Pictures of quaint small goods yards in the 70s-90s

[daveyb]

I expect they were just trip workings and later the Speedlink network (if they lasted that long).  Some will have been supported by specific load sector traffic.

 

I was interested by that NG link at Gathurst (especially given the extensive fencing around the yard - which was a big clue) so I did a bit of digging.  The line worked to the nearby explosives factory at Shevington which was owned by various companies starting with the Roburite Company (who made Roburite which as far as I can tell was a powdered explosive used for quarrying, being nitro-cotton based).  

 https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=18&lat=53.5598&lon=-2.6934&layers=168&b=1

 

They combined with the Amonal Company (who made Amonal and ammonium nitrate and aluminium based explosive set in tar/pitch and used in grenades variously until WW2 along with Lyddite) in the early 20's.  https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Roburite_Explosives_Co 

 

The site was still in use up until 1983 but I cannot find any info beyond then.  ICI sold out it's explosives division in the 1990s and that division is now owned by Orica Ltd, who still have an office in Shevington

 

There was a flourish of Ordnance factory building in the area (described here: http://www.lancashireatwar.co.uk/rof-sites/4579219353) and a number of them were rail linked and remained in a state of availability for a long time after closing, and never got modernised so a good examples of small, busy sites. 

 

 

 

Edited August 17, 2019 by daveyb
better map ref/link added

[Fat Controller]

11 hours ago, daveyb said:

I expect they were just trip workings and later the Speedlink network (if they lasted that long).  Some will have been supported by specific load sector traffic.

 

I was interested by that NG link at Gathurst (especially given the extensive fencing around the yard - which was a big clue) so I did a bit of digging.  The line worked to the nearby explosives factory at Shevington which was owned by various companies starting with the Roburite Company (who made Roburite which as far as I can tell was a powdered explosive used for quarrying, being nitro-cotton based).  

 https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=18&lat=53.5598&lon=-2.6934&layers=168&b=1

 

They combined with the Amonal Company (who made Amonal and ammonium nitrate and aluminium based explosive set in tar/pitch and used in grenades variously until WW2 along with Lyddite) in the early 20's.  https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Roburite_Explosives_Co 

 

The site was still in use up until 1983 but I cannot find any info beyond then.  ICI sold out it's explosives division in the 1990s and that division is now owned by Orica Ltd, who still have an office in Shevington

 

There was a flourish of Ordnance factory building in the area (described here: http://www.lancashireatwar.co.uk/rof-sites/4579219353) and a number of them were rail linked and remained in a state of availability for a long time after closing, and never got modernised so a good examples of small, busy sites. 

 

 

 

IOne yard which seems to have not been mentioned so far is that at Barnstaple, which saw lots of activity until the demise of 'Speedlink'. Traffic dealt with included steel plate (for a local shipyard), cement, bananas (to a ripening depot) resin in tanks, and fertiliser/ animal feed to the depot itself, whilst workings that visited the yard, but which were dealt with elsewhere included timber, ball-clay and milk.

[russ p]

14 hours ago, 31A said:

Whitby and a few other stations on the Esk Valley line retained goods facilities (coal) into the 1980s - I remember seeing the goods trains whilst on holiday there in the '70s but haven't to any pictures I can share.

 

So did Redcar, Saltburn,  Brotton and Carlin How 

[Fat Controller]

3 hours ago, russ p said:

 

So did Redcar, Saltburn,  Brotton and Carlin How 

And Battersby, IIRC from my one trip on the line.

[russ p]

I think battersby closed earlier that the rest 

Castleton , Sleights and Whitby made it in to the 80s 

[Rugd1022]

I'm sure there was a short article about Battersby in the Railway Modeller c.1980 or so.... maybe I just dreamt it...?

