colin.divall

According to Mike King's book on SR pull-push stock (p.42), in Sep 1960 the interior livery was "pale cream and reddish brown, with reddish brown floral pattern upholstery." He speculates the curtains were "probably similar" but it's clear from photos they were in fact a mid-blue. Adding them does make a difference. Colin

And for those thinking modelling Hayfield (or anywhere else on the branch for that matter) in 1880, evidence from the Board of Trade's report on the railway companies progress (or lack thereof) on interlocking!.... Colin

Thanks, very interesting to see this diagram etc. (although there seems to be some confusion of the spare levers!). Any idea of the date? There are clearly changes from that below (also undated, but I'd assume from the C20th heyday of the line, after the box was moved to the west of the level crossing in the 1920s): The diagram is by R.D. Foster, and was published in the MRC (Feb. 1979), p.82. Colin

Yup, agreed: those old Humbrols can still deliver. I was recently using an oldish (ten years?), previously unopened tin of Cherry BR bauxite on some long-'paused' wagon projects - fine, although two (brushed) coats needed for a decent finish. Thought things were looking a little uniform though, so dug around and found a partly used, 1/2 fluid ounce tin of Humbrol 110, 'BR Freight Stock Red Bauxite' I'd been given some years ago. I reckoned it must be at least 50 years old. Wasn't optimistic... how wrong can you be? Twenty second shake, if that; quick test swab; and then, to my eye at least, really quite a decent finish after just one coat.... Colin

Argue they might, but they'd be wrong! The line was GC & Midland Joint, later LNER & LMS; no sniff of the CLC. It is (still) a spectacular location though. Colin

To be strictly accurate, this bridge wasn’t the original - probably a timber structure like many underbridges on the cheaply built Southampton & Dorchester - but a replacement from ca 1853, 1854. It was designed by Charles Barry and paid for by Lady Charlotte Guest after the death of her husband Sir J. John Guest, the iron-master.

Be interested to hear how you get on - I live in the village and have wondered over the years about modelling all or part of the station, or that at Birch. Perhaps in another life...! Colin

In fact the Poole Quay tramway staggered on to early 1960, the loss of the bunker coal for the Cosens pleasure steamers being the final nail, if my memory of the Kew closure file serves me correctly. Rather like in Weymouth at the moment, the local authority had long been keen to be rid of the tracks in the highway. Colin

It’s a ballast brake van, correctly painted predominantly in red oxide - see mclong’s post on p8 above. C.

Err, they did. The Salisbury & Dorset Junction Railway - not the other S&DJR.... Colin

Anyone interested in the branch might like to buy a copy of Hayfield: From Rail to Trail, a 25 min DVD some friends and I finished recently about the last years. It uses most of Ken’s lovely colour film from 1969 (with his full permission I might add), plus recollections from locals about travelling on the line etc. A snip at a fiver (with all ‘profits’ to charity, so we’d rather not see it posted on You Tube....); available only from the newsagent in Hayfield. It’s also showing in the heritage centre in New Mills. Colin

The original suggestion came from the (then) Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), which offered Ringwood-Brockenhurst as one of several closed lines where there was potentially a business case for re-opening - in this instance largely to relieve road traffic to/from Soton Parkway/Eastleigh and then onto Basingstoke etc. The report recognised that there was traffic from farther west (Wimborne, Ferndown, Verwood etc), but that the loss of infrastructure meant there was no realistic prospect of re-building. When closure of the Old Road was (briefly) discussed in secret within the Whitehall in 1963-64, the future expansion of housing north of Poole/Bournemouth/Christchurch was acknowledged, but the bod from the Ministry of Housing & Local Government knocked on the head any prospect of reprieving the route by arguing that this wouldn’t be a commuting area (I.e. London overspill).... Easy to criticise with 50 years’ hindsight, but I wonder how wise much of today’s transport policy will look in 2069! Colin

To be pedantic (or merely accurate, take your pick), 14 Oct 1974 was when the Wimborne-West Moors (MoD) section was taken out of use. The trains to the depot had petered out earlier that year, in the summer. At the time (I lived in the area), I firmly believed the last trains had been around June/July, but there's some photographic evidence that there might have been some movments in August. Beyond that - zilch! Colin

Ah, Wimborne's provender stores... many traps for the unwary, including me, and I've only been researching the site since ca 1970..... The Bibby's corrugated-'iron' store is a sort-of standard Southern Railway structure, about half of which, as far as I can discover, just possibly dates from before WW2, but which in any case was certainly extended twice - the first time at some point in the (early?) 1950s, by means of the Exmouth Junction concrete product (including the 'bridge' you mention - but in corrugated iron as far as I can make out, not concrete or asbetos sheet), and then again in the early 1960s by extending the original corrugated iron building to about twice its initial length using similar materials. This extension post-dates the official BR diagram from which your extract comes. So the 'proper' size of the store will very much depend on the year you're modelling... Much though I love the WRS's rendition of Wimborne station, this is not, shall we say, the most accurate element since, apart from anything else, the two parts of the store are modelled as off-set from one another - which they never were. If you'd like to PM me, I might be able to dig out some photos and WHY. Colin

