Jump to content
 

Stoke Courtenay


checkrail
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • RMweb Gold
7 hours ago, richbrummitt said:

What is that attached in two places on the platform side of the E95 adjacent to the corridor windows - notices?

Er, not quite sure what you're looking at.  All I can see is the back of the running-in board, a trolley loaded with suitcases, and maybe the plain backs of some advertising signs on the fence.  Or did you mean something attached to the coach itself?

  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, checkrail said:

did you mean something attached to the coach itself?


Yes, that. :good:
 

Visible above the seated person in picture 2 and by the platform lamp  in picture 3 where the pictures refer to those in your most recent post. 
 

They appear to be a representation of some white text on a black background. 

Edited by richbrummitt
  • Informative/Useful 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
21 hours ago, checkrail said:

This was inspired by a picture in Semmens, The heyday of GWR train services, of a through coach for Newquay standing on its own in the platform at Par having been dropped by a down train.

Which is very interesting because not all of the points that would be facing for such a move were locked, which would also be the case for Stoke Courtenay (Brent). I haven't yet found a definitive answer as to how the move was made. The best guess so far is that because a) the points were detected by the relevant signals and b) all the relevant tracks were track-circuited the move was permitted without having to clip and padlock but we haven't found any local instruction to confirm this or otherwise.

 

It wasn't a one-off either - there are a number of similar pictures around from different eras.

 

If anyone knows, or has a better guess, I'd appreciate the information (as, I'm sure, would our host here and others too).

Edited by St Enodoc
Additional information
  • Like 2
  • Interesting/Thought-provoking 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
8 hours ago, richbrummitt said:


Yes, that. :good:
 

Visible above the seated person in picture 2 and by the platform lamp  in picture 3 where the pictures refer to those in your most recent post. 
 

They appear to be a representation of some white text on a black background. 

They are plates that slide into brackets on the coach sides. Sometimes the plates just carried a single capital letter, to identify the coach for seat reservation purposes, but sometimes (as here) they would read (for example):

 

SEATS

13

TO

42

 

The ones at the other end would read Seats 1 to 12 in this example. There are quite a few photos around showing this but many are too indistinct to read. I've never seen a colour photo, so I don't know whether they were white on black or cream on brown.

Edited by St Enodoc
  • Like 4
  • Thanks 1
  • Informative/Useful 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
10 hours ago, richbrummitt said:

They appear to be a representation of some white text on a black background. 

Yep, sorry for misunderstanding!  As St Enodoc says they're seat numbers for reservations.  Mine come from Sankey Scenics who include them on their coach roof board sheets.  Here's one below.

 

I used to squint at them through a magnifying glass to make sure the numbers stayed in order throughout the train.  Now I just cut out the nearest to hand and stick it on - I can't read the numbers anyway!

P1060464.JPG.960d1818744f98ef548f73ffe3316f9f.JPG

 

2070453722_P1060464(2).JPG.ac0ab5e334cdeee65b7d28a96f462f5d.JPG

John C.

  • Like 5
  • Thanks 1
  • Informative/Useful 4
  • Craftsmanship/clever 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
28 minutes ago, Anglian said:

With the discussion on slip coaches I thought this introduction and footage might be of interest to some. I enjoyed it…

Many thanks for that.  Absolutely fascinating, with some wonderful footage. Recommended.

  • Like 1
  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I was trawling through Train Formations and Carriage Workings of the Great Western Railway (Becket, 2002) and was surprised at how few 70' coaches I found used on trains over the B&H route at this time. I expected more. Those trains that did include them seem to include more than one marshalled together if memory serves. One of those books that was available for a while but impossible to find now at a sensible price but if you can access would be worth a look if you want to try and represent particular services (obviously only more accurate for the short period the book covers). 

