Didcot Newbury & Southampton line

[KeithMacdonald]

@Mick Bonwick - we've now reached Worthy Down Halt

 

Aficionados of old OS maps will know that when there are strangely empty "white spaces", it was OS-speak for "nothing to see here, move along please".

 

 

Quote

 

Worthy Down Halt railway station was built in 1918 as a small single platform halt to serve the Royal Flying Corps (later RAF) depot nearby. It included two passing loops (the shorter of which was used as a siding) to provide supplies to the site. Later, the station became a junction for a spur to connect with the Southern Railway line through Winchester. At this point an additional line was built on the opposite side of the station to provide an island platform serving both northbound and southbound trains on separate lines.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worthy_Down_Halt_railway_station

 

 

 

[Fat Controller]

1 minute ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Watercress soup for me!

 

Mike.

English watercress is still available from at least some major supermarket chains. I believe at least one producer uses a narrow-gauge railway to transfer the water-cress from the beds to the packaging and processing plant.

I recollect that there used to be a paper-mill at Whitchurch, which produced paper for the Bank of England.

[Harlequin]

8 minutes ago, jonny777 said:

 

This is April 30th 1961, the occasion of the LCGB's 'Solent Limited' railtour. 30117 had charge of the Eastleigh to Newbury section of the tour, which paused at Highclere. 

 

 

Lovely building! Lovely collection of vehicles!

 

Looks like the railtour stopped for a desperately needed p*ss and a fag break!

 

Some things have definitely changed for the better since then...

 

[KeithMacdonald]

For anyone interested in what was in the "white space" next to Worthy Down Halt, see RAF Worthy Down and Worthy Down Camp.

 

[-missy-]

17 minutes ago, jonny777 said:

 

This is April 30th 1961, the occasion of the LCGB's 'Solent Limited' railtour. 30117 had charge of the Eastleigh to Newbury section of the tour, which paused at Highclere. 

 

 

 

Fantastic Photo. Thank you for sharing it Jon.

 

Another interesting fact, the barge boards on the ends of the roof were different from all the other station buildings. I never worked out why.

 

Missy.

[jonny777]

2 minutes ago, Harlequin said:

Lovely building! Lovely collection of vehicles!

 

Looks like the railtour stopped for a desperately needed p*ss and a fag break!

 

Some things have definitely changed for the better since then...

 

 

I think that might be your lively imagination, as the tour did consist of 6 Mk1 coaches. 

 

[Mick Bonwick]

42 minutes ago, KeithMacdonald said:

We're now in the section from Sutton Scotney to Winchester, via Worthy Down Halt and Kings Worthy.

 

I'm so pleased that you mention Worthy Down Halt.

 

I don't have any photographs to show, but I do have a tale to tell.

 

At age 16 I lived in a dormitory just 100' from the railway embankment just south of the road bridge into Worthy Down from Springvale. The fact that there was a railwy there was not apparent until I was woken up one night by the sound of a slow moving steam locomotive. Try as I might I could not see anything through the trees or over the fence, and nobody else was interested enough to help my enquiring mind. About a year later I was participating in a night march that went out of Worthy Down and then onto the railway track northwards to Sutton Scotney. That was when I discovered that railway sleepers are not set the right distance apart for consistently comfortable marching paces.

 

At age 35 I was back at Worthy Down and used to go running along the old trackbed, although it was no longer possible to reach Sutton Scotney. It was possible, however, to go southwards to Springvale and almost to the old junction with the Basingstoke to Winchester line. It was at around this time that I learned that the train I had heard all those years ago was one of many involved with the lifting of the track from the line.

 

Your posting of this railway account has prompted me to dig out all my DN&S books and indulge once again in memories of times gone by and missed opportunities. Thank you.

[Mick Bonwick]

33 minutes ago, KeithMacdonald said:

For anyone interested in what was in the "white space" next to Worthy Down Halt, see RAF Worthy Down and Worthy Down Camp.

 

 

I was last in the area 1995 and the illustration in the Worthy Down Camp article shows me that it has changed almost completely since then. What is still there, though, is the dormitory block where I lived for 2 years from 1964 (red brick H block at the bottom centre). The railway line's route can be seen in that picture, running diagonally across the bottom right hand corner, with a slightly more open space where the station was. I never ventured inside the signal box and never climbed over the abandoned platforms looking for souvenirs. Honest, sir!

