The Farthing layouts

17 hours ago, Tim V said:

I was able to scan my entire negative collection

 

The entire collection. Having done a bit of scanning of my slides, I can imagine what a huge task that must have been.

 

16 hours ago, Regularity said:

There used to be (allegedly) a way of removing loose teeth by tying them with strong twine to the handle/knob of an open door, then slamming the door shut, thus pulling the tooth out.

 

Thanks Regularity, I will never forget it now 

On 30/01/2020 at 06:59, Mikkel said:

There must have been a number of layouts done on Abingdon. I wonder if anyone has modelled the stables - especially as drawings exist.

 

Had a look, and sure enough. Models of the Abingdon stable block in N, OO and O + photos of the real thing can be found here:  http://www.abingdonbranch.co.uk/ (look in the images section, use dropdown menu to browse collections).

 

Edited February 4, 2020 by Mikkel

Horses and wagons...saw this and thought of you sir;- 

 

The opening few seconds demonstrate that three bus clumping is nothing new.

Thanks @Methuselah, hadn't seen that one before. Congestion isn't anything new either, I see .

 

Railway owned horsedrawn wagons don't often turn up in moving pictures of the time, maybe they kept away from the city center during rush hour!

 

From that, it's easy to see how the  Met and the Hammersmith and City lines prospered and the various subsequent lines.

 

 

 

 

Yes, mostly buses and cabs - plus ça change...

 

A couple of perilous-looking loads at 2:07!

Only one motor vehicle?

 

must have been a wealthy man!

12 hours ago, Siberian Snooper said:

From that, it's easy to see how the  Met and the Hammersmith and City lines prospered and the various subsequent lines.

 

Did that result in decongestion? (genuine question). I ask because there is political debate here about whether the recently expanded Copenhagen Metro will actually lead to decongestion. The argument is that it only frees up space for private vehicles = more private vehicles.

 

9 hours ago, Simond said:

Only one motor vehicle?

 

must have been a wealthy man!

 

Ah yes, at 3:53.  1903 seemed quite early to me, but it seems that while there were only 14-15 cars in the UK in 1895, there were 7-800 by 1900 (according to this page).

 

Edited February 6, 2020 by Mikkel

10 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

A couple of perilous-looking loads at 2:07!

 

Not to mention this. Earlier we speculated that a similarly loaded LSWR horsedrawn wagon must have been staged for the photographer. Perhaps not.

 

London, caption says ca. 1900. Getty Images, embedding permitted.

 

Edited February 6, 2020 by Mikkel

Full baskets sheeted over and empties piled on top?

1 hour ago, Mikkel said:

 

Did that result in decongestion? (genuine question). I ask because there is political debate here about whether the recently expanded Copenhagen Metro will actually lead to decongestion. The argument is that it only frees up space for private vehicles = more private vehicles.

 

 

Ah yes, at 3:53.  1903 seemed quite early to me, but it seems that while there were only 14-15 cars in the UK in 1895, there were 7-800 by 1900 (according to this page).

 

 

Obviously it didn't relieve congestion, or if it did only for a short while.

 

 

2 hours ago, Mikkel said:

 

Did that result in decongestion? (genuine question). I ask because there is political debate here about whether the recently expanded Copenhagen Metro will actually lead to decongestion. The argument is that it only frees up space for private vehicles = more private vehicles.

 

 

Ah yes, at 3:53.  1903 seemed quite early to me, but it seems that while there were only 14-15 cars in the UK in 1895, there were 7-800 by 1900 (according to this page).

 

 

Mikkel,

I think it is difficult to say if it resulted in decongestion as London was, and still is, an expanding city.  People obviously preferred the Underground as even though it was full of smoke and steam very quickly it was overcrowded.  A much expanded system later, it is still overcrowded.

 

In answer to today's question, what is known is that when we have a Tube or Train strike the amount of cars coming into London dramatically increases.  What is also known is that the Congestion Charge reduced traffic into London.

 

Hope this helps and does not hijack your thread.  The reverse is that the motor car stopped this country/ the western world, (?), from being drowned in horse poo and starving to death as we tried to feed the horses.

5 hours ago, ChrisN said:

 

Mikkel,

I think it is difficult to say if it resulted in decongestion as London was, and still is, an expanding city.  People obviously preferred the Underground as even though it was full of smoke and steam very quickly it was overcrowded.  A much expanded system later, it is still overcrowded.

