Chris T's photo archives

[stewartingram]

More Utopia, thanks.

Cambridge diesel depot, home to the W&M drb as modelled by Heljan. They seemed to be classed as experts in railbuses there, at various times I saw an example of most types in for repair or something. Only one I didn't see was the Bristol/ECW type. One of my schoolmates lived in the houses on the left of the shed (pic 3). He awoke one morning, saw the shape of a loco in the shed, and on the way to school called in to see the foreman. He thought he had seen the centre cab "Taurus" loco, which we had seen a couple of times on freight trials. The foreman was perplexed, took him inside, and showed him - 2x 03 parked cab-to-cab!.

Across the tracks on the west side, was the tformer siding for Cambridge Gas. There was a Sentinel fireless loco here, now preserved at Carnforth as "Gasbag". The coal was transported by steam lorry from the sidings to the gasworks on Newmarket Road. After burning, the residue coke was transported back. My stepfather once drove these lorries.

Pic 3 seems to show 2x 101 3-car units, which would have been on the Birmingham service. 101s were not local to East Anglia, until the dmu reshuffles in the mid 60s, as shown in pic4 for the Ipswich line. (Actually that dmu shows Harwich on the blind).

Pic 4 shows my school playing field on the right. Ever tried playing rugby (which I hated) with a notebook and pen in your shorts for trainspotting? Once during a game, D6704 left Cambridge on a Liverpool St 9-coach expres, only to expire right against our sports field. More interesting than the game!

Lovely shots, though a tad later (blue era) than my main period, and most of my time was slightly north at Chesterton Junction.

The waste land on the left, between the GE & LNWR lines, was once sidings, laid I believe during the war.

 

Stewart

Edited October 26, 2014 by stewartingram

[Chris Turnbull]

 

Pic 4 shows my school playing field on the right. Ever tried playing rugby (which I hated) with a notebook and pen in your shorts for trainspotting?  More interesting than the game!

Lovely shots, though a tad later (blue era) than my main period, and most of my time was slightly north at Chesterton Junction.

 

Chesterton Junction I can do plus loads more East Anglian green era stuff so don't worry.  Remind me again in a few months time if I have forgotten!

 

Like you, my school's sports field was adjacent to a railway line, in my case the Bury St Edmunds - Sudbury line.  The passenger service had ceased the previous year by the time I got there but there was still a daily freight to Lavenham which was BTH Type 1 (class 15) hauled.  This was one of the few remaining duties for which they were designed (see earlier post) which itself ceased in 1965.  I was never any good at cricket to the eternal disappointment of my father (who was wicket keeper for Suffolk in his younger days) so I was always one of the last in bat.  This meant that if I was lucky I would hear a rumble in the cutting near where I and my colleagues would be sitting upon which signal we would rush to see what locomotive was on the train that day.  This was just to the south of the erstwhile Bury St Edmunds Eastgate station and is now part of the A14 by-pass.  If you look to the west as you travel down that part of the road the western side of the railway cutting can still be seen.

 

Chris Turnbull

Edited October 26, 2014 by Chris Turnbull

[AberdeenBill]

Chris, thanks for posting these fantastic photos (especially the signals), please don't stop ;-)     Could somebody please explain what the "W" and "U" theatre indicators mean for the platform starters at Norwich?

 

Many thanks,

Bill

[Chris Turnbull]

Chris, thanks for posting these fantastic photos (especially the signals), please don't stop ;-)     Could somebody please explain what the "W" and "U" theatre indicators mean for the platform starters at Norwich?

 

Please rest assured that I do not intend to stop, at least not yet. I will have to slow down, however, as I'm back at work tomorrow (ho-hum).

 

The "U" probably means Up Main, i.e. to London, but I''m not sure about the "W".  Either Whitlingham Junction, Wensum Junction or Wymondham I would suggest.

 

Chris Turnbull

Edited October 26, 2014 by Chris Turnbull

[jonny777]

 

Again thanks to Jonny777 for vetting these photographs.  He'll be regretting he offered his help before long! 

 

Chris Turnbull

 

 

Chris, I can assure you that it is a pleasure, and that my only regret will be when you run out of these superb images to scan. 

[beast66606]

Fantastic stuff Chris from an area which is now local to me, sadly I missed most of the semaphores.

 

The 03s were so light that they wouldn't always drop a track circuit so the match truck was provided to assist.

 

Re Norwich signals - educated guess

 

U = Up Trowse

W = Wensum

[LNERGE]

Fantastic stuff Chris from an area which is now local to me, sadly I missed most of the semaphores.

 

The 03s were so light that they wouldn't always drop a track circuit so the match truck was provided to assist.

 

Re Norwich signals - educated guess

 

U = Up Trowse

W = Wensum

A bit more complicated than that. Note there is an arrow too..

 

 

Whole box diagram here..

