Jonny's "where are these?" photo album

[Fat Controller]

6 minutes ago, keefer said:

I wonder if it's getting the loco in place for the 'Birkenhead Flyer' railtour on 4/3/67 ?

https://www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/60s/670304ia.html

I dont know whether that's a Castle in the pic, but if it is, it could be 'Pendennis Castle' which worked Didcot-Chester (and the return) on this railtour.

If it is Didcot, then I wonder if the sidings are the former Moreton yard, on the way to Reading (where the electrification depot was). The caravan site looks more like the type where workers might be put up during a large construction project than one used by tourists.

The thing that does throw me is the structure to the left of the steel framework.

[Peter Kazmierczak]

If it's Moreton, then the "Castle" is on the down relief, yet by the exhaust it looks like it's heading towards the camera bang road.

[jonny777]

16 minutes ago, Fat Controller said:

If it is Didcot, then I wonder if the sidings are the former Moreton yard, on the way to Reading (where the electrification depot was). The caravan site looks more like the type where workers might be put up during a large construction project than one used by tourists.

The thing that does throw me is the structure to the left of the steel framework.

 

To my untrained eye, the structure to the left of the steel framework looks a little like a part constructed cooling tower. 

[The Pilotman]

Unless I’m very much mistaken, it’s just east of Foxhall Junction. You can see the west curve diverging from the main line beyond the (toad?) brake van and again beyond the grassy area behind the wagons. The loco is on the down relief line. Also, just west of Didcot the down and up main lines are further apart than normal as can be seen in the picture.

The caravan site was still there the last time I was in the area (several years ago); it’s a residential site.

Edited November 1, 2019 by Western Aviator

[TheSignalEngineer]

36 minutes ago, jonny777 said:

 

To my untrained eye, the structure to the left of the steel framework looks a little like a part constructed cooling tower. 

Didcot A power station was built between 1964 and 1968.

 

[TheSignalEngineer]

On 24/07/2019 at 11:13, Joseph_Pestell said:

 

Platform (and canopy) seems narrower than I would have expected.

This shows them from the end.

Bournemouth West Station, Queen's Road, Bournemouth, Dorset by Alwyn Ladell, on Flickr

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Re-Castle at Moreton, I think the structure to the left of the main building is the beginnings of the chimney at Didcot PS.

Edited November 1, 2019 by Peter Kazmierczak

[Davexoc]

2 hours ago, iands said:

Thanks Keefer. If the date on the slide is correct, then this could be a light engine move after that Railtour.

 

Not likely, the buffers have only just been cleaned up, and everyone appears to be looking backwards on the footplate as though heading towards the station.

 

2 hours ago, Western Aviator said:

Unless I’m very much mistaken, it’s just east of Foxhall Junction. You can see the west curve diverging from the main line beyond the (toad?) brake van and again beyond the grassy area behind the wagons. The loco is on the down relief line. Also, just west of Didcot the down and up main lines are further apart than normal as can be seen in the picture.

The caravan site was still there the last time I was in the area (several years ago); it’s a residential site.

 

Agree, there is a MAS just behind and to the right of the loading gauge on the west curve, and beyond the Toad is Foxhall junction. The photo being taken from Basil Hill Road bridge looking east, (that is the road that leads to Didcot Parkway multi-storey these days).

 

About the middle on this NLS map  -  https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=17&lat=51.6142&lon=-1.2524&layers=193&right=BingHyb

 

Dave

[The Stationmaster]

2 hours ago, Western Aviator said:

Unless I’m very much mistaken, it’s just east of Foxhall Junction. You can see the west curve diverging from the main line beyond the (toad?) brake van and again beyond the grassy area behind the wagons. The loco is on the down relief line. Also, just west of Didcot the down and up main lines are further apart than normal as can be seen in the picture.

The caravan site was still there the last time I was in the area (several years ago); it’s a residential site.

That is exactly where it is and the steelwork visible in the background is the main power station building of Didcot PS (later Didcot A) under construction.  The photograph would definitely appear to have been taken after May 1965 because Foxhall Jcn Signal Box and the semaphore signals have gone together with the running line connections to the sidings on the right of the view.  Judging by the smoke and positions of people on the footplate it appears that the engine is setting back towards Didcot station - perhaps after turning.

 

Possibly the day of the last  'Castles to Chester on the day the through Paddington - Birkenhead services finished??

 

 

[adb968008]

On 28/09/2019 at 19:11, SP Steve said:

 

Wigan North Western Platform 1 with loco heading north - loco and stock would suggest Manchester to Blackpool club train diverted to run through Wigan rather than the more normal Bolton - Preston.

