BATH RAILWAY SOCIETY

President: Pete Waterman OBE DL

Chairman: John Froud    

 Email: bathrailwaysociety@gmail.com

OCTOBER 2022  NEWSLETTER

Dear Member,

SOCIETY MATTERS

We had an excellent start to the 2022/23 at the Bath Museum of Work on Thursday September 1 when we welcomed back photographer Jack Boskett. It was a superb show of Jack’s work titled ‘Ten Years of Saying Cheese’. We thank him for his time and for visiting us from his home in Tewskesbury.  

Our next meeting will be on October 6 at the Museum.  Colin Brading will be presenting: ‘Tunnel Vision - 150 Years and More of the Metropolitan Railway’. The Metropolitan Railway opened to the public on January 10, 1863 and it was the world's first passenger-carrying designated underground railway running from the Capital out into Middlesex and eventually to its extremity at Verney Junction in Buckinghamshire. I am sure Colin will be giving a most interesting and informative presentation. The talk will start at 7.30pm and doors will open at 7pm.

Thank you to all those who have renewed your membership. If you have not yet done so, it is now due at £22 per year with the Newsletter by email. If you have the newsletter by post, then an additional fee is having to be charged of £10 due to rising postal and ink costs. The preferred method of payment is by bank transfer to Sort Code- 30 94 80, Account Number- 02294977 Account Name - Bath Railway Society. If you choose to pay this way, would you include your name in the reference, and then also confirm you have paid by emailing bathrailwaysociety@gmail.com with your name and date of payment. If you still wish to pay by any other means then please contact us, details above.

We give a warm welcome to new members, Peter Nash, Graham Barber and Roger Harvey, who joined us at our September meeting. Don’t forget, if you know anyone who may be interested in joining us, please bring them along or give them a leaflet about us. Also please contact Mike Ware if you know where we could advertise free of charge, I.E. local community newsletters or papers, noticeboards etc.  Mike can be contacted at davinaware@yahoo.co.uk

As briefly mentioned at our September meeting, we have been advised of the passing of former member Timothy Hughes MBE. Tim lived at Priston, and was a former Somerset & Dorset line fireman based at Bath Shed. He worked on the footplate right until the last weekend of closure, and then ran the old S & D footplate companions group who used to meet at The Cross keys Public House in Midford Road. Tim was also a keen collector of S & D artefacts. Away from railways he was a former Chairman and Parish Councillor for Priston for 35 years, being awarded the MBE in the New Year’s honours list in 2002, for services to his local community. He had not been in good health, and was in hospital when he died in July. His funeral service was held at Priston parish church on August 10. Our thoughts are with his family.

The answer to the competition in the September newsletter was the Hull & Barnsley Railway.

NEWS ITEMS

On the Dartmoor Line, additional survey work has taken place on the section of track now owned by Network Rail from Okehampton to Meldon. A NR design is to be drawn up to provide for future Aggregates Industry quarry traffic, as and when stone is started to be extracted again from Meldon Quarry. The work will include the upgrade of the track for the two miles, and it may then be possible for the resumption of the heritage services operated by the Dartmoor Railway Association if agreement can be reached with NR. In addition to this work, the refurbished station buildings on Platform 3 at Okehampton, used by GWR services, are re-opening imminently, and this will include a buffet.

The long awaited opening of Green Park station, which will be served by GWR Reading to Basingstoke services, is now due to happen this coming December. Work started on the construction of the station in the spring of 2019, but its completion and opening has been severely delayed by the covid pandemic. The station is situated between Reading West and Mortimer and it is expected that it will be served by two trains per hour in each direction and by one train per hour on Sundays. Work is also progressing well on the new station at Marsh Barton, west of Exeter St Davids. This is also due to open with the timetable change in December.

The Bluebell Railway will be staging a ‘Giants of Steam’ Gala from October 14 to 16. Home fleet locomotives in use should be 30541, 73082 ‘Camelot’ and 80151. Guest locomotives will   6989 ‘Wightwick Hall and 73156, + one other still to be announced. Further details on their website.

