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Rivercider

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Everything posted by Rivercider

  1. The only close up picture I can find at present is in the 1989 book Rail Freight today (by OPC) PAA no. BIS 7987 with 'bis British Industrial Sand' logo. Looking on the internet, it appears BIS was formed following a merger in 1951, and in the 1970s the company was taken over by HMC Hepworth Minerals and Chemicals. WBB appear to have acquired HMC in July 2000, so I would assume in 1992 the wagons would still be displaying a BIS livery as I don't remember seeing any pictures of hoppers labelled for HMC. I can't claim any local knowledge, my last spotting/photography trip to East Anglia was late 1980s. cheers
  2. Although I have never worked at Bath Road I have been familiar with it since spotting days in the mid 1970s, many happy hours spent on Temple Meads no.12 platform. Followed by 30 years of commuting to or through Bristol, my train home usually went from no.10 or 12 platform, so I witnessed the sad decline. What plans do you have for detailing the diorama? One thing that always struck me was that any time of the day or night there were traincrew walking from the admin block to or from Temple Meads singly or in groups of 2 or 3. I had thought a little cameo of 2 or 3 drivers in conversation by the building would look good, but then I note from your OP that you want to be able to display various locos from varying eras, so I'm not sure how much the style of uniform or hi-viz clothing changed over time. Anyway, good luck with this project, cheers
  3. You should be pleased, I think it already starts to capture the essence of that corner of Bath Road. Speaking of the aforementioned bridge, when built there was no road access to Bath Road from street level to track level. At some time (in the 1980s?) road access was provided from the small car park opposite the main Bath Road entrance. The route was created by making a steep slope down the embankment side behind the site of the former West Signalbox, then a very sharp left turn to take the road under the A4 Bath Road bridge, utilising the track bed of the lifted second track, thus gaining access to the rear of the depot. cheers
  4. Another broadcast that is, as usual, both informative and entertaining. I know little about architecture in general, and I don't know why it should be but 1930s build often gets a second glance from me. Thanks for sharing cheers
  5. The avoiding line is still there, in use for access to St. Phillips Marsh, it was singled about 1970 during the MAS project. cheers
  6. Of course when the gunpowder van is empty it can be marshalled anywhere in the train. I once had a phone call from a concerned railwayman at St. Phillips Marsh, the Exeter - Warrington freight service (7M67 I think), was stood outside his office waiting to go into Kingsland Rd with an (empty) gunpowder van marshalled next to the nuclear flask wagon from Bridgwater-Sellafield. He was relieved when I told him the van was empty! cheers
  7. There could be scope for several versions of this type:- pristine, weathered, damaged, out of gauge...... cheers
  8. I was not sure about the Cov-AB, I thought of VCA as they looked like cupboard doors, but having looked at Paul Bartletts site (which I should have done before) I agree VDA. cheers
  9. Hello Rich, having started to look through my old photos I have found some I had forgotten taking. Disorganised as I am I have lost my accompanying notebook, but know they must have been taken on the same visit between August and November 1983, and yes, they were taken in black and white, during my artistic period! EDIT found my notes, it was 31/10/83 I am not sure what is being unloaded here, or the wagon, is it a VCA? EDIT my notes say 'pulp nuts' van 210291 A general view of the unloading, and the cement silo. Cement tank APCM 9073, type PCB, with air brake/vac pipe. A general view of the yard from the platform end, PCA/PCB cement tanks, what looks like a VEA and a VTG Ferrywagon. XVA Trestle wagon (990006 I think), loaded with steel plate for Appledore shipyard. The only other pictures I have come across are standard platform shots mostly of DMUs, also a number taken at Crediton, but the freight traffic on those is all Meldon traffic outside the scope of this thread. cheers
  10. This won't add any additional info to this thread, but while I was looking through some of my photos I thought these might be of interest. 25225 waits at Barnstaple before returning to Exeter Riverside with clayfits, 24th July 1980. Note the GUV stabled in the middle siding. A view from the end of the platform, there are SPA wagons in the yard and some clay empties, 24th July 1980. 33017 waits with the 18.05 to Exeter St, Davids cheers
  11. Sorry Ian I have no personal experience of seeing the vans loaded or unloaded, but the freight rolling stock clerk was in our office, so I remember some of the conversations about vanwides being no good. I have had a couple of conversations about the loading technique, and Brians reply sums up my understanding of it and the possible problem with using vanwides. cheers
  12. By the late 1970s I don't recall any regular traffic loaded in the Bristol/Avonmouth area for the far west. In my books I have photos of 16t minerals of coal to Ponsandane as well as the loco fuel, also fuel tanks and vanfits to/from Hayle Wharf. cheers
  13. When I first started work in Bristol TOPS in October 1978, ICI Severnside (TOPS code 81212) were still loading out fertilizer for various destinations. The traffic was in vanfits (never vanwides) and almost always in blocks of 10, for each destination. The traffic was usually tripped to Kingsland Road, Bristol, and forwarded on ordinary services. My WTT for 1976/77 shows 7B30 18.45 Avonmouth - Truro service, which would have taken the Torrington traffic as far as Exeter Riverside. By 1978 Avonmouth Royal Edward Yard had closed, hence traffic went via Kingsland Road and Riverside. Sorry I can't comment on the stickers, except to add that there was no dedicated pool of vanfits for the traffic, empties would come from all over the Bristol Division, as even in the late 1970s about 40 vans a day were being loaded out by ICI. . cheers
