Nick Holliday Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 Whilst browsing through Britain From Above, fortunately back on line, I came across a series of views of Warminster station, and noticed two rather strange loads in the goods yard, and wondered what they might be. I have searched the forum for "Warminster" and nothing has come up, so I am hoping it hasn't been discussed before. 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold rodent279 Posted January 23, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 23, 2022 I wonder if they are air raid shelters? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lather Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 Mobile hangers for all of the UFOs that they get around the "Warminster Triangle"?... 2 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithMacdonald Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 Strange indeed! Paul Bartlett might be the expert on this, but perhaps they are warwell bogie wagons with covers on them? https://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/warwell/ea8b59ed 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 (edited) Impregnating chambers for creosoting timber? Something that forms part of a gasworks? Edited January 23, 2022 by Nearholmer Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BR traction instructor Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 Also similar to firebox wrappers on steam locos. BeRTIe Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir douglas Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 2 sections of some larger construction perhaps, each being rivetted/bolted sheet with a flange at one end could be part of a bridge or maybe a pedestrian tunnel? or as Northroader says part of some industrial structure? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickham Green too Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 1 hour ago, KeithMacdonald said: ...... perhaps they are warwell bogie wagons with covers on them? ..... Not Warwells but 'Crocodiles' of some sort ........................ I reckon the loads are hoods for Top Secret motive power which was delayed by the upcoming war and eventually appeared as the English Electric Type 1* ! * known as 'Class 20' in some quarters 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 (edited) 2 hours ago, rodent279 said: I wonder if they are air raid shelters? To me, they look a lot like Anderson Shelters, which were intended to be buried as deep as possible, then covered with sandbags. The only doubt I have is that the one in our old garden had been delivered in a semi-dismantled state, which was, I was told by some one who had been involved in constructing it, the normal way of delivering them. The individual sections were a sort of 'J' / Hockey stick shape. Edited January 23, 2022 by Fat Controller 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 The classic domestic Anderson shelter was made from corrugated iron, although these could be large-size equivalents for a factory or the like. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Jonboy Posted January 23, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 23, 2022 Apparently 1937 is the year the military arrived in Warminster. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted January 23, 2022 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 23, 2022 44 minutes ago, Fat Controller said: To me, they look a lot like Anderson Shelters, which were intended to be buried as deep as possible, then covered with sandbags. The only doubt I have is that the one in our old garden had been delivered in a semi-dismantled state, which was, I was told by some one who had been involved in constructing it, the normal way of delivering them. The individual sections were a sort of 'J' / Hockey stick shape. If the date on the photo is correct it is a couple of years too early for them to be a form of Anderson shelter. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithMacdonald Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 3 hours ago, Wickham Green too said: Not Warwells but 'Crocodiles' of some sort Crocodiles is a great suggestion. Especially as the year 1937 is too early for Warwells? More Paul Bartlett pics... https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/gwrcrocodile ... but none with a flatbed and covers. What a tease! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aire Head Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 Anderson shelters weren't invented until 1938. Given the location at Warminster I'd be tempted to consider something for the military. Both have a flange at one end which suggested either A) They were designed to be connected together by bolting the flanged end together B) They were expected to be buried with the flanged end being the opening and used to hold back the earth from falling into the tunnel entrance. Given the shape of them I'd expect that they were to be buried in some form. Given what we know about the wagons can we estimate size? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BR traction instructor Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 Going with the military link…how might large guns be carried by rail…are the sections that we can see simply masking/protecting individual components for installations? BeRTIe Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted January 24, 2022 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 24, 2022 13 hours ago, Nearholmer said: Impregnating chambers for creosoting timber? There is a timber works that does creosoting reasonably close by. The site for this does show on Google Earth in their 1945 images. However there is a chance that this was a wartime construction. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon A Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 Part of an underground passageway? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 The “things” appear to be open at the bottom, in which case they are a bad shape to be buried, unless there are bracing bars, or they are to be cast into a concrete floor, because they would deform inwards under the load of soil. And, although I suggested impregnating chambers, they are usually circular in section, to resist pressure from inside, rather than out. Was there any place nearby that used long ovens or steaming chambers? Autoclaves, I think they are called. Some brick/block making processes used them, silica bricks I think, and some explosives making processes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Compound2632 Posted January 24, 2022 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 24, 2022 The crocodiles have presumably been chosen for their length rather than their well-i-ness. There are a pair of large-section transverse baulks on each wagon, supporting the load. But the question in my mind is, how are these objects going to be unloaded and transported to their final destination? Also, what's in the opens? Bricks? Are these perhaps part of the same consignment? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 (edited) And, we can’t be sure that they are the right way up. They may be long troughs, loaded upside down, or even some sort of vertical structure. Its like looking at two bits of Meccano! Oh, and they may be leaving, rather than arriving. Was there a decent-sized agricultural equipment maker or foundry in the town? Edited January 24, 2022 by Nearholmer 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Holliday Posted January 24, 2022 Author Share Posted January 24, 2022 I've done a bit of manipulation and guesstimation and come up with the following dimensions. Partly based on the adjacent Open A(?) and the fact that the GWR seemed to standardise on having the end platforms on their Crocodiles around 9' 6", the overall length of the Crocodile scales at around 53', which suggests they are Crocodile F's, of some variety or other. The loads appear to be around 48 feet long, 6' 6" wide and around 8' 6" high, possibly less given the timber baulks underneath. If they are intended for military use, I would suggest that they might have been involved in the infra-structure works in preparation for the main building of the MOD site, perhaps tanks, culverts, underpasses or shelters, although, as @Nearholmer has pointed out, they don't appear to be particularly robust to be simply buried. If they are more military orientated, it seems unlikely they would have been delivered before the MOD sidings were in use, and simply parked in the nearby goods yard. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted January 24, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 24, 2022 16 hours ago, Jonboy said: Apparently 1937 is the year the military arrived in Warminster. No. The army established a presence at Warminster during the Great War when areas nearby was used for tented accommodation for troops from Australia and Canada and part of the Plain was used for training purposes. However the major army activity was the establishment of a large depot for the collection, assessment, and distribution of horses which, like the troops, were brought in and sent out by rail. One of my Signalmen back in the 1970s had started his railway service as a Lad Porter at Warminster and his father had moved there from South Wales, on promotion, during the Great War to be the GWR Foreman dealing with the horse traffic - which was apparently considerable The land that depot occupied was the site of later military establishments so may well have remained in War Office ownership after the War; Cooke shows 1939 for the depot sidings and no indication of anything earlier but according to what I was told there some siding provision was made 'somewhere' for the horse traffic. All of which, alas, adds nothing to the debate about the mystery wagons. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
didcot Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 GWR version of a Bulleid Leader! 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnofwessex Posted January 25, 2022 Share Posted January 25, 2022 The picture clearly shows a Dammedifiknow 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHC Posted January 25, 2022 Share Posted January 25, 2022 Just to add to the confusion. The sidings are close by a dairy might it have been for that. Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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