Cadbury Bournville

[JohnMartin90125]

Be nice to see the wagon from post #123 released (00 please!) but not by Dapol as they all look the same with their somewhat generic printing, leave it to Hornby or Bachmann!

[peter220950]

One of the problems is the lack of verifiable information on livery, most of the vehicles were dark blue with yellow lettering, as reproduced by Merco for 00 wagon sides in the 50's

 

 

 

but there were loads of different attempts at a 'house style' which were done by their own painting/signwriting department. I would guess at red with white letters shaded black in this case, though light blue is a possibility. There was also a livery which looks as if it could have been pale blue or even yellow, with black lettering, I only have a dodgy scan of a wagon, and a slightly different one in the bottom middle of the coal yard.

 

 

 

Once again, any information is welcome.

Edited July 31, 2014 by peter220950

[Osgood]

Well that photo appears to show a cupola furnace most likely for producing iron castings.

 

I know that cast iron cooling tables were used for toffee and chocolate production - indeed I have the legs from such a table which came out of Rowntree's factory in Norwich. The table they were removed from was a hollow casting and the product was cooled by pumping water through the table.

 

I imagine that iron castings were used for volume production of chocolate from moulds.

 

It is certainly feasible that Cadbury produced their own iron castings - this photo seems to be good evidence that they did. An interesting picture!

[Beatty 139]

I think you will find that thus is a producer gas (or water gas) plant, with associated scrubber etc. Nothing to do with casting at all.

Most likely to run a large gas engine, I understand that Cadburys generated there own plant voltage as the main boiler house was more than just steam production.

Andy

[peter220950]

Is it generating the gas from coal, and leaving coke? - That would be understandable, Cadbury's were quite sensitive to the fact that they were running steam loco's in a food factory, but apparently fireless loco's were not thought to be suitable. In the 1920's the loco's were switched to run on coke, starting, I think, with the Avonsides, presumably because it was a cleaner burn.

[Beatty 139]

If you know of the access to the Enginner magazine via the Gracies guide web site there is quite a lot of information on this kind of plant.

 

I would suspect there is a large gas engine somewhere nearby most likely generating electrical power, these large gas engines were not ideal for running off the mains gas supplies so most ran off suction gas plants. Without a date it's hard to match the technology on show. Most production of chocolate uses steam for the process in the various boiling pans etc. So I doubt such a gas plant would be used for anything other driving a gas engine.

 

From what I can see the main large cylinder in the centre of the photo is the reactor the tall induction pipe rises from it with a water trap at the top, the pipe then drops and I suspect the large vertical cylinder on the left is a wet scrubber.

 

Hope that all helps.

[Garethp8873]

Hello Peter!

 

Thought I would give you an update on the Cadbury Van 346 at the SVR. It is currently outside at Bewdley having received a new lick of paint from the wagon department!! Looks absolutely stunning and hopefully will take a position in the goods at the Gala next month fingers crossed!! I am looking to go down to Bewdley soon and do a photoshoot with the wagon and get some detail shots.

 

ATB, Gareth.

[peter220950]

Hello Peter!

 

Thought I would give you an update on the Cadbury Van 346 at the SVR. It is currently outside at Bewdley having received a new lick of paint from the wagon department!! Looks absolutely stunning and hopefully will take a position in the goods at the Gala next month fingers crossed!! I am looking to go down to Bewdley soon and do a photoshoot with the wagon and get some detail shots.

 

ATB, Gareth.

Thanks for that Gareth, must get over to take a look.

[Boatman]

There are a couple of Cadbury liveried narrow boats around and they are definitely a purplish red.

 

Cadbury's boats were always immaculately kept.

 

Regards,

Boatman

[peter220950]

There are a couple of Cadbury liveried narrow boats around and they are definitely a purplish red.

 

Cadbury's boats were always immaculately kept.

 

Regards,

Boatman

Once again many thanks to you all for the information supplied, I was aware that they had a fleet of boats, and ties with the Severn Canal Carriers, but I didn't know there were still boats around carrying the livery.

 

I will have a search around for them, I had already built some boats, a couple of them Cadbury's, using 'best guess' for liveries but there are more to complete so I can hopefully get closer to reality.

 

[Garethp8873]

Hello Peter!! Here's a photo Cadburys 346 at Bewdley that I took last weekend whilst doing MPD work at the Severn Valley. From what I know, the lettering on the other side of the wagon just needs doing and it'll be complete!! Looks stunning now.

 

Edited October 5, 2014 by Garethp8873

[peter220950]

Very nice, and thanks Gareth, back to how it was when I remember them.

 

It will be interesting to catch up with the SVR crew who did the work to find out what paint colour they are using, as I can then get it sourced, rather than just use what I 'think' it looked like. That seems a be a bit more chocolate than the maroon I had in my head, and is probably more accurate, it certainly looks the part now.

[Devonbelle]

Just found this topic - very interesting as a number of my family worked at Cadbury Bournville - on the railway. My great grandad Jack Stanford was responsible for the locos pre WW2, and his son (my grandfather) rose to become at superintendent at the works and post WW2 was responsible for staff loading outgoing wagons. Few recollections below - first hand and from Grandfather.