[Ramblin Rich]

6 hours ago, Fat Controller said:

One yard which seems to have not been mentioned so far is that at Barnstaple, which saw lots of activity until the demise of 'Speedlink'. Traffic dealt with included steel plate (for a local shipyard), cement, bananas (to a ripening depot) resin in tanks, and fertiliser/ animal feed to the depot itself, whilst workings that visited the yard, but which were dealt with elsewhere included timber, ball-clay and milk.

I started a thread on North Devon line services in the 80s some time ago. Lapford (in the 1st post) handled incoming fertilizer and grain, there is a photo in John Nicholas's book showing a discharge pit in the siding. There was also outgoing timber.

As Brian FC says, Barnstaple handled other traffic too (which would pass through Lapford) but I'm not sure I would class Barnstaple yard as 'small and quaint'

Most of the traffic was handled Speedlink feeder service until they finished in the early 90s. The fertilizer was a section of the UKF company train which went to Truro.

I do intend to incorporate ('pinch') these services for my long-planned North Devon line layout.

[mike morley]

Tim V. 

Please help me orientate myself with your picture of Bedford.

Were you standing on the bridge that now shelters the tiny platform of Bedford St Johns when you took that picture?  The building on the left looks right but I'm struggling to reconcile the straight track in front of it with the flange-squealing hairpin bend that today's trains from Bletchley have to negotiate.

[Fat Controller]

5 minutes ago, mike morley said:

Tim V. 

Please help me orientate myself with your picture of Bedford.

Were you standing on the bridge that now shelters the tiny platform of Bedford St Johns when you took that picture?  The building on the left looks right but I'm struggling to reconcile the straight track in front of it with the flange-squealing hairpin bend that today's trains from Bletchley have to negotiate.

Looking at Quail, the lines to Bletchley are those on the left, adjacent to the signal. Bedford (St Johns) is  along the Bletchley line, across the Greay Ouse. The sidings straight ahead, and the area to the right are now stabling sidings for EMUs (fourteen in total).

[Rugd1022]

Gents - Tim's shot of Bedford is taken at St.Johns looking north towards the Midland station, not south towards Bletchley, the branch to Bletchley disappears behind the viewpoint, the large grey concrete building on the right is still there and area occupied by the sidings is now partially overgrown and just an access point for Network Rail and groundstaff doing run rounds, I ran round my train there a couple of weeks ago. In fact, the lead into those sidings is where the current St.Johns platform is. Hope that helps.

 

I'll be driving over it in the morning with 6O51 to Battersea!

Edited August 18, 2019 by Rugd1022

[montyburns56]

2 hours ago, Rugd1022 said:

I'm sure there was a short article about Battersby in the Railway Modeller c.1980 or so.... maybe I just dreamt it...?

 

I think it might have been a Plan Of The Month article as I do remember it and I think it actually had a picture of the Whitby coal staithes still in use back then.

[Tim V]

I think this is the view the other way off the bridge. Line to left to St Johns, line to right Bletchley.

 

[montyburns56]

19 hours ago, daveyb said:

I expect they were just trip workings and later the Speedlink network (if they lasted that long).  Some will have been supported by specific load sector traffic.

 

 

 

 

Mentioning Speedlink has reminded me that there is a great picture of Gathurst in Freight Only Vol 1 Northern England  which says that in 1985 it was tripped by 7T71.

[montyburns56]

I've found some half decent pictures of Barnstaple including a nice one with a mixed passenger/Parcel train complete with a CCT in the centre road. 

 

 

 

[Nearholmer]

Theres a lot of interesting stuff about the Barnstaple Line on the Cornwall Railways website, including a clue as to what that train may be. There was a loco-hauled newspaper train in the early hours, carrying through vans from London, which then returned to Exeter, I think as the first ordinary passenger train, and on Saturdays the 'newspaper' loco then remained on the branch, with a loco-hauled service being operated all day. 

 

The photos certainly have that "early on a summer morning" look about them.

[daveyb]

39 minutes ago, montyburns56 said:

 

Mentioning Speedlink has reminded me that there is a great picture of Gathurst in Freight Only Vol 1 Northern England  which says that in 1985 it was tripped by 7T71.