There was regular club trains down the Walkden line to.

 

Made for fast cycling to catch them on both the Bolton and Walkden lines on the same night.

 

Here’s one at Moorside

[Fat Controller]

9 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

That is exactly where it is and the steelwork visible in the background is the main power station building of Didcot PS (later Didcot A) under construction.  The photograph would definitely appear to have been taken after May 1965 because Foxhall Jcn Signal Box and the semaphore signals have gone together with the running line connections to the sidings on the right of the view.  Judging by the smoke and positions of people on the footplate it appears that the engine is setting back towards Didcot station - perhaps after turning.

 

Possibly the day of the last  'Castles to Chester on the day the through Paddington - Birkenhead services finished??

 

 

Would the siding with the wagons of steel fabrications be the one used, more recently, to run-round coal trains from Avonmouth, destined for Didcot PS?

[5BarVT]

‘Fraid not.  The Down Relief (on which the castle is running) became reversible and the Up Relief became a Goods Loop to allow that.  The Stationmaster had a big input to that scheme.

Paul.

[Fat Controller]

18 minutes ago, 5BarVT said:

‘Fraid not.  The Down Relief (on which the castle is running) became reversible and the Up Relief became a Goods Loop to allow that.  The Stationmaster had a big input to that scheme.

Paul.

Thanks for that, Paul. 

[petethemole]

If the date on the slide is printed, it's probably the processing date rather than the date taken.

[iands]

1 hour ago, petethemole said:

If the date on the slide is printed, it's probably the processing date rather than the date taken.

Thanks, I hadn't thought of that. However, on this slide the date has been handwritten. Could this still have been written by the "processor" rather than by the photographer when they got the slide back?

[petethemole]

I doubt that a commercial processor would hand write dates on slides. Part of my job used to involve writing project numbers and other details onto slide mounts. It's a fiddly process just doing a date. A home processor might have done it, but how common was home processing of slide film in 1967?  ISTR  you could get the film only processed and cut and hand mount the transparencies yourself. We had a photographer at work in the '80s who did that.

[DY444]

On 01/11/2019 at 21:26, The Stationmaster said:

That is exactly where it is and the steelwork visible in the background is the main power station building of Didcot PS (later Didcot A) under construction.  The photograph would definitely appear to have been taken after May 1965 because Foxhall Jcn Signal Box and the semaphore signals have gone together with the running line connections to the sidings on the right of the view.  Judging by the smoke and positions of people on the footplate it appears that the engine is setting back towards Didcot station - perhaps after turning.

 

Possibly the day of the last  'Castles to Chester on the day the through Paddington - Birkenhead services finished??

 

 

 

Agreed, and you can see the colour light signal for the curve directly below the left hand building on the horizon.

[SP Steve]

On ‎02‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 00:00, adb968008 said:

There was regular club trains down the Walkden line to.

 

Made for fast cycling to catch them on both the Bolton and Walkden lines on the same night.

 

Here’s one at Moorside

 

 

This would be 17:21 Manchester - Southport service - in the summer I used to call in at Hindley on my way back home from night shift to photograph the Southport - Manchester turn (07:16 from Southport).

[jonny777]

On 02/11/2019 at 14:05, petethemole said:

I doubt that a commercial processor would hand write dates on slides. Part of my job used to involve writing project numbers and other details onto slide mounts. It's a fiddly process just doing a date. A home processor might have done it, but how common was home processing of slide film in 1967?  ISTR  you could get the film only processed and cut and hand mount the transparencies yourself. We had a photographer at work in the '80s who did that.

 

Yes, I used to do that in the late 70s/early 80s when money was tight. A few colleagues of mine clubbed together and bought film in bulk rolls. One of the group managed to get some empty canisters and had a darkroom where he cut the big roll up into the correct length for 36-38 transparencies, and we paid him far less than the (then) current price for commercial slide film. 

 

I can't remember who processed the films after exposure, but I used to buy boxes of Gepe slide mounts and just cut up my developed films and mount each slide individually. 

 

 

[The Stationmaster]

On 02/11/2019 at 08:50, 5BarVT said:

‘Fraid not.  The Down Relief (on which the castle is running) became reversible and the Up Relief became a Goods Loop to allow that.  The Stationmaster had a big input to that scheme.

Paul.

