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MarshMills

Entry posted by MarshMills

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Hi,

I'm starting to model again after a long time away from it. I want to capture the sort of trains that I saw as I went into my early teens, at the start of the 70's. I lived on the eastern edge of Plymouth, Devon, spending a lot of my time near Marsh Mills, Tavistock Junction Marshalling Yard and Laira depot.

 

I can remember seeing clay hoods coming down from the drying plant at Marsh Mills, clay-liner trains, there were still milk trains coming up from Corwall. I think I remember Blue Circle presflo cement trains (to/from the works at Plymstock?). There were oil tankers as well (I think) and occasional coal - would that be right? Where would that have been going too? Millbay Docks still had a rail link at the start of the 70's and Friary Station was still open as a goods yard. I have quite a few photos from that time but like most young boys I focused on the locos, not their trains.

 

Any suggestions for books with good information and/or pictures for this area and time would be good too.

 

Finally, anything on typical passenger workings would be helpful too.

 

Thanks.

 

Can anyone help with some advice on freight trains that I would have seen then and the type of rolling stock in those?

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Fat Controller

There are a series of photo albums called 'The Heyday of ******'', with volumes dedicated to the Warships, amongst others. Photos in there show such things as:-

individual Carflats with examples of several British Leyland cars and vans of the period.

Lowfits carrying compressors (from Compair at Redruth)

Various types of vans and opens carrying MoD supplies from locations such as Ernesettle.

Other traffic I know of included pig iron (on Plate wagons) to Compair's plant, some form of rock from Liskeard (was it Serpentine?), sundries traffic in former 'Blue Spot' fish vans; you might also have caught the tail end of the vegetable traffic from the Penzance area.

There was a web-site with quite a lot of shots of Devon and Cornwall in the period in question, but it may have disappeared with Fotopic.

Brian

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Stoker
some form of rock from Liskeard (was it Serpentine?)

If it was Liskeard then it wouldn't have been rock. China clay, maybe, but not rock. To the best of my knowledge, quarried stone has not been transported on Cornish rails for an extremely long time. I know Serpentine in Cornwall is generally associated with the far west, Lizard peninsula.

 

I would imagine that various types of ferry fitted clay carrying van would be seen in the 70s.

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MarshMills

Thanks guys, I hadn't thought about MOD traffic but it has reminded me that there were occasional trains into the MOD depot at Coypool (Marsh Mills). The Compair suggestion is interesting - an opportunity for wagons and loads I hadn't thought of. Time to do a bit of googling I think...

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