 

I saw in the thread about having weed covered sidings, only in the last few months (upto May 1976) were there weeds in the sidings, otherwise it was all immaculate - ballasted with ash. I walked part of the line when the track was down, and it was all bullhead rail and wooden sleepers, with the exception of a small siding by the sign set into grass 'Bournville' which was laid in flat bottom rail.

 

A friend (Harry Leach) was an apprentice at Pecketts of Bristol in the 1950s when Cadbury number 10 (040 saddle tank) was built - he said the livery was an approximation of Midland Railway red, but had multiple applications of varnish, aside from copious amounts of gold leaf to complete the Cadbury Bournville lettering. He said Cadbury staff were very particular about the painting of the loco - typical Cadbury attention to detail.

 

I saw loco number 14 (a North British diesel) working February 1976 - shunting BR box vans - so all wagons were all in bauxite. Wagons were loose shunted. At that time there were open mineral wagons, wooden planked - in the raft of sidings higher than the main line by the Country Girl pub, and they were all a sky blue colour. Coal traffic for the powerhouse was in standard BR steel bodied wagons in the 1970s. After the system closed I remember loco number 12 was stabled at the end of the sidings in October 1976 at almost street level , by the pedestrian entrance to Bournville station.

 

I have a book - Bournville a Century of Progress with several colour prints of 1930s oil paintings of the works, featuring the railway and open wagons are a chocolate brown, with yellow lettering Cadbury Bournville - the paintings feature excellent representations of the Avonside locomotives, so lead me to believe they'd be accurate in terms of wagon colour.

 

I recollect even in the 1970s there was also a grey box van on its own siding for the pway department - visible by the main works - which was wooden bodied not unlike the Caledonian vans.

 

Adrian the Rock has an excellent website - and a few ace photos of Cadbury locos in colour - http://www.roscalen.com/signals/WestMids/index.htm

 

Be good to see the layout for real - a worthy project. Paul

[Garethp8873]

All done...!! Cadbury 346 completed and outshopped...!! Last photo I will be posting of 346 now as I not want to choke this thread with photos of the same van LOL ...!!

Edited February 10, 2015 by Garethp8873

[George Hudson]

Marvellous and so original.

Andrew

[peter220950]

Andrew,

 

Thanks for your kind words, it's had to take a bit of a back seat at the moment, while I try out various techniques and systems like Sprat & Winkle couplings on the other little layout. What's more the other layout is showing how long these things take to get anywhere, one year in and probably only half way there.

 

Now I've finished rebuilding properties for my daughter and son-in-law, and have almost finished the kitchen re-fit, I'm hoping I can get some real progress on both layouts. It dawned on me this morning that I'm unlikely to be able to hire a van in 5 years time, so it doesn't give me much time to get it finished if I want to see it on the road!

 

Peter

[sidmouth]

Fabulous thread and quite fascinating 

 

I couldn't see this link which I hope helps 

 

http://www.photobydjnorton.com/CadburyRailway.htmland also this http://www.railaroundbirmingham.co.uk/Stations/cadbury.php

[peter220950]

Many thanks for that, I had seen the links, and have good copies of some of the photo's, there are some iconic views on the sites that I would like to re-create on the layout.

 

Hopefully once the current 'tester' layout is completed I can get back to work on the main event. The small layout has proved invaluable as it has taught me a lot about the point control systems and automatic coupling that I shall be using, without having wasted a lot of time and money going down dead ends.

 

It's also taught me that the boards, track and wiring are the easy bits, it's the bl**dy buildings that take time, for the little layout it took about a month to do the boards and track and about 12 months for the buildings. Target is now to get the quickie done in the first quarter of next year and then move back to Cadbury.

 

Thanks again for highlighting the links.

 

Peter

[Simond]

Peter,

 

I can quite see the "bl**dy buildings" taking the time, but when I look at what you've achieved, I think, "I hope mine come out as good".

 

And the Greater Windowledge Railway was never an end in itself, it was the "quickie", and it lasted from some time in 1999 to about a month ago, and it was a hugely useful learning experience for all sorts of things, and it was a bit of fun too. (But the double glazing is now done so Porth Dinllaen loco is about to begin...)

 

Best

Simon

[AdeMoore]

Loved reading about this layout, I actually came here via a link from a baseboard design query topic, which I can’t find now! usually the way.   Anyway great beginnings on this layout and no update since December 2015.

But see the links in your signature so I have followed and now reading those.

 Cheers.

[Grouse101]

Just stumbled across this whilst reseaching Cadbury wagons. Any update on the layout?

[Sithlord75]

Also just stumbled across this whilst looking for details on Cadbury wagons.  Were any lettered with white lettering does anyone know?  

 

And if there is an update on the layout, that would be welcome too!

[Mark Saunders]

There is a Don Rowland photo’ of all steel van 322 in ex works condition at Bromford Bridge in October 1967 apparently on delivery from builder!