Railway). In consequence of these movements the bell code from Reading East Main Line SB to its neighbour at West Main Line SB would be three-pause-one, describing the code for a branch passenger train. Thus for a short spell, the “Cornish Riviera Express” officially became a branch service!

Western. However, these bland accounts provide little insight into the hard bargaining conducted among those of wealth and influence whereby the resources were marshalled to realise the dream of a London to Bristol railway. In turn, comparatively little survives to show how the administration of the grand venture developed the means of ensuring its efficient operation. Much was learned from practical experience. Despatch of trains at regular intervals in the absence of any formal method of control was soon proven inadequate to protect a failed train on the open line. A combination of Government legislation, trial and error, improving technology and unfortunate experiences saw progressive improvements in operational control. Systems developed by the GWR and others were remarkably efficient and cost-effective in the pre-electronic age. Mechanical systems were long-wearing, simple, robust. Their reliability was sustained by a myriad of instructions and procedures enforced by ordinary railwaymen who took enormous pride in knowledge of those rules, and in their proper execution. There was a tacit and powerful partnership between management and the man on the ground (or in his signal box) that fulfilled the role of good shepherd in guiding each train to its destination.

Had the timetable always run strictly to plan and provided that there were no ‘box to box’ specials (extra trains, information about which was passed on from signal box to signal box), then the ‘Cornish Riviera’ could theoretically have been described by ‘four beats’. However, this was used for any express passenger working regardless of destination, hence this was a planned arrangement. Further, the bells were never ignored making them faster than a telephone call. The late Reg Harvey, once of Reading East Main, recounted that the telephone was an instrument of last resort.

Rules, regulations, instructions saw aggregation in the working timetables and staff rosters that governed train working and a brief summary of some measures that ensured safe passage of the ‘Cornish Riviera’ (the ‘Limited‘) provide an insight into their effectiveness. The GWR’s most prestigious service departed the capital at the timehonoured 10.30 am. From 1906 onwards, its journey west was by the Langport cut-off, and so it turned left at Reading West on to the Berks and Hants route. Leaving Paddington, the Limited was belled from signal box to signal box with ‘four beats’ (per Regulation 1 of the ‘Regulations for Train Signalling on Double and Single Lines’), the message being ‘Is line clear for Express Passenger Train?’. Assuming all was well, that the clearing point was not fouled and that the section was indeed clear, the box in advance would turn its block to ‘Line Clear’ allowing continuation from box to box, block to block, through Ealing, Maidenhead, as far as Reading under the protection of ‘four beats’. (Practical aspects of

In this type of situation, a Southern Railway-type route code might appear to have been the answer, but this description described the route, without defining the train type e.g. express or stopping service. The GWR covered both aspects starting with the Summer 1934 timetable by use of threedigit train reporting numbers for principal services. Their purpose was to help identification by both signalling and platform staff. The knowledgeable would thereby know if a service was to schedule or running out of course. The down ‘Cornish Riviera’, the 10.30 am from Paddington was always appropriately No 130 under the three digit system. Having negotiated Reading and joined the Basingstoke branch, the next signal box was at Oxford Road Junction which would have received the four-beat advice from Reading Main Line West. The same message would in turn be passed to Southcote Junction where the route divided three ways: - first left to the Coaley goods-only branch; straight on down to Basingstoke; right on to the Berks and Hants route proper which was officially

ISSUE 1

Where it all happened – the junction at Reading where the Berks and Hants route diverges to the left from the Bristol line. Reading motive power depot is immediately ahead. The view was taken looking westwards from Reading West Main Line Signal Box. The rear of the ground signals have been painted in a light shade, presumably as an early Health & Safety measure (the GWR’s term ‘Safety Movement’ is really preferable). On the same theme, the GWR Magazine in 1926 had several pages devoted to safety in various operational areas including workshop practices, cartage, permanent way, and even the use of bicycles when travelling to and from work. Allowing for some track and signal changes, this scene altered little until provision of the flying junction for trains using the Berks & Hants route in recent years.

Full or empty? A loaded train of this length on the climb to Savernake would be beyond the capacity of even sturdy No. 6844 Penhydd Grange as 26 tank wagons plus a Passenger Brake Van can be identified, and there appears to be more behind. The location is near Southcote Junction and these empties are being worked back to the West Country over the Berks & Hants route. As a rule of thumb, an empty 6-wheeled milk tank wagon weighed about 14 tons and full it would be roughly double that figure which was not far short of a bogie coach. The weight of that part of the train which is in view is thus about 400 tons. (A loaded milk train could have say 10 tank wagons and a PBV, making for a legitimate 4-6-0-hauled short train as a modelling subject). The date of this photograph is unknown but it was probably late 1940s or early postnationalisation.

