Sturminster Newton

[bike2steam]

3 hours ago, Jack Benson said:

 

Just a polite warning, none of the current custodians are locals and the only atrefact worth viewing is the static model.

 

When we asked for any images of the station area, we were directed to to Shillingstone.............

 

 

 

JB

Ah, that explains their somewhat lacklustre response when we asked about some info - any means when doing research, just thought it might be worth a try, 

[down the sdjr]

On 26/10/2019 at 21:16, RailWest said:

Ah, nice to see that you're modelling the rodding and FPL etc. But you'll need more rodding...and lose that 'diamond' off the signal too :-)

Hi Chris, I need educating on point rodding, is it one rod for the point and another for the lock? 2 per point.

Also you will have to explain the diamond to me as well.

Thanks

Paul.

[RailWest]

1 hour ago, down the sdjr said:

Hi Chris, I need educating on point rodding, is it one rod for the point and another for the lock? 2 per point.

Also you will have to explain the diamond to me as well.

Thanks

Paul.

>>> is it one rod for the point and another for the lock? 

 

Usually yes, except where the point had an 'economic' FPL but off the top of my head there were few if any of those on the S&DJR. But - don't forget that in the revised layout at Stur the FPLs on 7 and 8 were both worked by 6, so that would only be one rod out from the box for both of those FPLs.

 

For diamonds (and specifically diamonds on the S&DJR) read here http://www.trainweb.org/railwest/railco/sdjr/diamonds.html :-)

Edited October 28, 2019 by RailWest

[RailWest]

Not sure if this thread is still open, but...

 

Is it possible that this is the back of Sturminster good shed? It was reputed to be Shillingstone, but appears not to be the case.

 

 

 

[bécasse]

Chris

 

The fact that the photo was taken with the sun out provides a certain amount of information which might help to confirm or refute a location. 

 

Firstly the sun was high in the sky so the photo was taken within a few hours of midday and thus the highly illuminated end wall of the shed must be approximately the south end.

 

Secondly we can see from the shadows that there must have been a tall (much taller than the goods shed) building just out of sight on the right hand side of the photo.

 

You know S&DJR stations a hundred times better than me so I will leave to you to do the analysis.

 

David

[Blandford1969]

This is a wonderful photo and is definitely the rear of Sturminster Goods shed for a few reasons. 

 

Firstly the land rising behind the goods shed with the trees behind is consistent with Sturminster Newton, secondly the shed at Shillingstone appears to have gone by the time of closure with only the concreate sheds remaining. 

 

A very rare view, thanks for sharing it. 

[RailWest]

11 hours ago, Blandford1969 said:

This is a wonderful photo and is definitely the rear of Sturminster Goods shed for a few reasons. 

 

Firstly the land rising behind the goods shed with the trees behind is consistent with Sturminster Newton, secondly the shed at Shillingstone appears to have gone by the time of closure with only the concreate sheds remaining. 

 

A very rare view, thanks for sharing it. 

I would have to point out, of course, that although the known lack of a shed at Shillingstone by that time means that it is not Shillingstone, that does not automatically mean that it must therefore be SN.

 

Of more concern is the point made by becasse about the sunlight (?) on the RH end, because if it IS Sturminster then that end would be facing north.

 

Having said that, it does appear overall to be a shed in the same style as other brick goods sheds on the 'Dorset'.....

[Blandford1969]

1 hour ago, RailWest said:

I would have to point out, of course, that although the known lack of a shed at Shillingstone by that time means that it is not Shillingstone, that does not automatically mean that it must therefore be SN.

 

Of more concern is the point made by becasse about the sunlight (?) on the RH end, because if it IS Sturminster then that end would be facing north.

 

Having said that, it does appear overall to be a shed in the same style as other brick goods sheds on the 'Dorset'.....

Agreed

 

Working our way south, the land on the other side falls away at Wincanton, at Templecombe we would see the shed behind and the land does not rise like that. 

 

The shed at Shillingstone according to the Midland Railway plans of 1921suggests the shed was much smaller with not much side to either side of the rails. I have not been able to match the trees at Shillingstone either.  The Sturminster museum have a model of the station and again the shed matches most of what we see. We cannot though see the extension to the south end that would have for me clinched it. 

[bécasse]

The presence of the NCL lorry puts a definitive dateline on the photo of between 1969 (when NCL was created from the previous Sundries Division of British Rail) and c1982 (when the privatised company became Lynx Express). I don't know if that helps. The coal merchant's paraphernalia might suggest earlier rather than later within that timeline although a few existed in that form later.

[RailWest]

On the issue about the 'sun lighting', one of my contacts more familiar with the area than me is of the opinion that the orientation of the shed at SN was such that it would be consistent with mid-late-afternoon sun in the summer and the light coming just over the large building (a white carpet store in post-closure times) which was some distance away from the Templecombe end of the goods shed.

I suppose now the question would be for just how long did the old goods yard remain in use for road-supplied purposes after 1966 (and presumably after 1970)?

[bécasse]

 This website (hopefully I have already set it for a Sturminster Newton location and mid-summer 1970) enables you to play with the sun's position (using the time slider at the top of the page) including its elevation. This might help you to judge whether SN is a possible, a lot depends on the actual relative position of the tall building there. The sun's elevation was high though, note the angle of the shadows on the NCL lorry.

 

The building itself seems nondescript and, as such, could be somewhere else entirely (ie not S&DJR), but it does appear to have three 'upright' windows in the end lit by the sun and that is an unusual feature for a goods shed where windows are normally minimised (say one for the office) to maximise security. You say it appears to be a typical Dorset Central goods shed - do they have such windows?