[KeithMacdonald]

Oops! I nearly missed this one:

 

Barton Stacey railway station

 

Quote

Barton Stacey railway station was a small single platform halt serving an army camp near the village of Barton Stacey. It was opened by February 1940; there was a regular workers' train from Southampton by that date. Little else is known, primarily because of its military association; and its whole life was during wartime — it closed by the end of the war, possibly as early as 1941.

 

North of Sutton Scotney, near Upper Bullington. As far as I can tell, it's close to where the railway crosses the A303.

 

Barton Stacey Army Camps.

[KeithMacdonald]

It's about time we paused from rushing past all these stations, and had a look at what kind of locos, coaches and wagons were common on the DN&S

 

@Mikkel has already put it well:
 

Quote

In terms of operation, a great advantage for the modeller is that the line was mostly served by very short trains. The typical arrangement of a tender loco and 2 to 3 bogie coaches on each service means that you can model a cross-country line in a relatively limited space.

http://www.gwr.org.uk/nodns.html

 

Small trains is good.

 

Quote

The line saw the use of some rather quaint locomotives over the years. Before the grouping in 1923, this was a GWR 'operated' line, meaning that it was operated by the GWR, but owned by the independent DN&S company. As a result, the GWR tended to allocate rather ageing locos to the line, which were redundant elsewhere.

 

That's good news as well, as it gives us excuse to run all kinds of things.

 

What was typical?  Dean Goods might be top of the list, especially when the DN&S was at its peak of activity.

 

Quote

During World War II the line was a crucial transport link as southern England saw huge movements of troops and military supplies, with intensive use in the run-up to D-Day and the Normandy landings. In preparation extensive capacity enhancement works were undertaken, and the line was temporarily closed in the daytime between 4 August 1942 and 8 March 1943; during this period the Didcot to Newbury section was doubled, as was the first 2 miles (3 km) south of Newbury, as far as Woodhay. Crossing loops were considerably extended (from typically 300 yards (270 m) to 500 yards (460 m)) at stations between Newbury and Winchester, and some additional crossing points were established.  ... At its peak the line was carrying 120 train movements a day.

 

https://www.oxforddiecast.co.uk/products/dean-goods-war-department-or76dg006

 

Or Collett Goods?

GWR 28xx ?

Or a variety of GWR 0-6-0s?

[Andy Kirkham]

The first chapter of George Beherend's memoir "Gone With Regret" is about Highclere, because he was brought up at Burghclere. 

 

George's parents Louis and Mary Behrend were art patrons who commissioned the Sandham Memorial Chapel and had Stanley Spencer decorate it.

 

He writes: The passenger engines on this line in 1924 were stately 4-4-0s whose splendid coupling rods churned round and round outside the double frames that discreetly hid the coupled wheels. Naturally they had names: resounding names like Excalibur, St. Michael, Cornubia, Trefusis, Severn or Thames. (i.e they were Dukes).

 

George also recounts that he once encountered a famous poet at Newbury. Curiosity overcame politeness at the discovery that the party were proceeeding to Paris via Le Havre, venturing correctly to address him by name, whereat he was the more surprised. I told him there was nothing to to it: "Only Mr John Betjeman or possibly myself, " I said, "would dream of going to Paris this way." At this Mrs Betjeman said none too warmly that she thought this was a direct train, and was not too pleased to learn that though indeed it was, there were fifteen stops on the thirty-four mile journey!

Edited June 28, 2021 by Andy Kirkham

[KeithMacdonald]

@Andy Kirkham - thanks, that's a lovely memory, what are the odds of bumping to John Betjeman in such a setting?

 

GWR Org UK has a splendid article : "A Beginner's Guide to GWR outside-frame 4-4-0s, by Jim Champ"

 

Almost at the end, it mentions that:

 

Quote

In 1957, City of Truro was resurrected from the museum in York and given a complete overhaul for working special services as well as normal ones on the Didcot, Newbury & Southampton Railway. It was painted in the livery it had in 1904 when setting its steam speed record, but Swindon seems not to have had any indian red paint for the outsides of the frames, and an incorrect bright bauxite colour was used instead. It was withdrawn in 1961.

