Western Region 1980s freight - West of England Division, my photos

[Rivercider]

It has been some time since my last contribution to this thread.

I am fortunate that my second book will be released by Amberley Publishing in September 2019. 

'Railways of the West of England in the 1980s'  contains photos of passenger, parcels and freight trains taken across the West of England Division of the WR. The area covered is from Worcester to Truro, including Swindon and Westbury. Many of the photos were taken in the Bristol/Avonmouth area, as well as Somerset and Devon. The photos date from 1980 to 1988 and show the BR Blue era before Sectorisation began to take hold.

 

Many of my freight train photos have already appeared in this thread, but there are some others in the book including this one.   

In the Commonwealth Smelting grid sidings BR supervisor Jack Hyde speaks to the crew of one of the Smelting company locos on 26 January 1982.

 

cheers

 

 

Edited August 6, 2019 by Rivercider
Grammar

[Rivercider]

On 03/07/2016 at 21:58, pwilson said:

Hi Kevin

 

In addition to my previous post, do you happen to have a track plan of the Huntspill branch and the sidings off the main line?

 

Many thanks

 

Paul

A very late reply here. While researching for a forthcoming book I realise that the Signalling Record Society website has a diagram of Huntspill signal box (before the box closed as part of the Bristol MAS scheme in about 1971/2). The diagram shows the crossover, lead off the down main, and the three reception sidings. The layout in the reception sidings was later altered when the M5 was built, I think the new ROF link line (via a bridge over the M5) left from the lower of the three reception sidings, while a short length the original route to the ROF was retained as a headshunt.

 

cheers 

Edited September 25, 2019 by Rivercider
clarification

[KeithMacdonald]

On 07/11/2014 at 21:10, 37114 said:

The crashed Merc will appear on my new layout in the next 18 months....

 

Err, is that going to be a RTR Merc, or a scratch-built / crash-bent one?

 

I'm not sure I could bring myself deliberately crashing a new model, just for the sake of accuracy. Not to be confused with models I've accidently crashed, or dropped off the table!

[Wayne 37901]

Hi Kevin,

 

I've been back through the Bristol area in the thread but I must have missed it, did you touch on traffic to the small group of sidings at St Philips, beyond Kingsland Road bridge?

 

Cheers,

Wayne

Edited March 10, 2021 by Wayne 37901

[37114]

1 hour ago, KeithMacdonald said:

 

Err, is that going to be a RTR Merc, or a scratch-built / crash-bent one?

 

I'm not sure I could bring myself deliberately crashing a new model, just for the sake of accuracy. Not to be confused with models I've accidently crashed, or dropped off the table!

Sadly the crashed Merc didn't appear on the layout referred to  which is since completed and sold. The good news is I am building a 7mm version of the same layout so I have the opportunity to revisit the project, especially as Dapol do the conflat. I have never had a problem trashing diecast vehicles for layout scrap yard scenes although to be fair they are usually second hand damaged ones rather than brand new...

[Rivercider]

1 hour ago, Wayne 37901 said:

Hi Kevin,

 

I've been back through the Bristol area in the thread but I must have missed it, did you touch on traffic to the small group of sidings at At Philips, beyond Kingsland Road bridge?

 

Cheers,

Wayne

 

Hi Wayne.

I think you are referring to the sidings at St Phillips, I think also sometimes known as Marsh Ponds?

There had also been a freight mileage depot at St Phillips, which closed about 1973, did that become the site of SPM HST depot?

Sorry I did not take any freight photos there, though if my notes are right this photo of DW150031 is at Marsh Ponds.

DW150031 (shown on TOPS as TDW150031) had been part of an Emergency Train, and was former GWR no. 5856. 18/6/80.

 

When I first went into Bristol TOPS in 1978 there was still occasional traffic of wood pulp to Marsh Ponds for St Annes Board Mills. By this date though the traffic no longer came up from Portishead Docks but came from Sharpness loaded in STVs (tubes) or SOVs (pipe wagons).  The Board Mills closed soon after I think, and the traffic ceased.

Later in the early 1980s Rugby Cement established a small depot somewhere at Marsh Ponds, they received one or two PCAs a time to Kingsland Road on Speedlink services, then tripped around to Marsh Ponds as required.

 

cheers