Well, mine was a tongue-in-cheek remark! A nice shot ( in Michael Welch’s Decline of Southern Steam) in colour of the same engine heading north through Broadstone with the Pines, complete with the BR standard headcode - although in this case, probably explained by the fact that the top bracket was in use for the headboard. Aubrey Punter is great to talk to as well. Thanks to him I know it’s OK to run a rebuilt Merchant Navy as far as Wimborne without having to invoke Rule 1.... C

Hmm, never say (or imply) never! - that is definitely a Toad behind 34066 on a demolition train on the Sarum & Dorset Junction in May 1965 (p.73 of Nigel Bray’s history of the line). But I am a bit worried by the standard BR express code on 92233, on the front cover of BRM.... or has this train not come off the Dorset?.... Colin

It is indeed! Colin

Duncan Peter Russell probably knows more about West Moors station and its environs than most, having been brought up around there in the 1960s. He’s not a member of RMWeb though, so if you don’t know him PM me and I’ll put you in touch. Colin

Yes, there was a colour-light signal in the early 1980s but only at the Manchester end of the station, for working towards Marple/Romiley. The absolute block to New Mills South Junction was controlled by semaphores, at least as far as the signal near the bridge/station box was concerned - the distant might well have been colour light by then. The remodelling when the stub was taken out and a new colour-light replaced the bracket semaphore also introduced bi-directional working on what had been the Sheffield-bound platform; yet another new colour-light signal, at the Manchester end of that platform, allowed passenger trains to reverse and depart for Marple over the existing crossover. As for the Hayfield branch itself... well thereby hangs a tale that I've extensively researched and really must write up. Closing the branch did mean the end of two other boxes, Tunnel End Junction, at the far end of the tunnel, which controlled the entrance/exit to the single line, and Hayfield station box. BR wanted to get rid of the latter before the branch closed, to save money, but was prevented by the Ministry of Transport for reasons to do with the wider politics of the closure process. TEJ box could've been abolished, but only at the cost of altering NMC box, something that BR wasn't overly keen to do given the branch's rather poor finances.... So while a reasonable case could be (and vociferously was) made for keeping the branch on the basis of what we'd now call the wider social and economic benefits, the financial reality in the late 1960s was that it had no future. The final nail in its coffin was SELNEC's decision that it had no role in its plans for public transport in Greater Manchester and the surrounding area.

Tim Probably too late but....Going from memory here, since I’m over 230 miles away from any photos or notes. The Hayfield stub was used for reversing well into the late 1980s and possibly into the mid 1990s. I used to work in Manchester and commuted from NMC from 1989 until 1994, and for at least some - probably most - of that time the stub was in use. It was taken out when the crossover at the Manchester end of the station along with one of the former freight layby sidings were renovated, allowing removal of the crossover by the signal box as well as the connection to the stub. The resignalling saw the end of the semaphore bracket by the bridge and installation of the colour-lights which are still there today. The Sheffield local trains were still turning back at NMC when I moved to the NW in 1979 but I can’t remember when the through Manchester-Sheffield service was introduced. But it might well have been tied up with the diversion of fast trains on the Hope Valley via the new Hazel Grove Chord in the mid 1980s. I have one or two photos from that era tucked away somewhere if you’re still interested . Colin

Whoops - I meant, of course, that 96 had the handbrake extension to the sheet, as per the model, whereas 93 didn't... C.

There are several pics of 30093 in Colin Stone's Rails to Poole Harbour (Oakwood 2007), including a very useful one of the rear at p.132. The only obvious difference I can see between 96 and 93, crest aside, is that 93 had a semi-circular extension to the rear cabsheet, which I assume was to give a bit more room to work the handbrake without taking the skin of one's knuckles. Doesn't look as though it'll be too hard to remove that from the model - which is what I certainly intend to do.... Colin

Yes, 373 definitely ran on the Old Road in 1960 - I’ve a photo somewhere of the set at Wimborne. I know the photo at Fordingbridge, although I don’t have it to hand. Pretty sure when I checked years ago it wasn’t of 373. Ex Isle of Sheppey set, something like that?

The idea of modelling the last train to Wimborne all bulled up does appeal although re-numbering to set nos 409 or 413 (from 404) doesn't! Could always settle (eventually) for the Hants Ferret to West Moors in Feb 1973 - 6511, plus 404 & 420 with buffet 1758 in the middle....

I'm afraid it does indeed seem that the Bachmann version is a full scale foot too long over the headstocks. There is a dimensioned drawing of the Diagram 1/354 ferry conversions at p. 80 of Don Rowland's British Railway Wagons (1985); it's the same basic body as the standard 8T wagon. I bought two of the models at the York show on the basis of the quality of the moulding and Bachmann's generally good reputation (in recent years) for the quality of their wagons, and was bitterly disappointed when I lined them up against the 1960s vintage Airfix version - which is pretty well spot-on as far as the basic body dimensions are concerned, even if the detail is a bit iffy. The difference is really quite striking - see Ben's photos above. Perhaps Bachmann were trying to make up for the old LMS cattle wagon being way too short.... Colin D.