 

Thanks, Monty. That is latest reference I have seen for how late traffic left ICI.  1984 was my last reference to production there.  I see if I can trace the last working of that 'headcode'.

[Ramblin Rich]

1 hour ago, Nearholmer said:

Theres a lot of interesting stuff about the Barnstaple Line on the Cornwall Railways website, including a clue as to what that train may be. There was a loco-hauled newspaper train in the early hours, carrying through vans from London, which then returned to Exeter, I think as the first ordinary passenger train, and on Saturdays the 'newspaper' loco then remained on the branch, with a loco-hauled service being operated all day. 

 

The photos certainly have that "early on a summer morning" look about them.

The thread I started on North Devon line services

There was an early Postal service Exeter to Barnstaple around 3am, then a newspaper van as tail traffic on a DMU around 4am and the vans returned to Exeter on a train around 7.15 which at one time was classed as a 'mixed' passenger/goods. Further goods service down & up serving as far as Torrington/Meeth picking up milk, clay etc, progressively cut back as traffic lost.  Various DMUs, at least one more loco hauled passenger service around 4.30pm for Postal traffic again; as Nearholmer says, more loco hauled passenger trains on summer Saturdays.

All in all quite a lot of interest on the line and a good subject to model

[Gibbo675]

22 hours ago, johnofwessex said:

So what were the freight services that took wagoms to these yards.

 

Also what exactly was the NG line at Gathurst?

Hi John,

 

The narrow gauge at Gathurst was a two foot gauge railway that ran across a viaduct to Nobel's explosive factory on the north side of the Douglas Valley. The line turned sharply to the left and the under a road embankment running straight across the viaduct and into the factory site over the River Douglas and the Leeds Liverpool Canal.

 

https://www.railscot.co.uk/img/21/337/

 

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=16&lat=53.5620&lon=-2.6914&layers=168&right=BingHyb

 

Gibbo.

[Nearholmer]

Rich

 

this might be better in your interesting thread, but I've found the item from the CRS site that I was trying to recall:

 

Note from Roger Smith :-  Normally the only loco hauled train was the class 31 hauled newspaper train : 1C07 04.05 SX Exeter SD - Barnstaple, & return 2C68 05.45 SX Barnstaple - Exeter SD (Which was then 50 hauled onto Penzance), but in the summer of 1986 this was 33/0 hauled on Saturdays and continued all day as a SO loco hauled service train on the branch. Not sure how many other instances a 33/2 may have been used as it was booked for a 33/0 but on the day (16th August 1986)  a 33/2 was a real bonus.         For the record the locomotive diagram was : 1C07 04.05 SO Exeter SD - Barnstaple. 2B63 05.45 SO Barnstaple - Exeter SD. 2B64 07.38 SO Exeter SD - Barnstaple. 2B67 09.20 SO Barnstaple - Exeter SD. 2B70 10.38 SO Exeter SD - Barnstaple. 2B71 12.15 SO Barnstaple - Exeter SD. 2B76 14.42 SO Exeter SD - Barnstaple. 2B77 16.00 SO Barnstaple - Exeter SD. 2B80 17.30 SO Exeter SD - Barnstaple. 2B83 18.52 SO Barnstaple - Exeter SD. 

 

My guess would be that whether the newspapers came by loco or DMU might depend upon the exact date/year under discussion.

 

Kevin
 

[Ramblin Rich]

Thanks Kevin, I've looked at that page before but hadn't seen that info. I need to compare with the notes in John Nicholas's book, as you say the detail certainly changed. The basic ideas of some loco hauled passenger and postal, possible DMU tail traffic plus various freight traffic is what appeals though!

[Enterprisingwestern]

8 hours ago, Gibbo675 said:

Hi John,

 

The narrow gauge at Gathurst was a two foot gauge railway that ran across a viaduct to Nobel's explosive factory on the north side of the Douglas Valley. The line turned sharply to the left and the under a road embankment running straight across the viaduct and into the factory site over the River Douglas and the Leeds Liverpool Canal.