 

http://www.gwr.org.uk/no440s.html

 

Who would have expected we have historical accuracy on our side for running City of Truro down a modelled section of the DN&S?

 

https://www.Dapol.co.uk/c061-city-of-truro-587

or

http://www.locomotionmodels.com/exclusive-models/steam-locomotives/gwr-city-class-3717-city-of-truro.htm

 

Does Bachman still produce 31-725NRMC. 3717 "City Of Truro"?

 

 

[Craigw]

I am building things with a plan to modelling a DN&S Station in the early 1920s.  At this time the most common locos were the 3232 class 2-4-0, Stella 2-4-0 and the Dean Goods. The Duke class also came into use on the line around this time. In the 1930s the Collet goods became quite common on the line too. Clerestory coaches dominated in the 1920s and horsebox traffic was quite common too. There is a very nice photo of a Duke on a passenger train with horseboxes in one of the GWR Branch line modelling books by Stephen Williams..

 

Regards,

 

Craig W

[KeithMacdonald]

6 minutes ago, Craigw said:

I am building things with a plan to modelling a DN&S Station in the early 1920s. 

 

Hello @Craigw - have you chosen a station yet?

[Craigw]

18 minutes ago, KeithMacdonald said:

 

Hello @Craigw - have you chosen a station yet?

 

Hi Keith,

 

My favourite is Highclere or Litchfield however the space I have has now been curtailed so I am looking at fudging reality and building Highclere with a platform arrangement from the northern section. If you look at the diagrams of the Didcot-Newbury section stations, the platforms are shorter and the building is at one end rather than central. The southern section stations have longer platforms with the station centrally sited. 

 

Doing this means I can have a little more open space which will help with the idea of a station in the countryside.

 

Regards,

 

Craig W

 

 

[KeithMacdonald]

On 25/06/2021 at 20:12, Mikkel said:

Regarding Pinewood Halt: 

Before the Halt was established there was a private siding, laid in 1907 and known as Brain's Siding. It served the brickfield and -works. The works even had a small NG railway at one time.

 

Were there any clues about the kind of narrow gauge railway? (Like at Burghclere with the Lime Works). I reckon the addition of a small NG would look great on a model layout.

 

On 25/06/2021 at 20:12, Mikkel said:

Here's a photo of Pinewood Halt in 1967:

 

Source: Wikimedia Commons.

 

That's a great picture. Those GWR Pagodas seem to get everywhere! :-)

[KeithMacdonald]

Confession time.

 

I've completely failed to find a map of Kings Worthy that's worth using.  That is, with enough detail to be able to model a layout from it. I'm going to have to pass by Kings Worthy.

 

I am not worthy.

 

[Craigw]

5 minutes ago, KeithMacdonald said:

Confession time.

 

I've completely failed to find a map of Kings Worthy that's worth using.  That is, with enough detail to be able to model a layout from it. I'm going to have to pass by Kings Worthy.

 

I am not worthy.

 

 Keith,

 

You need to treat yourself to the Wild Swan book on the DN&S. Excellent diagrams of all the stations plus some drawings and a lovely selection of photographs.  I would also recommend the supplement to the 1st edition if you can obtain it. In addition, the book by Kevin Robertson is a very worthy addition to the book shelf. As are the other smaller books done by Kevin.

 

How can you not love the DN&S?

 

With all this enthusiasm from an Australian who has never even been to the UK, how can you not be persuaded

 

Regards,

 

Craig W

[KeithMacdonald]

Hopefully this will make up for my failure at Kings Worthy ...

 

Winchester (Chesil) railway station

 

Quote

The station buildings were larger than those of any other DNSR station but were built to the standard designs used by the Great Western Railway (GWR). The station buildings were located on the northbound platform. At the northern end of the station the line passed into the double tracked Chesil tunnel. The station also included a loading bay and single siding at its southern end accessible from the northbound line.

