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Parkend Marsh Sidings in P4


Re6/6
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On 14/02/2021 at 11:37, Re6/6 said:

Some resin cast stone loads arrived this week for the Heljan Dogfishes. These are rather nicely done and will save some work (!) . They will be painted and will have a small amount of real ballast added.

 

The added bonus is that they bring the weight of a Dogfish to 44gm which after testing on the layout was satisfactory for these 'rigid' re-wheeled wagons thus saving the addition of lead weighting.

 

The supplier is: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RESIN-WAGON-LOAD-Full-Load-FOR-Heljan-OO-GAUGE-DOGFISH-WAGON/173872244294?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=472592837654&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

 

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And for the empties.........

 

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After a lengthy time taken to convert to P4, in the end it turned out to be very straightforward, but being a new model it was that I did things that turned out to be in wrong order! 

 

Here's a short one-handed jerky phone video of a test run on Marsh. I was relieved to find that it ran well through all the pointwork. 

 

The track was dirty after a winter of damp in the shed so slower running should be possible after a good spring clean! All in all, I'm pleased that it has retained the wonderful smooth running of the unconverted original.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Asm-1xp1xEI

 

 

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On 23/09/2020 at 11:44, Re6/6 said:

In another timeline......!

 

All ex- Matford stock. The Seacows are still in '00' so are just sitting on the track! The 37 is from ViTrains nicely weathered by CK. It still runs very well in 'slug mode'.

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Love seeing the 37 again, it’s been a while since I last saw it on Balcome.  Layout is coming along very nicely, can’t understand how I missed this! 
 

how do the sidings fit with the preserved Parkend station?

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5 hours ago, The Fatadder said:

Love seeing the 37 again, it’s been a while since I last saw it on Balcome.  Layout is coming along very nicely, can’t understand how I missed this! 
 

how do the sidings fit with the preserved Parkend station?

Alas, Marsh Wharf wasn't part of the preservation of Parkend. Today the sidings site is lifted, demolished and landscaped. I was SO sad when I first saw what had happened, visits to operational Marsh Wharf were part of happy FoD holidays back in the early/mid-1970s.

 

In the early/mid-1970s, Marsh Wharf at Parkend was one of the few, obvious, working locations that recalled the proud, extractive, industrial heritage of the Forest of Dean. A final opportunity to observe Forest mined coal and Forest quarried stone being shipped.

 

If I recall: the coal being shipped by rail was exclusively slack coal for power stations? Bigger lumps of house coal were kept for local land-sales.

Edited by Paul H Vigor
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1 hour ago, Re6/6 said:

More stock has arrived.

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20210329_153638.jpg.6282fceaeb6d03cac9a8f92b316db5fc.jpg  20210329_153648.jpg.fea19781a15e4b958f124198ddbef746.jpg

Re later mineral traffic from Marsh Wharf: I assume the [larger scale] shipment of stone (ballast?) commenced after 1967 (the year rail traffic ceased from Whitecliffe Quarry)? I've never been sure how much Free Miner's coal was loaded and sent out from Marsh Wharf. By the mid-1970s I seem to recall circa two 16 ton mineral wagons left for a week for filling?

 

Rule No.1, I guess? :)

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52 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Soon be at the optimal maximal level?

 

Mike.

Just showing some new arrivals! 

 

The stone wagons, Herrings first and later Dogfishes would normally be around nine in the pictures that we've seen.

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4 minutes ago, Re6/6 said:

Just showing some new arrivals! 

 

The stone wagons, Herrings first and later Dogfishes would normally be around ten in the pictures that we've seen.

Happy 1970s memories of climbing on Dogfish wagons and the DFR Prairie (in ex-Barry condition?) at Marsh! :locomotive:

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13 hours ago, Paul H Vigor said:

I guess that by the mid-1970s traffic had declined considerably?

It was mostly the Whitecliff stone by then and even that ceased in 1975.

 

You would not normally have seen large quantities of coal and stone together in Marsh Sidings, except under the circumstances prevailing in accordance with Rule 1.

 

Rule 1, however, permits a diesel sequence to follow an early - mid 1960s steam sequence and vice versa, with the occasional (socially-distanced) mingling of traction types.

 

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1 hour ago, Re6/6 said:

When it was busy, it was busy!

 

1967

ctsy Lightmoor Press/ Parkhouse. F.O.D. Lines Vol 2

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1970

ctsy Lightmoor Press/ Parkhouse. F.O.D. Lines Vol 2

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Think I was fortunate to witness Marsh Wharf still functioning as a working railway wharf so late in the day! Having got used to a grass-grown pre-preservation Parkend branch, the present clear, ballasted P/W looks a little alien!?

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On 25/03/2021 at 18:18, Paul H Vigor said:

Alas, Marsh Wharf wasn't part of the preservation of Parkend. Today the sidings site is lifted, demolished and landscaped. I was SO sad when I first saw what had happened, visits to operational Marsh Wharf were part of happy FoD holidays back in the early/mid-1970s.

 

In the early/mid-1970s, Marsh Wharf at Parkend was one of the few, obvious, working locations that recalled the proud, extractive, industrial heritage of the Forest of Dean. A final opportunity to observe Forest mined coal and Forest quarried stone being shipped.

 

If I recall: the coal being shipped by rail was exclusively slack coal for power stations? Bigger lumps of house coal were kept for local land-sales.

Not sure if part of the spur that used to lead to Marsh wharf is still buried in the tarmac of New Road at Parkend? When I first came across the station in 1994 that siding was still connected to the running line. By the time it re-opened properly, the sidings (another stub off it was by the goods shed) were disconnected from the new formation, that extended the run-round loop over Yorkley Road and towards Traveller's Rest.

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14 minutes ago, Paul H Vigor said:

I've seen a photo of a Dean Goods working through Parkend on a P/W train?

That's right, I've seen that too, but they would all have been withdrawn by the time that John's layout is normally set it.

 

The use of a 56XX would require an upgrade to the line's infrastructure, which is perfectly possible within the parameters of Rule 1.

 

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3 hours ago, Captain Kernow said:

That's right, I've seen that too, but they would all have been withdrawn by the time that John's layout is normally set it.

 

The use of a 56XX would require an upgrade to the line's infrastructure, which is perfectly possible within the parameters of Rule 1.

 

My copy of H. W. Paar is packed away in a box, but do I recall a reference to something a little more exotic becoming derailed in the Forest? Was it a 43xx Mogul up the Coleford branch?

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On 30/03/2021 at 16:21, Re6/6 said:

Some wagons awaiting the paint and weathering shop!

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The newly converted MR Rapido16xx. Brake gear yet to be refitted and wheel painting is yet to be done. After conversion with Ultrascale wheels it runs quite smoothly but will need a deal of running-in to be totally satisfactory.

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A 'Rule 1' might-have-been image!

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Lovely stuff!

 

The Hymek isn’t strictly rule 1; D7043 made it to Parkend and the Marsh Sidings in 1971. It arrived with a couple of brake vans and moved a few bits of DFR stock around in preparation for an open day. I have no proof of it hauled any coal or ballast but I have a photo of it at Parkend and cinefilm of it on the Marsh Sidings. 
 

I think D7001 made it down the branch with a ballast train, not not proof sadly.

 

Cheers,

Steve

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