Jonny's "where are these?" photo album

[woodenhead]

It's also funny because this particular picture didn't even start out as a 'Where is it?'  question.

[The Stationmaster]

1 hour ago, Swindon 123 said:

I was right. It was familiar, annoyingly so. My submission for location is Chester, precisely the Crewe end bay platforms (not the ones on the island platform). The nearest photo I have found that seems to match the original is thus.

 

 

 

Paul J.

Doing a lot of delving through old photos I think it might well be Chester General although something doesn't quite match over on the left.

[TheSignalEngineer]

I've spotted a picture of an 8f at Chester station in the 1960s on the RCTS site with the same style canopy, clock and tannoy on one of the other platforms.

[TheSignalEngineer]

Another taken from the platform on the left I think.

https://rcts.zenfolio.com/steam-lmsr/london-midland-scottish-railway/5p5f-stanier-4-6-0-black-5/hB935475F

[Swindon 123]

2 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

Doing a lot of delving through old photos I think it might well be Chester General although something doesn't quite match over on the left.

I thought that when I first saw the photo, but the original was taken many years ago and some of the stuff on the far platform in the photo I found looked recent, as in last 20 years.

 

Paul J.

 

Edited due to chubby fingers on small keyboard.

Edited December 12, 2019 by Swindon 123

[5BarVT]

2 hours ago, TheSignalEngineer said:

Another taken from the platform on the left I think.

https://rcts.zenfolio.com/steam-lmsr/london-midland-scottish-railway/5p5f-stanier-4-6-0-black-5/hB935475F

I fear those are the bays at the previously discussed other end. The square towers on the right are on the frontage and the ‘chimney’ in the background is the shot tower I think.

Boy are we having fun with Chester. :-)

Paul.

[jonny777]

8 hours ago, woodenhead said:

It's also funny because this particular picture didn't even start out as a 'Where is it?'  question.

 

Yes, and obviously the photographer had little idea, which is why he put New Street on the mount. 

[TheSignalEngineer]

16 hours ago, jonny777 said:

 

Yes, and obviously the photographer had little idea, which is why he put New Street on the mount. 

Whenever I have been at Chester station at Midnight I've either been fast alseep or too full of beer to notice my surroundings.

Edited December 13, 2019 by TheSignalEngineer

[jonny777]

For some strange and ignorant reason, I always though Chester station was on a curve, and so had not even considered it. 

 

[TheSignalEngineer]

16 minutes ago, jonny777 said:

For some strange and ignorant reason, I always though Chester station was on a curve, and so had not even considered it. 

 

Main lines are straight but there are curves at each end.

[Wickham Green]

13 hours ago, TheSignalEngineer said:

Main lines are straight but there are curves at each end.

Even a straight platform turns into inexplicable reverse curves when you're too full of beer .............. hic !

[jonny777]

I feel that I ought to be able to read a station sign here somewhere, but I can't; not even the one underneath the lamp by the wall. There is a sharp change of gradient just beyond the crossover, and what appears to be a loading gauge on the left beyond the signalbox. Probably another S&M rural station but I haven't had time to pore over the older maps. 

 

 

[big jim]

Hawarden looking toward Buckley 

 

https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Footbridge,_Hawarden_railway_station_(geograph_3800260).jpg

 

interesting fact 1: the only station on the Wrexham-bidston line with a footbridge, as the railway ran through lord gladstones’’ land he insisted on a footbridge to cross the line so as to not get ran over!

 

the loading gauge was most likely for the factory that used to be next to the station that made aircraft cockpits during the 2nd world war apparently 

 

not so interesting fact 2: I got married in hawarden

 

 

Edited December 13, 2019 by big jim

[Ian Smeeton]

20 hours ago, jonny777 said:

 

Yes, and obviously the photographer had little idea, which is why he put New Street on the mount. 

 

Could it have been a train from/for New Street?

