HGT1972

As mentioned in an earlier post, those 12 banana vans were almost certainly coming from the recently opened Geest depot at Heathfield and returning to Barry Docks. Geest had nine ripening/distribution centres, in addition to the facilities at Preston, and later Barry. These were at Airdire (Plains) in Scotland (and known locally as The Banana Factory!); Birmingham Curzon Street; Bradford Adolphus Street; Spalding (from 1964); Easton Lodge (near Bishop's Stortford, from 1962); Heathfield; Lingfield; Taplow and Warminster. They also supplied customer direct in short rakes of vans. It was a complex operation - one Tuesday in September 1970, for example, 95 vans left the docks at Barry for 29 different depots in seven trains. Fyffes had their own facilities. Hywel

The rake of banana vans could well be returning to Barry Docks for Geest. That company had been importing bananas through Preston but in the late 1950s began using Barry, which became the centre for their Windward Island trade for many years. They had opened a new ripening depot at Heathfield, on the branch from Newton Abbot that same year, 1960, so it would be a fair assumption that the rake of vans were added at Hackney Yard for the start of their return journey. An evening trip from Barry at that time ran to Severn Tunnel Junction with bananas for Taplow (20 vans), Warminster (20 vans) and Heathfield (10 vans). Hywel

You can certainly justify FAAs in Cornwall at that time! I found a number of FAAs at St Blazey and Truro during 9/99. At St Blazey was at least two with a rake of VGAs. At Truro was a longer train of very clean wagons (including 609012/9/59/62) loaded with 40ft blue 'Spacewise' and red 'TransAmerica Leasing' containers. They were unloaded there using a Containerlift transfer trailer and moved across onto lorries. Hywel

When the Canton staff and tool vans, DB975085/147, were first converted they retained blue and grey livery with the windows simply painted grey. The surprisingly small branding was quite crudely applied. Photos of them in action during 1973 confirm that, with the red/blue livery appearing from 1974. I think the other South Wales staff and tool vans were probably also in the modified blue/grey livery originally with a similar repaint following in 1974. They all looked rather smart in this livery, the Ebbw Junction pair always standing out from a passing train in those days. They all gained the later yellow livery from 1979. Hywel

Two very nice photos. There were two of these - TRU6 (on DM721234) and TRU 7 (on DM721282), both converted in 1962. When the CEPS system was introduced in the mid 1970s they became DRB78117 and DRB78118 respectively. Other than the cab modification to fit the loading gauge they were stock Coles products. The concept was updated in 1969 when TRU12 and 13 arrived (DRB78119/120), these using a pair of British Hoist & Crane Tourmaline Iron Fairy cranes giving a more modern appearance. They'll make a fine model. Hywel

Hello Mike - from memory (which may be faulty of course!) this is your culprit, a former Rectank, seen here at Thurso in 1969 courtesy of 'Ernie's Railway Archive' on Flickr. I think it was sat there for a few years doing not a lot. Others will no doubt know more. Hywel

Paul's picture is the same design but built six years later for the SR rather than the LMR example in the initial photo. DRB78009-11 (TRU3-5) were built 1951/4/7 respectively. As with many of the TRUs they carried several numbers (often at the same time!), in this case DS84; DS87 and DS70001 respectively. Again all were former WD Warwells and they all worked with compressor wagons on various designs of underframes. Hywel

The track relayer looks to be one of a batch of three built for the LMR on former Warwells in 1951. They were originally numbered TRM1-3 (DB965401-3) and later, under CEPS, DRB78004-6. Nice to see one lurking in the background of a photograph, although, to be fair that's where most of them appear as not many people took a picture of them. Hywel

Several of the creosote tanks (and quite a few of the later second-hand ex-Esso tanks bought by BR) ended their days at Woodhams, Barry. At least one, DB998996, was still in use for creosote just before scrapping in the late 1980s. I found it here, still loaded, one Sunday. It was in the process of being emptied by the simple expedient of hammering a cold chisel through the end, leaving it to drain into the ground at West Pond over several days! I could smell the creosote as soon as I arrived at the yard that day...it was quite pungent. Not something that could happen these days, thankfully. When I next get the photos out I'll see what branding it carries. Hywel

The trencher is the Hunslet machine, developed from 1959 and into service in 1962, numbered DB965168 (later DR85001), and was purpose built, despite appearing to be on an old well wagon. The rather handsome cab has a very 'locomotive' look to it but it actually moved itself along using a cable winch powered by the Leyland engine under the hood. It ended it's days at Radyr in the 1990s although it was originally based on the ER and then on the SR (where it worked with an old BR gunpowder van as a tool van for a while!). It did work with one of the Grampus-based spoil handing systems in the early years at least. Hywel

The Minnow was used with the 3B5 so that's the one to build. The later 8CB5 had an on-board generator and used PMV chassis as runners underneath the spoil conveyor. The 3B5 pre-rebuild used the generator wagon as a runner for the conveyor but after rebuilding the generator wagon was coupled to the cab end of the cleaner and a Medfit coupled the other end as a runner. Good luck in tracking down that early diagram book - that would prove very useful! Hywel

Just a quick note if you're asking Matisa to look out for some plans - it was the 1955-introduced 3B5 cleaner that worked with the Minnow conversions, not the 8CB5. The slightly later 8CB5 dated from 1961 (there were four of them) and mainly used old PMV parcels van chassis as runners. The 3B5s were rebuilt in the 1960s and gained a runner wagon, usually a Medfit, in addition to the generator wagon at the other end. Good luck with the model! There's one on my to-do list too. Hywel

You're quite correct - it gained the right colour several months ago. Blame over enthusiasm with that nice bright red! Whether any of the staff vans were actually vacuum braked I'm not sure. Hywel

Just reading this thread (and what a well put together programme that prompted this in the first place). The railway scene where the son collapsed was actually Barry Tourist Railway. The vans are the former Ford vans that worked out of Bridgend and the hoppers are the currently stored ex-Freightliner HXAs. Regarding the records 'bunker' - it may not be Trecwn and could in fact be the Brackla RGHQ bunker in Bridgend. One of those looks very much like it, complete with the embedded track in the concrete approach road. Hywel

'TR' did indeed stand for Trolley. Wickham trolley B146W (also allocated the WR plant number PWM2214 when built in 1947) would have gained its new identity when the WR lines around Aberystwyth were transferred to the LMR. The LMR used the TR series for its Wickhams until the regional series were superseded by the CEPS DX68xxx series (TR26 then became DX68061). Hywel