  • Agree 1
  • Informative/Useful 1
  • Interesting/Thought-provoking 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, richbrummitt said:

I was trawling through Train Formations and Carriage Workings of the Great Western Railway (Becket, 2002) and was surprised at how few 70' coaches I found used on trains over the B&H route at this time. I expected more. Those trains that did include them seem to include more than one marshalled together if memory serves. One of those books that was available for a while but impossible to find now at a sensible price but if you can access would be worth a look if you want to try and represent particular services (obviously only more accurate for the short period the book covers). 

 

I have gone through this book and it does indicate this. Traffic requirements would see the 'planned formation' changed. This is where the photo books come in which tell a different story. See the Early, Soole and Lockett 1930's collections. One of my favourite images is a Star with 15 coaches on including stock of all ages, types, lengths etc, that I cannot find in any WTT.   Saturdays would see entire trains replacing what would normally be a single coach. Older 70ft stock would be pressed into service for this if approved for the route. They also appear to be the coach of choice as a strengthener, a 70ft Concertina 3rd appearing at the head of many trains, though not listed in the WTT.

 

Then there are the boat specials not listed in the general WTT

 

https://nrm.printstoreonline.com/panoramic/castle-class-4-6-0-locomotive-no4094-8340487.html

 

Winter saw fixed sets split for maintenance and replacement stock from the pool held at various locations, until the allocated coach returned from Swindon.

 

What I do find odd is there is no Devon/Cornwall express that uses the B&H after 3.30 in the afternoon. There is an all 70ft train from Paddington to the West Country but it runs via Bristol.

 

Mike Wiltshire

  • Like 2
  • Informative/Useful 2
  • Interesting/Thought-provoking 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Coach bogie said:

 

I have gone through this book and it does indicate this. Traffic requirements would see the 'planned formation' changed. This is where the photo books come in which tell a different story. See the Early, Soole and Lockett 1930's collections. One of my favourite images is a Star with 15 coaches on including stock of all ages, types, lengths etc, that I cannot find in any WTT.   Saturdays would see entire trains replacing what would normally be a single coach. Older 70ft stock would be pressed into service for this if approved for the route. They also appear to be the coach of choice as a strengthener, a 70ft Concertina 3rd appearing at the head of many trains, though not listed in the WTT.

 

Then there are the boat specials not listed in the general WTT

 

https://nrm.printstoreonline.com/panoramic/castle-class-4-6-0-locomotive-no4094-8340487.html

 

Winter saw fixed sets split for maintenance and replacement stock from the pool held at various locations, until the allocated coach returned from Swindon.

 

What I do find odd is there is no Devon/Cornwall express that uses the B&H after 3.30 in the afternoon. There is an all 70ft train from Paddington to the West Country but it runs via Bristol.

 

Mike Wiltshire

 

I had been trying to have a solid guesstimate at the coaching stock that I should build for my own projects. I'd willfully avoided the 1930s onwards photographic collections because I imagine my modelled period as the early 1920s. However there is less information (STT/WTTs) to be found - there seems a big gap between 1910ish and 1930 something - or I am looking in none of the right places. I widened the net in an attempt to find out whether the traffic changes much with time and am currently transcribing elements from earlier and later STTs for comparison. Your post suggests, as is so often said about modelling a prototype, that following a dated (preferably verified) photograph is the best route. Identifying carriages from photographs is something that I have not acquired skills in, yet. 

 

The GWR did seem to prefer to run most things on the more northerly route after Reading through Swindon and Bristol rather than by the shorter route, and the Becket book remarks on this also. The B&H route was not densely populated, which may account for this? I have read in (I think) the Middleton Press books that the population of some of the villages served was in decline after the early 1900s. 

 

Sorry John, we are now digressing. 

  • Like 1
  • Informative/Useful 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
28 minutes ago, richbrummitt said:

Sorry John, we are now digressing. 

No apology necessary Rich.  All grist to the mill.  This stuff is endlessly fascinating.

 

My own approach is to build and run what I hope is a roughly representative selection of trains based on what I see in the photo books by Soole, Lockett, Earley, Hubback, Yarwood, Beck & Copsey etc. insofar as skill and availability of kits and parts permit.

  • Like 1
  • Agree 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...