 

David

[RailWest]

31 minutes ago, bécasse said:

 

The building itself seems nondescript and, as such, could be somewhere else entirely (ie not S&DJR), but it does appear to have three 'upright' windows in the end lit by the sun and that is an unusual feature for a goods shed where windows are normally minimised (say one for the office) to maximise security. You say it appears to be a typical Dorset Central goods shed - do they have such windows?

 

Sorry, but I can't see any windows in the end wall, just plain wall and the sliding rail door. I would not expect there to have been any windows in the end anyway - certainly none at (say) Blandford or Templecombe.

 

This photo shows the same end of the actual shed at SN and other ex-DCR sheds seem to have been similar.

Edited June 20, 2021 by RailWest

[down the sdjr]

I did as much research as I could on Stur, without seeing a photo the closest I could see was the model shed in SN museum. The door to the office had steps each side. This was my attempt, have no idea how accurate the museum model is.

 

The trees behind and the bank to the right look a close match.

I would love that to be Stur.

 

The sun direction would make that late afternoon / early evening.

Edited June 20, 2021 by down the sdjr

[bécasse]

2 hours ago, RailWest said:

Sorry, but I can't see any windows in the end wall, just plain wall and the sliding rail door. I would not expect there to have been any windows in the end anyway - certainly none at (say) Blandford or Templecombe.

 

This photo shows the same end of the actual shed at SN and other ex-DCR sheds seem to have been similar.

Sorry, Chris, mislead by the door hangers! This other photo makes it clear what they were. I note that there is no TP visible in the original photo but since that has to be at least three years post-closure it may well have been removed in the interim. When I get time later, I will check the orientation of the goods shed on the 25" OS map and see how it relates to possible sun positions and elevations.

[RailWest]

Look also at the horizontal line across the doors about 1/3 of the way down from the top. This appears to be the 'join' where the vertical boarding has been applied in two separate lengths. Although this arrangement may have been common to all the sheds, in which case it would not be conclusive proof of SN, the actual position may be different between sheds. For example, I've seen one photo of the north end of Blandford shed where it is about 1/3rd of the way up from the bottom and the two lots of T&G board seem to be of differing widths and the grooves don't line up!

[bécasse]

3 hours ago, RailWest said:

Look also at the horizontal line across the doors about 1/3 of the way down from the top. This appears to be the 'join' where the vertical boarding has been applied in two separate lengths. Although this arrangement may have been common to all the sheds, in which case it would not be conclusive proof of SN, the actual position may be different between sheds. For example, I've seen one photo of the north end of Blandford shed where it is about 1/3rd of the way up from the bottom and the two lots of T&G board seem to be of differing widths and the grooves don't line up!

That is interesting in that you see it as a join whereas I see it as horizontal iron or steel strip strapping. Obviously you have the advantage of seeing pictures of doors at other locations where its purpose may be more obvious, and certainly your description of the situation at Blandford would seem to suggest a join. However, except perhaps in wartime, I can't see any advantage (and definitely some disadvantages) in making up the door with two lengths of timber, in the sort of lengths required to cover a door there would no price advantage in using shorter lengths, timber gets markedly more relatively expensive as the width increases but not as the length does.

[bécasse]

This is a montage of a tiny section of the relevant 25" OS maps for 1902 and 1981 for Sturminster Newton with the approximate direction of sunlight indicated as seen in the above photo. This would suggest that the photo was taken between 17.00 and 17.30 and close to mid-summer's day when the elevation of the sun would be ~35° (so an object 3 metres high would cast a perpendicular shadow ~4,25 metres long). I will leave the 3D-trigonometrical proof to others but it doesn't seem empirically to be out of line with what is shown in the photo.

 

One other piece of relevant information is that the goods shed had not only be demolished but replaced by a distinctly larger building with a totally different footprint by the time the 1981 OS map was surveyed (say 1980) so, coupled with the information on NCL, we can say that the photo dates from the 1970s.

[GRC]

I cant tell from the Photo if its Stur or not,  I would have expected there to be a shadow from the the grain store which as shown in Railwests photo. I do however think its more likely than Shillingstone as I believe the doors at shillingstone would have opened onto the yard side and the land falls away to the Stour once the railway is crossed so I would have expected the land to fall away not rise.  There does appear to be a building behind and above the shed and trees which again fits the topology of Stur.   Its a great photo though and many thanks for posting it as it shows a very rare view as stated above of the rail side of a "Dorset" shed. 

[down the sdjr]

A couple of nice pictures of Sturminster Newton goods yard in the new Somerset & Dorset Railway book by Derek Phillips.

 

Also, a tantalizing glimpse of the goods shed at Shillingstone as well.

 

The photos of Stur do not shed any more light on the photo above, unfortunately, just a glimpse of the southern end.

[Benbow]

On 20/06/2021 at 16:53, RailWest said:

Look also at the horizontal line across the doors about 1/3 of the way down from the top. This appears to be the 'join' where the vertical boarding has been applied in two separate lengths. Although this arrangement may have been common to all the sheds, in which case it would not be conclusive proof of SN, the actual position may be different between sheds. For example, I've seen one photo of the north end of Blandford shed where it is about 1/3rd of the way up from the bottom and the two lots of T&G board seem to be of differing widths and the grooves don't line up!

 

I think the doors were covered in corrugated sheeting at some point if not originally. See S&D Remembered Part 2 by Hugh Ballantyne page 54.

Edited September 5, 2021 by Benbow

[nebnoswal]

Have been meaning to post this for awhile, I just had to remember where to find it.

Its an aerial photo of Sturminster, taken around 1947.  Available from Dorsetexplorer  https://explorer.geowessex.com/

You can follow the line almost from Bath to Bournemouth 

If only I could find some oblique photos?