MODERN TRACTION

Above: Sometimes referred to as ‘razor edge’ vehicles in consequence of the cab-end body styling, one of the later GWRdesign diesel railcars was at Tenbury Wells on 3 June 1961. There were variations between the earlier railcars which were somewhat experimental in nature but Nos 19-33 of which this vehicle was an example could be regarded as a standard design. Intended for branch line services, they were geared for a maximum speed of 40 mph (two with dual ratio gearboxes could manage 60 mph). They had seating accommodation for 48 plus a luggage and guard’s section. Mechanically, they followed the earlier “Flying Banana” series with two engines but most importantly were equipped with drawgear as introduced experimentally with vehicle No 18. With an ability to haul a trailing load of 60 tons, they enjoyed significantly greater operating flexibility. Folklore has it that some drivers would carry a bucket with them to pick up bits of the machine when failures occurred, and sometimes they just ran on one engine so as to keep the second in reserve. Nevertheless mileage-wise, they gave a good account of themselves. As an example, Railcar No. 25 covered 420,00 miles between construction in September 1940 and December 1950. Opposite top: As a comparison, No. 8 was one of the early ‘streamlined’ diesel railcars. In this undated view at Swindon it has clearly been out of service for some time having been withdrawn in January 1959. The nickname ‘flying banana’ was appropriate for this series given their curvaceous lines and original chocolate and cream livery. The present condition makes for a sad comparison with No. 11 of the same series seen new at Salisbury elsewhere in this issue. Completed in March 1936, No. 8 was the first of a batch of ten and the size of this order reflected general satisfaction with the preceding seven examples in this pioneering project. They came in three forms: Nos 8, 9, 13-16 provided seating for 70 passengers; Nos 10-12 sat 63 passengers but also provided toilet accommodation; No 17 followed the same external body contours but had no windows nor seating, serving as a parcels only vehicle. No. 18 was built as a specific branch-line car but although sucessful the design was not replicated. Alongside, saddle tank No. 1361 (withdrawn in May 1961) is standing adjacently while also in view is a new Swindon built Inter-City unit. Opposite bottom: The Railway Enthusiasts Club of Farnborough ‘Devon Rambler’ railtour of 11 April 1959 at Plymouth North Road in the course of its St Davids – Lydford – Laira Yard – Friary – Yealmpton – Turnchapel Tunnel – St Budeaux – Millbay – Dawlish – Exeter St Davids programme. The design of the first generation DMUs meant that most allowed passengers to have a reasonable forward (or backward) view of the line, provided that the driver was content to work with the black concertina window blind behind him left up. Some were less accommodating as they did not welcome nosey passengers looking over their shoulders as they drove. Vehicle No. 51090 was a Driving Motor Second of a 3-car Cross Country DMU with two B.U.T (A.E.C.) 150 bhp 6-cylinder engines, introduced by Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Co in 1958 and later classified Class 119. The other two vehicles in the set were a Trailer Buffet Second and a Driving Motor Brake Composite

WESTERN TIMES

Above: Two double-deck Spagnoletti block instruments are visible on the desk in the “Telegraph test shop”, a title retained long after this activity had been amalgamated with the Signalling Department. The company used a wide range of Tablet, Token and Staff instruments. Other interior signal box equipment was generally made at Reading although recourse was necessary to commercial manufacturers during times of high demand - war time expansion for example. Track layouts varied widely and some were unique to specific signal boxes, particularly at junctions, yards and larger stations. It was therefore sometimes more economic to purchase from specialist manufacturers. Company-produced items were largely standardised but among bespoke instruments supplied by outside firms, some examples were quite rare. Early in the 20th Century, the company produced a catalogue of “Signal Fittings” for different forms of outside equipment, (signal arms, pulleys, cranks etc). Apparently, this was never re-issued in full but was up-dated to take account of new equipment as when metal posts replaced the traditional timber type. The incomplete nature of this information raises questions where readers might be able to assist: - Was there ever an indoor equipment version of the Signal Fittings catalogue? - Regarding lever frames, the traditional brass lever leads (i.e. the brass plate on which was engraved the lever number and the leads that had to be pulled to enable its release) were replaced by ivorine plates. It is believed that this occurred before World War 2 but can specific date(s) be verified? - Under GWR practice, lever frames with the block shelf above faced the running lines, a logical layout that worked well. This was apparently changed in BR days to follow LMS and SR practice whereby the lever frame faced the rear wall. Does anyone know when this change was instituted? Opposite top: 0-6-0ST Class 850 No. 1925 saw out its career as the works shunter. Built at Wolverhampton in 1883, it had been a Reading resident for some years and had earlier worked regularly on the Lambourn branch. The small panniers were handy engines, and sufficiently highly regarded for BR Western Region to build seventy of Class 16xx as a modern version of Class 2021, which had followed Class 850. No 1925 was a celebrity as it never acquired pannier tanks and survived as the last 0-6-0ST, excluding the youngsters of Class 1361 that dated from 1910. Opposite bottom: There was a time when a lineman or a gang from the S&T department would travel to a work site by train. Their equipment would either accompany them on a special train, or would be sent ahead by a local goods working. Modernisation eventually arrived circa 1957 with vehicles such as this Karrier ‘Gamecock’ with a bespoke body to carry 11 men and equipment.