BLPs on the SDJR

[Guest Jack Benson]

Hi,

 

In the precceding thread, questions were asked and answered about exLMS and BR standard locomotives in the 50s however other classes were used, notably the Bulleid light pacifics.

 

Just a couple of questions, were the BLPs supplementary to the resident exLMS 5MTs and were the BLPs and 5MTs drafted away from the SDJR for the duration of the winter timetable? 

 

We intend to operate the layout based on a mid50s winter midweek timetable (actually early May) this would allow us to operate shorter trains of normal 2/3-car sets with smaller locos (2P, 4F, 3F and a wandering SR Mickey Mouse).  

 

Cheers

 

Jack

[NHY 581]

Hi Jack. 

 

If you haven't got them, I would recommend Ivo Peter 's books on the SDJR. Especially the two dealing with the 1950s.

 

They will contain the information you are looking for and then some. 

 

 

 

Rob. 

[Guest Jack Benson]

Hello Rob,

We have both books.

Whilst they show the trial of 34109 and subsequent allocations of four WCs together with incursions of 71B BLPs, the books do not mention whether the BLPs were additional or replacements for the exLMS 5MTs.

 

It does mention that the original four BLPs were displaced by the arrival of BR Std 5MTs in August '54. but on 1st Jan '56 five exLMS 5MTs were still allocated to the SDJR  (table in front pages of Ivo Peter's Vol2)

 

A bit of a puzzle isn't it?

 

Cheers

 

Jack

[Combe Martin]

On ‎14‎/‎04‎/‎2019 at 20:52, Jack Benson said:

Just a couple of questions, were the BLPs supplementary to the resident exLMS 5MTs and were the BLPs and 5MTs drafted away from the SDJR for the duration of the winter timetable? 

 

Bulleid Light Pacifics were only allocated to the S&D (Bath shed) in the first half of the 50's.  After that any used on the S&D were Bournemouth (SR) locos.  There's no evidence that they or Baths Black 5s or Std class 5s were moved away in the winter period, just maybe used less or on other non S&D services.

 

I've got dozens of S&D picture books and have compiled quite a comprehensive analysis of the photos in them recording which locos were used (photographed) in which years. Now I know this can be nowhere near 100% (probably less than 5% even in the summer), but I've only just spotted that there were hardly any photos taken during the winter period (and published), just the odd March one, a few in the snow of 1963, and then occasional others.  That had never occurred to me before.

 

Presumably Ivo and the other photographers didn't fancy getting their fingers frozen off and driving home in the dark.

[bécasse]

It isn't just a summer/winter bias that one has to be careful of when analysing railway photographs. Until about 1960 many people worked five and a half days a week and only had a fortnight's annual holiday. As a result a disproportionate number of railway photographs of the period were taken on Saturday afternoons when, although the actual timetable may have been similar to that applying on other weekdays, the train working (locomotives and/or rolling stock) were often different, winter or summer. Captions rarely give a precise date (and, if they do, it is often wrong) so this can be a real trap for the unwary. Photographs taken by Reverend enthusiasts can, however, be useful - their day off was Monday!

[Compound2632]

Also, of course, there's a bias in choice of subject matter. Double-headed summer Saturday through trains would  be more attractive subjects for amateur photographers than the humdrum ordinary passenger or goods trains. They weren't out to make an accurate record of the ordinary working of the railway. For that one needs WTTs, carriage marshalling documents, and loading tables.

 

But modellers tend to be more interested in the unusual, too.

Edited June 26, 2020 by Compound2632

[queensquare]

On 26/06/2020 at 09:07, Compound2632 said:

Also, of course, there's a bias in choice of subject matter. Double-headed summer Saturday through trains would  be more attractive subjects for amateur photographers than the humdrum ordinary passenger or goods trains. They weren't out to make an accurate record of the ordinary working of the railway. For that one needs WTTs, carriage marshalling documents, and loading tables.

 

But modellers tend to be more interested in the unusual, too.

 

This is an important point. For the vast majority of the time the S&D was a local line with a handful of through trains, it was only on summer weekends that the line became frantically busy which acted like a magnet to photographers and enthusiasts.

 

I'm modelling the S&D on a normal weekday, partly because I want to run a lot more freights than ran at weekends but also because I don't think I will live long enough to build sufficient coaches for a summer Saturday!

 

Jerry