 

https://www.railscot.co.uk/img/21/337/

 

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=16&lat=53.5620&lon=-2.6914&layers=168&right=BingHyb

 

Gibbo.

 

What a picture!

 

https://www.railscot.co.uk/img/54/102/

 

Mike.

[Gibbo675]

25 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

What a picture!

 

https://www.railscot.co.uk/img/54/102/

 

Mike.

Hi Mike,

 

As a child, on the rare occasion I was 'dragged off' to Wigan to go shopping the highlight of the journey was looking out for the little engine at Gathurst.

 

Gibbo.

[H2O]

Bristol appears further up the thread but no locations given. A great location was Laurence Hill. Originally a 4 platform local station, became 2 platform slow lines with 2 fast lines behind. Later c1985 the fast lines taken up (and now the are putting them back!). The station even has a bridge at each end for scenic breaks. All the while, up to about the early 90's, there was a cement terminal behind the station. In addition there was a branch heading away from the throat of the yard to another fan of sidings a mile away near the river Avon, this served another cement terminal (Blue Circle?) and a brewing company receiving molasses. Laurence Hill yard is now a supermarket but there is still(?) 1 siding, on the start of the branch, that served as a local binliner terminal.

There are some great pictures at the Bristol railway archive showing shunting on the branch (holding up the local traffic) and action in the yard nearer the station.

The branch was lightly laid so had to use an 03 with matching truck but must of been strengthened as 08s propelling trains down the branch are pictured later.

[Mark Saunders]

Oxford Road at Tynemouth always looked good for a model self contained and with scenic brake closed 1979 with the coming of the Metro!

 

Mark Saunders 

[Fat Controller]

53 minutes ago, H2O said:

Bristol appears further up the thread but no locations given. A great location was Laurence Hill. Originally a 4 platform local station, became 2 platform slow lines with 2 fast lines behind. Later c1985 the fast lines taken up (and now the are putting them back!). The station even has a bridge at each end for scenic breaks. All the while, up to about the early 90's, there was a cement terminal behind the station. In addition there was a branch heading away from the throat of the yard to another fan of sidings a mile away near the river Avon, this served another cement terminal (Blue Circle?) and a brewing company receiving molasses. Laurence Hill yard is now a supermarket but there is still(?) 1 siding, on the start of the branch, that served as a local binliner terminal.

There are some great pictures at the Bristol railway archive showing shunting on the branch (holding up the local traffic) and action in the yard nearer the station.

The branch was lightly laid so had to use an 03 with matching truck but must of been strengthened as 08s propelling trains down the branch are pictured later.

 

53 minutes ago, H2O said:

Bristol appears further up the thread but no locations given. A great location was Laurence Hill. Originally a 4 platform local station, became 2 platform slow lines with 2 fast lines behind. Later c1985 the fast lines taken up (and now the are putting them back!). The station even has a bridge at each end for scenic breaks. All the while, up to about the early 90's, there was a cement terminal behind the station. In addition there was a branch heading away from the throat of the yard to another fan of sidings a mile away near the river Avon, this served another cement terminal (Blue Circle?) and a brewing company receiving molasses. Laurence Hill yard is now a supermarket but there is still(?) 1 siding, on the start of the branch, that served as a local binliner terminal.

There are some great pictures at the Bristol railway archive showing shunting on the branch (holding up the local traffic) and action in the yard nearer the station.

The branch was lightly laid so had to use an 03 with matching truck but must of been strengthened as 08s propelling trains down the branch are pictured later.

 I think there may have been two cement terminals in the main yard, at least in the early 1970s, when I lived nearby; Aberthaw and Tunnel. The former received both bulk and bagged cement. London Brick Company used to receive block trains of Pipe wagons on a siding next to the track that now serves the bin-liner siding.

The 'brewery' was Distillers' yeast plant, which received molasses, and may have sent out CO2 in pressurised tanks.