In fact the whole idea of converting the Up Relief for runround use came from me.  I had worked out what length of train we would need to shift the contracted tonnage at a sensible rate so I know how much room I needed and while the Up Relief had the necessary length the signal overlaps made it too short.  So I proposed converting the Up Relief between Foxhall Jcn and Didcot West End to a goods line with trap points at each end which got rid of the overlap problem and left enough room to runround the coal trains from Avonmouth.

 

I did look at various alternatives which although they were really non-starters needed to be checked out properly.  One  was to run round on the goods avoiding lines at Reading but that didn't strike me as ideal for various reasons so I organised myself a loaded coal train + Class 60 and did a live trial of that plus a test of running round in Didcot Yard - a very pleasant sunny afternoon as things turned out.  My other 'possible' was to reinstate the Up Goods Line east of Didcot and have a run round loop at Moreton Cutting but that looked too expensive without even bothering to go for estimates and in any event Moreton Cutting was a reserved site for a major GWML electrification base so that killed that one completely.  So the Up Relief Line conversion  was the one I developed and pushed through for authority as part of the overall scheme

[Peter Kazmierczak]

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

so I organised myself a loaded coal train + Class 60 

 

As you do.....

[iands]

1 hour ago, Peter Kazmierczak said:

 

As you do.....

As you do indeed. Although not on the same scale as a loaded coal train + class 60 loco, during the commissioning testing on the East London Line and subsequent modifications (Phase 1A, Phase 2 and LOCIP) I was lucky enough to be able to request a train (class 378) + driver + driver manager on several occasions for specific GSM-R testing, most of which were slotted in between timetabled service trains (as opposed to during line closures/possessions). It's quite a feeling to be able to have such a request for a train granted once, let alone several times as I was lucky enough to be.

[Davexoc]

6 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

In fact the whole idea of converting the Up Relief for runround use came from me.  I had worked out what length of train we would need to shift the contracted tonnage at a sensible rate so I know how much room I needed and while the Up Relief had the necessary length the signal overlaps made it too short.  So I proposed converting the Up Relief between Foxhall Jcn and Didcot West End to a goods line with trap points at each end which got rid of the overlap problem and left enough room to runround the coal trains from Avonmouth.

 

I did look at various alternatives which although they were really non-starters needed to be checked out properly.  One  was to run round on the goods avoiding lines at Reading but that didn't strike me as ideal for various reasons so I organised myself a loaded coal train + Class 60 and did a live trial of that plus a test of running round in Didcot Yard - a very pleasant sunny afternoon as things turned out.  My other 'possible' was to reinstate the Up Goods Line east of Didcot and have a run round loop at Moreton Cutting but that looked too expensive without even bothering to go for estimates and in any event Moreton Cutting was a reserved site for a major GWML electrification base so that killed that one completely.  So the Up Relief Line conversion  was the one I developed and pushed through for authority as part of the overall scheme

 

Don't have a pic of a 60, so a shed will have to do....

 

 

Of course, 13 or so years later and it doesn't look anything like that now.

[TheSignalEngineer]

2 hours ago, iands said:

As you do indeed. Although not on the same scale as a loaded coal train + class 60 loco, during the commissioning testing on the East London Line and subsequent modifications (Phase 1A, Phase 2 and LOCIP) I was lucky enough to be able to request a train (class 378) + driver + driver manager on several occasions for specific GSM-R testing, most of which were slotted in between timetabled service trains (as opposed to during line closures/possessions). It's quite a feeling to be able to have such a request for a train granted once, let alone several times as I was lucky enough to be.

When testing signalling immunisation on the LMR side of the original Thameslink scheme we needed some leakage figures in the Farringdon area.  As we weren't in a position to allow live DC use into Farringdon at the time I asked what was the biggest DC current draw we could get at Blackfriars under the worst acceptable feeding arrangements. A Class 455 was deemed to have the biggest appetite at the time so we borrowed two sets and in the early hours of one Monday morning the first feeder station on the SR was isolated from the rails. The 8-car train was assembled in Blackfriars and positioned on the line into the old Holborn Viaduct station where there was a route with two reverse curves and a 1 in 104 rising gradient over a bridge. The Traction Inspector instructed the driver to give it all he dared for  few seconds without blowing up the train. Very successful as I got a trace of the traction motors starting up on a pen recorder connected to a rail at Cricklewood.

[jonny777]

I would be grateful if someone could give me a clue as to what might be the details of this photo. I have no clue to location or year; but judging by the heads out of various windows, the 40 appears to be reversing for some reason or other. Surely, the vehicles would not be going for scrap?