Old S&DJR artefacts

[down the sdjr]

I walked the old railway, now trailway between Sturminster Newton and Blandford last week with some old school mates.

One of the guys has a interest in the railway mainly from his Grandad that used to work on the line. He has a shed full of artefacts some of which he has donated to Shillingstone already.

He sent me this picture to ask what it is, i have no idea and thought some kind soul on here might be able to tell us?

Thanks

Paul.

 

 

[Compound2632]

Is it one of those things for hanging outside signalboxes to indicate that the telegraph is (or isn't) working correctly?

 

The spelling Bailey-Gate is interesting. Does that help date it? For how long did the S&DJR name remain in official use?

Edited July 18, 2020 by Compound2632

[RailWest]

31 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

>>>>Is it one of those things for hanging outside signalboxes to indicate that the telegraph is (or isn't) working correctly....

 

Very unlikely IMHO, it doesn't match any known style for such things.  See www.trainweb.org/railwest/railco/sdjr/sigmisc.html#boards

 

>>>The spelling Bailey-Gate is interesting. Does that help date it? For how long did the S&DJR name remain in official use?

 

Apart from the (lack of a) hyphen, the name remained in use right until the end.

 

Two thoughts so far:-

 

1. Was it a something used by the railway to hang on a wagon to indicate its destination?

2. Might it not actually be a 'railway' item at all, but perhaps something used by (say) one of the dairies to indicate for their purposes the origin/destination of rolling-stock at their depot?

[Compound2632]

It was the hyphen to which I was particularly drawing attention - an unusual spelling in that respect.

 

I doubt it was hung on the outside of a wagon - there was an established way of indicating destination, viz. the wagon label. I wonder if it could have been hung in a road van, indicating the part of the van where consignments for Bailey Gate were stacked?

[down the sdjr]

14 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

It was the hyphen to which I was particularly drawing attention - an unusual spelling in that respect.

 

I doubt it was hung on the outside of a wagon - there was an established way of indicating destination, viz. the wagon label. I wonder if it could have been hung in a road van, indicating the part of the van where consignments for Bailey Gate were stacked?

Someone did suggest it was probably made up by a worker as a token keepsake sort of thing. I do suppose it could have been used in say a banana van or such as a drop off marker.

My mate has his Grandads railway workers overcoat and hat, he says the overcoat is really well made and very heavy. Dont make them like that any more.