 

In answer to today's question, what is known is that when we have a Tube or Train strike the amount of cars coming into London dramatically increases.  What is also known is that the Congestion Charge reduced traffic into London.

 

Hope this helps and does not hijack your thread.  The reverse is that the motor car stopped this country/ the western world, (?), from being drowned in horse poo and starving to death as we tried to feed the horses.

When my grandfather was a born, there were no cars whatsoever. Almost no real technology at all as we would think of it today. Are we any happier now...? Probably not.

 

10 hours ago, Siberian Snooper said:

Obviously it didn't relieve congestion, or if it did only for a short while.

 

9 hours ago, ChrisN said:

Mikkel,

I think it is difficult to say if it resulted in decongestion as London was, and still is, an expanding city.  People obviously preferred the Underground as even though it was full of smoke and steam very quickly it was overcrowded.  A much expanded system later, it is still overcrowded.

 

In answer to today's question, what is known is that when we have a Tube or Train strike the amount of cars coming into London dramatically increases.  What is also known is that the Congestion Charge reduced traffic into London.

 

Hope this helps and does not hijack your thread.  The reverse is that the motor car stopped this country/ the western world, (?), from being drowned in horse poo and starving to death as we tried to feed the horses.

 

Thanks gents. No hijack, I did ask. It seems that in some cities the experience has been that when new public transport systems are built, the passengers  who use them turn out to be the same people who used the old public transport systems (e.g. bus passengers switching to the Underground/a Metro). But that may of course be a modern thing.

 

4 hours ago, Methuselah said:

When my grandfather was a born, there were no cars whatsoever. Almost no real technology at all as we would think of it today. Are we any happier now...? Probably not.

 

Yes we probably worry about different things, but the sum of worries is constant!

 

11 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

Full baskets sheeted over and empties piled on top?

 

Yes, that's probably it.  I've been pondering what the "Trains" sign in the photo above refers to. A travel/ticket agency, perhaps, but a sign below seems to say 2-3 minutes. Doesn't really look like a station though.

Re the “trains”sign, this is what it looks like today, the corner where Queen Victoria Street passes under the Thameslink line and crosses the Blackfriars bridge road. Thankfully the distinctive triangular building is still there, as it the Blackfriars pub, where NR has been known to enter. The sign refers to the District line Blackfriars station, now with modern signage.

Isn't it Blackfriars station, with the bridge over Queen Victoria Street?

@Northroader, snap!

Thanks for clarifying that.  It led me to these interesting before/after images:

 

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/streetmuseum-app-creates-a-stunning-picture-of-you-in-a-london-scene-from-a-bygone-era-9153842.html

 

Edited February 7, 2020 by Mikkel

I have been following this thread with great interest and was hoping to call upon your collective archive. I am planning a model of Winchcombe Station. I lived there as a child and have a memory of a stable block at the bottom of the yard. It is visible on the 1921 OS. However, both my memory and the survey suggest that it was quite small, big enough, maybe, for only 2 horses. Tim V's picture of Chipping Norton suggests a 4 horse capacity. Does anyone have a picture of a standard GW stable block smaller than that one?

Sounds like an interesting project. The small stable blocks sometimes accommodated more stalls than one might think. The designs with 2 windows typically had 4-5 stalls:

 

 

 

One step down from that is the standard 'archetype' design with a single window. Examples include:

 

* Faringdon, of which there is a good photo on this page: http://www.faringdon.org/photos-of-faringdon-ferndale-st-park-road-station-untons-place.html

 

* Moreton in Marsh, see: https://www.model-rail.co.uk/the-chris-leigh-blog-2/2018/9/11/moreton-in-marsh-memories

 

I am not sure how many stalls those two housed, probably 2-3.

 

Henley in Arden is among the smallest I've seen, with room for just a single horse: 

https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrha2768.htm

 

Edited February 16, 2020 by Mikkel

A better picture of Moreton in Marsh from 1979. are we sure this is a stable?

That building is present on the 1919 OS 25" map but was not there on the 1900 edition. Its location alongside the running line and rather remote from the goods yard (on the opposite side of the line and at the other end of the passenger station) does seem to make it rather unlikely as a stable. On the other hand, I can't see a good alternative candidate. 

Can anything further be deduced from this 1929 Britain from above photo?

Despite being in Gloucestershire, Moreton in Marsh gets into Mike Musson's Warwickshire Railways. I'm sure you've already looke there, @Mikkel, it doesn't seem very conclusive but at least there is a photo of a horse.

 

Apologies for the multiple posts. I should learn to do all my reading and then post!