  14. I have a copy of 'Shunter Duties' produced by the Inter City Railway Society, so not an offiicial publication. The booklet appears to have been produced by enthusiasts, with some 'inside' information. It is dated August 1979 and has details of pilot duties for NR. There are 6 duties listed for class 03:- Yarmouth Station pilot AB Lowestoft Goods Yard Norwich Station and Carriage Sdgs AB Crown Point Yard Back Yard CCE sdgs Thorpe NCL depot. Also 2 Local Trip Pilots based on Crown Point Yd tripping as reqd to Trowse, Victoria CCD, and the engineers sdgs. No loco class is shown against these duties, is that what the 08s were employed on? cheers
  15. Although I am not familiar with the area I also find it very atmospheric, the flora is impressive, but my guess was rosebay willowherb, or fireweed as it is often known, it gets everwhere. cheers
  16. Hi Paul, thanks for adding some more flesh to the bones of working over this route, I had also previously read your North-Devon-Railways website, brought back some happy memories, as I recall you were always interested in the freight side of things. cheers Kevin
  17. Can I also add how much I am enjoying these broadcasts, there is a lovely sense of time and place. I can sense the spirit of newness and optimism of the residents of Frankland Hill brought about by the pride in their new houses and the new electric trains. Many thanks old chap, I look forward to the next bulletin. cheers
  18. Quite right, it was a fore-runner of the Speedlink Network. I joined Bristol TOPS in 1978, it was one train much attention was paid to. A couple of VAAs or similar loaded by NCL for Glasgow & Edinburgh in the old goods depot, tripped from Kingsland Road to West Depot. Occasionally some other air-brake traffic was on offer, I think from Avonmouth (Docks). The main train then took that traffic, plus a 5 set for Trafford Park and a 5 set for Coatbridge(?), next stop Bescot. The 16.30 Hereford service, referred to earlier, only ran for a short spell and never loaded heavily, the other traffic at that time was tripped to Swindon en-route Felixstowe. cheers
  19. I am not an expert at wagon recognition, but if these are 'original' freightliner flats then it will be a pair of FGA 'outer' flats. If it is a newer pair of the replacement wagons from the 1980s, they will be a pair of FSA 'outer' flats. Bristol West Depot was only a small terminal and seldom loaded more than 10 or 15 flats daily on a regular basis. As such it did not justify a regular trunk working, instead relying on a feeder trip to connect into the main network. I suspect a 2-set would have been common on this service, but sometimes may have loaded a 5-set. But as you say something of this length is easy to fit on most layouts. It would give you a bit of variety on a model of part of Hereford yard to have mainline services to call to attach/detach. cheers
  20. I will hazard a guess here, but stand to be corrected, Bristol West Depot was a small Freightliner Terminal, nearing the end of its life at that point. I think the train conveyed a 2 set, probably for Coatbridge, or Trafford Park, which would have connected into a service from Cardiff Pengam to the north/Scotland at Hereford. Probably to avoid congestion at Pengam The traffic was not for Hereford. cheers
  21. I like the look of this, you seem to have made a good start at keeping the unreal 'real' it reminds me of the Far Twittering and Oysterperch Railway in a strange way. cheers
  22. The dearth of terminals in this neck of the woods is partly explained by the terminal at Bridgwater on the river Parret which was served by coastal tankers. The Exeter City Basin terminal had already closed by this time, probably replaced by road haul out of Avonmouth I should think, much of the Avonmouth Dock trade, especially the Royal Edward Dock was tanker traffic at this time cheers.
  23. You have certainly started something here, I have been impressed with a lot of the finds, suggestions and memories. The whole route has a lot going for it, and several on the forum already seem to have got ideas, hopefully this will help some on their way. It has been the basis of a couple of my past plans, they have not got beyond dreaming, but maybe one day... cheers
  24. In the late 1970s there used to be a service from the Port of Bristol sidings at Chittening Estate near Avonmouth to the Texaco terminal at Exeter City Basin (on the downside), the empty tanks would return on ordinary service via Riverside and Kingsland Road for trip back to Avonmouth. Tiverton Junction terminal (upside east end) was served from Bromford Bridge I think. Heathfield served from one of the Milford Haven refineries. British Cellophane at Bridgwater had a disharge point in their sidings alongside the down main. Traffic was sporadic usually from South Wales. Hartwells Oils had a number of terminals. One at Swindon near the point where the Highworth/Pressed Steel branch diverges. When Bristol TOPS covered the area (mid 80s) traffic was sporadic, passing a few tanks at a time on Speedlink. Littlemore on the Morris Cowley branch was a more recent survivor. Flax Bourton (already mentioned) I used to pass most days on my way to Bristol between 1977-2007. I have never seen anything in there apart from on the up refuge siding, occasional tamper stabled, or back late 70s it was regularly used to detach hot-boxes detected by the Flax Bourton HABD. They were not surprisingly usually clay fits. cheers
  25. Quite right, it was in the former goods yard, behind Shirehampton station. Served from South Wales sporadically I remember, inwards trains via Henbury, outwards trains via Clifton Down, then ran round at East Depot before returning to South Wales. Finished very early 80s ISTR. cheers
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