 

Regards

 

Ian

[jonny777]

13 minutes ago, big jim said:

Hawarden looking toward Buckley 

 

https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Footbridge,_Hawarden_railway_station_(geograph_3800260).jpg

 

interesting fact 1: the only station on the Wrexham-bidston line with a footbridge, as the railway ran through lord hawardens’ land he insisted on a footbridge to cross the line so as to not get ran over!

 

the loading gauge was most likely for the factory that used to be next to the station that made aircraft cockpits during the 2nd world war apparently 

 

not so interesting fact 2: I got married in hawarden

 

 

 

 

Thanks very much Big Jim. 

[TheSignalEngineer]

On 13/12/2019 at 17:06, Ian Smeeton said:

 

Could it have been a train from/for New Street?

 

Regards

 

Ian

Possibly a good call. in the early 1960s there was a 7.35pm Holyhead - Birmingham which carried mails. Got to New Street just after 2am.

 

Edit. Just checked my old New Street platforming book for 1964. That train from Holyhead had  a cross platform connection with the Newcastle - Bristol sleeper which carried TPO vans

Edited December 14, 2019 by TheSignalEngineer

[jonny777]

This photo intrigues me for a number of reasons, not least because I have no idea of the location. 

 

However, the DMU in the picture appears to be a Derby 4-car unit and I didn't think Derby made 4-car DMUs except for suburban ones. I have inspected the image for evidence that it is two 2-car units but cannot see anything to suggest this, which leads be to the conclusion it must be a hybrid of some kind - but I am happy to leave that to the experts. 

 

Any info would be welcome. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[keefer]

Looks like a class 108 4-car DMC-TBS-TS-DMC

Don't know about late-1970s allocations but the original builds are covered here: https://www.railcar.co.uk/type/class-108/operations

Edited December 15, 2019 by keefer

[uax6]

It looks a bit like you have a normal twin as the closest two vehicles, and then what looks like a pair of DTS's at the far end, but with their cabs at the far end--- note the window arrangement is the same on each car, but that the second car from the rear has what looks like a van at the closest end. There also appears to be another unit coupled up at the far end too.

 

No idea where it could be, but that looks like an eastern region dod on the right..

 

Andy G

 

edit: I didn't know about the 4-car 108's either! Is it some sort of railtour?

 

Edited December 15, 2019 by uax6

[sir douglas]

is it just me or does it have a sort of york area/North yorks/ East yorks feel to it, thats at least what im getting with what looks to be the station building above the unit

[keefer]

Further to my link above, scroll down to 'Centre Cars':

'The 3&4-car sets spent their early years at South Gosforth, until the mid-late '70s when most of South Gosforth's Derby Lightweight sets were transferred to Neville Hill, where they became regular performers on the Leeds to Morecombe route as well as local services in Yorkshire.'

EDIT: just noticed the unit is coupled to what looks like a blue cl.104

Edited December 15, 2019 by keefer

[jonny777]

9 minutes ago, keefer said:

Looks like a class 108 4-car DMC-TBS-TS-DMC

Don't know about late-1970s allocations but the original builds are covered here: https://www.railcar.co.uk/type/class-108/operations

 

 

According to that site, there were only 6 of them; which may explain why I was not aware of their existence. 

[31A]

Could be Bedale on the Redmire line, looking west.

 

[jonny777]

Armed with the excellent information given, and the fact that the photo was taken in spring, judging by the daffodils flowering on the right, and the relatively narrow time-span of the white/blue stripe refurbished livery; it was a relatively easy effort to skim through Sixbellsjunction for a rail tour which satisfied the above criteria somewhere in North Yorkshire, and I came up with the Dalesrail Excursion of 19th April 1980. 

 

If this is correct, the unit will be on the Redmire branch, judging by the state of the track. 

 

 

[jonny777]

3 minutes ago, 31A said:

Could be Bedale on the Redmire line, looking west.

 

 

 

It seems we are on the same wavelength.