UK Sausage Week (railway connections to Calne)

[KeithMacdonald]

Just heard on the radio that it's going to be UK Sausage Week (from 28th Oct to 3rd Nov 2019)

 

As a strong believer in traditional fair (when it's good), I wondered how we could play our part in this new tradition (sic). As I'm in Wiltshire, I've decided we might reopen the Calne branch line, especially for low-footprint transport to the Harris Sausage factory. That's low-carbon footprint, not porky footprints.

 

 

It looks like the last of the rail transport for Harris was by vans attached to an Autocar arrangement. Not sure if they ever did that when the DMUs were introduced? Were there ever Harris-only freight trains?

 

Apologies in advance for any vegetarian readers who may wish to substitute a different kind of factory. Please feel free to do so with the attached image of the AnyRail layout. I'd share the AnyRail file as well (but as it's not one of the accepted file types, I'm not sure how).

 

 

[KeithMacdonald]

Just found an answer to the DMU question ( c/o Railcar.co.uk )

 

Class 116 operations in 1958

 

Quote

After seven weeks of driver training turns the first phase of the Bristol Suburban dieselisation scheme was introduced on the 5th October '58. At this time there were just four DMU rosters, three for the Bristol local services and one for the Chippenham - Calne branch. 3-car sets were used, except for Suns to Fris on the Calne branch, when the centre car was removed to enable the two power cars to tow the sausage vans from C&T Harris's works at Calne.

 

https://www.railcar.co.uk/type/class-116/operations

[lakeview770]

Calne is somewhere Ive always I have fancied modelling, after I was given the excellent book by G Tanner

[Dava]

The vegetarian option can be nicely catered for by traffic to & from the veggie sausage, pie, burger & mince factory at Quorn, GCR, recently established adjacent to the goods yard. The Quorn Wagon Group are preparing a special Sausage Van which can be hauled by a Class 101 DMU or pickup freight. You can even have a veggie sausage breakfast in the Griddle Car when dining services resume - hopefully soon!

 

[KeithMacdonald]

@dava - Excellent! 

 

Anyone know which RTR vans will be appropriate?

[Dava]

The loco would be LNER D49 ‘The Quorn’ of course, you could try a steam-cleaned 6 wheel Palethorpes sausage van (both Hornby) or a lwb  Fish Van, there is a blue one in the van rake.

[brossard]

IMO, the Hornby sausage vans (there is an LMS and GWR version, but both are the same model) are quite horrid below the solebars.  The LMS body is correct but, in the best Hornby tradition, 4mm too short. 

 

I upgraded both of them at great effort:

 

 

You might want to check out this kit:

 

 

John

Edited December 1, 2020 by brossard

[KeithMacdonald]

Dapol ventilated meat van?

 

https://www.Dapol.co.uk/c041-10-ton-ventilated-meat-van-574

 

[KeithMacdonald]

I nearly forgot the Hornby R216 Prime Pork van.

 

http://www.hornbyguide.com/item_year_details.asp?itemyearid=660

 

 

 

[KeithMacdonald]

This picture of Calne Station on Flickr is so grainy it's hard to make out what's what.

 

 

[KeithMacdonald]

Another from Flickr, with a good few goods wagons. The nearest ones look like GWR cattle wagons. Presumably the wagons themselves would be returning to whence they came. The occupants, err, less so.

 

 

[phil_sutters]

I will always take the opportunity to mention Highbridge Wharf, when even just a bit relevant. The Highbridge Bacon Company's factory was within a few hundred yards of the Wharf and did end up by being part of the Harris group.   It seems however that, at least in the 1950s*, the rail traffic in live pigs came via the GWR goods yard. However I can see no cattle dock in that area, whereas the Wharf had a large cattle dock, with six pens with rail access.

*according to this local history website. https://capturehighbridge.wordpress.com/industry/bacon-and-creamery/  This lists the large range of pork and dairy products the factory produced, including sausages, to get back to the UK Sausage week topic. It also indicates that much of the incoming traffic came by road from Devon & Cornwall. Again this would be from the writer's experiences in the 1950s. Doubtless in earlier times a larger proportion could have been by rail.

It seems that the factory had its own road vehicles, and there are photos of an open horse-drawn wagon picking up milk churns from the GWR station, but does not seem to have had any railway wagons. In fact none of the businesses in the Highbridge and Burnham area had any PO wagons, according to Richard Kelham.

Edited November 4, 2022 by phil_sutters

[KeithMacdonald]

Looks like the "real official" UK Sausage Week for 2022, which should have been this week, has been postponed.

 

But someone else has picked up the banger.

https://www.turnbullsfood.co.uk/blogs/news/sausage-week-2022

 

 

 

[KeithMacdonald]

4 hours ago, phil_sutters said:

I will always take the opportunity to mention Highbridge Wharf, when even just a bit relevant. The Highbridge Bacon Company's factory was within a few hundred yards of the Wharf and did end up by being part of the Harris group.   It seems however that, at least in the 1950s*, the rail traffic in live pigs came via the GWR goods yard.

 

@phil_sutters - a good mention! 🙂

 

It seems the Highbridge Bacon Company's factory must (at one time) have been sited where it was, specifically so it could use rail traffic. Just like Harris (Calne) and also Bowyers (Trowbridge), with a large factory next to the station.

 

A friend of mine reported that c.1984, while waiting on Trowbridge station, changing trains from Frome to get to Bristol, one could see the full length of the Bowyer's factory, from the "in goods" to the "out goods". You could hear the "in goods" as well, which always sounded as though they had no doubt they didn't want to be there! The "out goods"? Not so much noise, but maybe they were the "silent majority" of what went in, well and truly processed.

 

Any similarities with our electoral processes (and associated porky pies) are entirely coincidental.

 

 

[phil_sutters]

1 hour ago, KeithMacdonald said:

 

@phil_sutters - a good mention! 🙂

 

It seems the Highbridge Bacon Company's factory must (at one time) have been sited where it was, specifically so it could use rail traffic. Just like Harris (Calne) and also Bowyers (Trowbridge), with a large factory next to the station.

 

A friend of mine reported that c.1984, while waiting on Trowbridge station, changing trains from Frome to get to Bristol, one could see the full length of the Bowyer's factory, from the "in goods" to the "out goods". You could hear the "in goods" as well, which always sounded as though they had no doubt they didn't want to be there! The "out goods"? Not so much noise, but maybe they were the "silent majority" of what went in, well and truly processed.

 

Any similarities with our electoral processes (and associated porky pies) are entirely coincidental.

 

 

The factory did not actually have rail access, but was within a few hundred yards of the Wharf, the S&D & GW goods sheds and both passenger stations. across what became the A38 & the Glastonbury Road and the River Brue's old and new cuts.

[cctransuk]

On 01/12/2020 at 17:35, Dava said:

You can even have a veggie sausage breakfast in the Griddle Car ...

 

 

NOT ME!! The Full Cornish, please - with hogs pudding and black pudding.

 

CJI.