Talisman Auctions will be holding a sale on October 15 at the Gartell Light Railway, Common Lane, Yenston, near Templecombe. Viewing is from 8am, on the day, with the sale commencing at 10am. There are S & D items in the sale, together with number and name plates from Bullied Pacific’s plus a host of other interesting items to bid for! Full details of the sale at www.talismanauctions.co.uk The Gartell Railway itself will be holding its last ‘open day’ of the year on October 30. An intensive train service operates from the main station at Common Lane every 20 minutes between 10:30 and 15.55.   

South Western Railway have had to introduce a temporary reduced timetable on the West of England line between Salisbury and Exeter. This is after an Emergency Speed Restriction was put in place between Gillingham and Tisbury by Network Rail. The extremely hot and dry weather has caused the clay embankments to dry out and shrink - leaving the track on top uneven and trains unable to travel at full speed. The speed restrictions and the single track sections, meaning train frequency has had to be reduced to enable passing of services. The situation is due to be reviewed this month.

At the Didcot Railway Centre, the modified 8F boiler for 1014 County of Glamorgan has been successfully trial fitted, complete with a smokebox and double chimney. Also, the Grade 1 listed coaling stage's 76,000 gallon water tank refurbishment has been successfully completed.  Meanwhile, the rebar trusses for the concrete base of the Heyford station rebuilding project have been completed. The form work is at an advanced stage and the first concrete should be poured early this month. The Centre is holding Steam Days on October 22 & 23 with spooky goings on in the Victorian Station the following weekend. Young visitors are invited to come along that weekend dressed as witches, wizards, ghosts, ghouls, zombies and skeletons for the spellbinding Hallowsteam event!

The co-operatively owned train operating company GO-OP is preparing to submit a full application to the Office of Rail and Road for a licence to operate their trains between Taunton and Swindon via Westbury, Melksham and Chippenham. They are hoping to launch the service next summer using Class 153 units leased from Potterbrook. Their plans could bring some interesting infrastructure changes along this route with disused platforms at Frome and Westbury having to be brought back into use, a loop installed on the single line at Thingley Junction. A Train Care Depot would also be provided at Thingley on the site of the former MoD sidings. On the West of the route, trains would run onto the West Somerset Railway to Bishops Lydeard, with another train servicing facility at Norton Fitzwarren. However, there are access problems onto the WSR which would have to be overcome.  The 153’s may also receive heavier maintenance at GWR’s Exeter Train Care Depot. These proposals by GO-OP have been around for many years, and it will be interesting to see if they do come to fruition!

The Heart of Wessex Line will be closed from September 30 until October 12 while Network Rail replaces a bridge over the River Tone, between Yeovil Pen Mill and Castle Carey.

60103 ‘Flying Scotsman’ is due to be operating on the Swanage Railway from Saturday, October 22, to Wednesday, October, 26, inclusive, with ticket-only access to stations for the public. On other dates it will be on static display at Swanage Station. See the Railway’s website for full details of the visit.

There will be a programme of morning presentations at our meeting venue during October - the Museum of Bath at Work. Local historians will be giving a brief historical survey of an overlooked district of Bath. The lectures are free, but a donation of £5.00 per event would be appreciated. There is no need to book, just turn up! Details as follows:  Monday 24 - Larkhall by Dr June Hannam, Tuesday 25 - Widcombe by Dan Lyons, Wednesday 26 - Bathampton by Stuart Burroughs, Thursday 27 – Southdown & Englishcombe by Stuart Burroughs and Friday 28 – Oldfield Park by Richard Williams. Please do try and support the museum if you can. All lectures start at 11am and full details are available at www.bath-at-work.org.uk

   **************************************************************************************** 

MEMBERS CONTRIBUTION

The Penrhos Gun Club.  Our thanks to Alan Price for this most interesting article.

To the north of Cardiff is a range of hills that marks the rim of the South Wales coalfield and beyond which was a paradise of railway complication which even in the early 60s was still an enticing prospect for anyone with an interest in such things. Once over ‘Caerphilly Mountain’ dozens of railway facilities were within reach of an easy bicycle ride – many of them by then derelict and offering the chance of ‘souvenirs’ - provided they could be fitted into a saddle bag.

One day around 1962 I found myself at Nelson and Llancaiach – a four platform junction on the Pontypool Road to Neath line – the one that crossed Crumlin Viaduct. Here the GWR & RR joint line diverged north to Dowlais Cae Harris – a steeply graded branch that has only recently closed having served the Ffos – y – Fran opencast site. As well as the passenger services and through freights, Nelson also had several nearby collieries including the famous Deep Ocean Navigation at Treharris - as its name suggests the deepest mine in Wales, at over 1000ft. But what attracted me most about the place was the splendid signal box. I’d always wondered what went on in these places?