 

 

 

Quote

Bar End Yard - Further to the south of the station was an area of extensive sidings known as the Bar End Yard. There were 4 sidings, two passing loops, a large goods shed, and a ten-ton crane. The goods facilities were withdrawn from 4 April 1966. Stabling for two horses was located near the main gate; these animals were used to tow a freight delivery cart.

 

There was also an engine shed and a turntable in the Northern end of Bar End Yard. The turntable must have been essential for GWR locos that had just come south from Didcot, so they didn't have to run tender-first all the way back.

 

 

 

Quote

Engine shed - To the east of the line, adjacent to the goods shed, there was an engine shed which opened c. 1885. This was one of two which provided locomotives for DNSR services, and the only one to actually be located on the line; the other (Didcot) was on a GWR line, but Winchester was a sub-shed of Didcot. It was 83 feet (25 m) long, and 17 feet (5.2 m) wide, built of stone and brick, with a slate roof supported by a timber framework. The shed housed a single line of rails, and there was a water tank above the northern end; to the south were a small coal stage and a turntable. On 31 December 1947, two GWR locomotives were based at this shed: Bulldog class 4-4-0 no. 3419, and 2251 class 0-6-0 no. 2252. It closed in July 1953.

 

Southern end, with cattle pens and a footbridge. Presumably, these acted as exchange sidings where coaches and wagons could wait for a Southern loco to arrive after being dropped-off by GWR (and visa-versa).

 

 

Ref : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_(Chesil)_railway_station

 

 

Edited October 16, 2022 by KeithMacdonald
RMWeb image disaster recovery

[Joseph_Pestell]

Given where Betjeman lived in the Vale (Uffington), it seems a sensible way of travelling to France. A change at Didcot much better than the hassle of getting between London termini.

Edited June 29, 2021 by Joseph_Pestell

[Mikkel]

6 hours ago, KeithMacdonald said:

 

Were there any clues about the kind of narrow gauge railway? (Like at Burghclere with the Lime Works). I reckon the addition of a small NG would look great on a model layout.

 

Not that I can find just now. It would be an interesting bit of research to find out.

 

 

13 hours ago, KeithMacdonald said:

It's about time we paused from rushing past all these stations, and had a look at what kind of locos, coaches and wagons were common on the DN&S

 

The line saw some delightful locos in pre-grouping days. The Middleton Press book "Didcot to Winchester" mostly has photos from later days, but it does include a photo of a Queen 2-2-2 heading a train of 4/6-wheelers and a clerestory bogie. There's also a photo of a River 2-4-0 with clerestories, which according to the caption is one of the through Paddington to Southampton trains. Go on @Craigw, you know you want to!  

 

 

 

[Harlequin]

7 hours ago, KeithMacdonald said:

 

Were there any clues about the kind of narrow gauge railway? (Like at Burghclere with the Lime Works). I reckon the addition of a small NG would look great on a model layout.

 

 

Here is an aerial photo of Brain's siding in 1928. No sign of narrow gauge that I can see...

https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EPW023275

 

[Craigw]

44 minutes ago, Mikkel said:

 

Not that I can find just now. It would be an interesting bit of research to find out.

 

 

 

The line saw some delightful locos in pre-grouping days. The Middleton Press book "Didcot to Winchester" mostly has photos from later days, but it does include a photo of a Queen 2-2-2 heading a train of 4/6-wheelers and a clerestory bogie. There's also a photo of a River 2-4-0 with clerestories, which according to the caption is one of the through Paddington to Southampton trains. Go on @Craigw, you know you want to!  

 

 

 

I actually have a Peter K River and 3521 to do battle with at some point. Having been brought up on a diet of Finney, Mitchell and Brassmasters, do battle is the correct term!

 

I do have a selection of IKB 6 wheel stock too.... what am I thinking!!!

 

Regards,

 

Craig W

[Northroader]

I’m always curious about Winchester GWR. It usually appears as Chesil, so you think it would be pronounced like the beach in Dorset, but then sometimes you see references to Cheese Hill.

[Mick Bonwick]

5 minutes ago, Northroader said:

I’m always curious about Winchester GWR. It usually appears as Chesil, so you think it would be pronounced like the beach in Dorset, but then sometimes you see references to Cheese Hill.

 

 

It's pronounced the same way as your beach example in Dorset and is derived from the old name Cheese Hill.