This one had an invitingly short set of steps straight off the platform so I finally plucked-up the courage to knock on the door and ask if I could come in? The signalman couldn’t have been nicer and I was soon sat in a corner with a large mug of tea where I watched fascinated as bells rang, dials were manipulated and the wonderfully coloured levers were pulled and pushed. Quite unexpectedly the signalman threw his cloth at me and said, ‘Now it’s your turn. I’ll call out the numbers – you pull the levers….’ and from then on I was hooked.

The secret to ‘signal boxing’ was to befriend a ‘relief man’. These men worked several boxes covering holidays, rest days and absences for the regulars and were happy to tell you where they’d be the next week. I knew a few but my favourite was Reg. His patch covered about 10 boxes around and near Cardiff but I first met him at Penrhos Junction, which was just to the west of Caerphilly.

This had been an amazing place – with a large signal box of 80 levers opened in 1928 which controlled a five-way junction. Situated in a vast cutting into which were packed three double track lines, the middle of which dropped steeply at the start of the ‘big hill’ down to the Taff Vale main line at Walnutree Junction. Just beyond the box stood four large angled pillars which until 1937 carried the Barry Railway over the top of everything - a tentacle of David Davies’ black octopus siphoning coal traffic from yet another valley.

Penrhos had an internal staircase. It all seemed very peaceful looking down from the tall overbridge – a hot day with bees busy among the meadow flowers on the banks and all the windows wide. As I approached the open door barking suddenly began and from the sound of claws on tread plates it became obvious that a pack of dogs had heard me coming and were racing to greet me – or so I hoped. In a moment I was surrounded by three fox terriers whose enthusiasm was unbounded. A voice of command from above quietened them and Reg told me to come on up. At the top of the stairs I was met by an amazing sight. From the block shelf hung four or five decapitated rabbits dripping blood into oil baths and in both corners were an array of broken shotguns ready for action. The dogs panted in anticipation.

Opposite was an enormous grassy bank facing south and warmly illuminated by the sun. As Reg worked, his eyes were constantly surveying it for the slightest movement. In an instant he would leap to the window and fire off a shot. The dogs would be up, alert and impatient to be first to retrieve the kill and at a nod would be down the stairs, across the lines and into the long grass like mowers.

Reg was more than happy to have someone pull the levers and ring the bells for him – he even let me fill in the train register book – and during the summer school holiday whenever Reg and the dogs were at Penrhos, I never tired of joining him.

By 1964 the place was a shadow of its former self. In an afternoon there would be about 10 train movements, five taking coal from Aber Junction to Radyr where the unfitted freights (one had the headcode 9H00 and was known as ‘Dr. Who’), would stop to pin down brakes before starting the treacherous one in eighty-five descent into the Taff Vale and five returning with the empties. You could hear a Cl 37 growling from Taffs Well, 4 miles away. The line was worked by absolute block, passenger trains only went that way as occasional weekend diversions of the Rhymney–Penarth service.

There was a quiet time from about 2 until 5 in the afternoon and one day Reg asked me to hold the fort while he took the dogs off down ‘the bank’ for a while. So off he strolled along the line to Ponty with a shotgun over his shoulder. No sooner had he disappeared from sight than I heard someone on the stairs and with growing horror saw the unmistakable trilby hat of an Inspector appear above the banister rail. We nodded at one another. He looked me up and down and we passed the time of day with a few casual remarks.

‘So you’re Reg’s fly then are you?’ I nodded. ‘Out with the dogs is he?’ I nodded again. ‘We’ve got a few vacancies for trainee signalmen at the moment. You interested?’ I shook my head. ‘Ah well. I’ll just sign the book and be off then. Tell Reg I called.’

Next month Ken Ayers recalls – ‘A Visit to Penzance Long Rock Locomotive Depot’. If you have a story to tell and share with members, please do send it in. We’d love to hear from you. .

   **************************************************************************************** 

COMPETITION

No competition this month due to lack of space. Back next month, all being well. 

   **************************************************************************************** 

Newsletter Archive