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pwayowen/8294352350/sizes/l/

Edited October 26, 2014 by LNERGE

[LNERGE]

I hope that you dont mind Chris, but I have had a quick tweak of your Brush 4 photo, in order to remove the redness. It is not perfect I know, and I may have over done the blue, but it illustrates what can be done with a little experimentation in the scanner software settings. Those photos are wonderful ER nostalgia for me, and I cannot avoid tinkering with something so priceless.

 

post-13986-0-18860100-1414179823_thumb.jpg

The main arm (31) is off for a train behind the photographer and not the 47. The route to the up main is set via No53 points, The scissors crossover just visible and not via 89's which would have involved running bang road on the down main for a bit further..

[Chris Turnbull]

Here we are at Bury St Edmunds in 1968:

 

 

On a snowy January 13th 1968 an unidentified pair of DMUs (Derby Lightweight and Met-Camm) enter Bury St Edmunds with an Ipswich to Cambridge service.  At one time Bury St Edmunds was a three-way junction and the junction signalbox can be seen in the background.  The line to Thetford diverged to the left and that to Long Melford was to the right beyond the bridge.  Both had closed by the time this picture was taken with the semaphore arms on the three-doll bracket signal that controlled the junction removed.  The doll for the Long Melford line arm can just be seen to the right of the Starter.  The track had also been rationalised, the two centre roads through the station being removed in 1965 with corresponding removal of the arm from the doll of the Home signal behind the DMU.  This was a goods arm as the Up centre road was not signalled for passenger traffic.  There was also a "calling-on" arm below the Home signal which had also gone by this time. 

 

 

Brush Type 2 D5699 passes Bury St Edmunds Yard signalbox on 13th May 1968 on what is probably a Peterborough service.  Note the preponderance of 16 ton mineral wagons in the yard in various shades of rust and the gasholder.  A working gasholder would be a good subject for a model; has anyone made one?  St Johns church is in the background.

 

 

English Electric Type 3 D6723 enters Bury St Edmunds from the west on the same day as D5699 above.  This will be either the return leg of the Harwich boat train or the Newcastle to Colchester train.  Note the raft of Insulfish vans in the foreground.  A good exercise in weathering I think!

 

 

Finally D5699 again on 19th October 1968.  Only one car in view!

 

Thanks to Jonny777 again.

 

Chris Turnbull

Edited May 21, 2022 by Chris Turnbull

[uax6]

I would have thought that the DMU combo is Derby Lightweight- Derby Lightweight in BFYE (Is the last car still in green? ) The only other type of unit that it could be is a 1st series Metro-Cammell, but the windows seem too low for them.

 

 

The Derby L/w is Yellow diamond coupling code and the 1st Series of Met-Cams (the ones with the skirt under the buffers, and the ones that Triang modelled) were also Yellow diamond. The Cravens were built to the later standard of Blue Square.....

 

Cracking shots BTW.

 

Andy G

Edited October 26, 2014 by uax6

[jonny777]

Here we are at Bury St Edmunds in 1968:

 

681019 Bury St Edmunds D5699.jpg

 

Finally D5699 again on 19th October 1968.  Only one car in view!

 

Thanks to Jonny777 again.

 

Chris Turnbull

 

 

That yellow sky did not seem quite so annoying when I tweaked D5699 earlier, so I have tried to remove it without sacrificing too much of the other colours. Hope this looks a bit more realistic.

 

[Chris Turnbull]

I would have thought that the DMU combo is Derby Lightweight- Derby Lightweight in BFYE (Is the last car still in green? ) The only other type of unit that it could be is a 1st series Metro-Cammell, but the windows seem too low for them.

 

 

The Derby L/w is Yellow diamond coupling code and the 1st Series of Met-Cams (the ones with the skirt under the buffers, and the ones that Triang modelled) were also Yellow diamond. The Cravens were built to the later standard of Blue Square.....

 

Cracking shots BTW.

 

Andy G

 

Yes, you are quite right.  Memo to self: engage brain before posting!  Looking in my Ian Allan 1967 Combined Volume the second set would be Met-Camms.  The Motor Brake Seconds were numbered in the range E79047 to E79075 and the Driving Trailer Seconds were E79263 to E79291.

 

Regards

 

Chris Turnbull

[Fat Controller]

Here we are at Bury St Edmunds in 1968:

 

680113 Bury St Edmunds DMU.jpg

 

On a snowy January 13th 1968 an unidentified pair of DMUs (Derby Lightweight and Cravens?) enters Bury St Edmunds with an Ipswich to Cambridge service.  At one time Bury St Edmunds was a three-way junction and the junction signalbox can be seen in the background.  The line to Thetford diverged to the left and that to Sudbury was to the right beyond the bridge.  Both had closed by the time this picture was taken with the semaphore arms on the three-doll bracket signal that controlled the junction removed.  The doll for the Sudbury line arm can just be seen to the right of the Starter.  The track had also been rationalised, the two centre roads through the station being removed in 1965 with corresponding removal of the arm from the doll behind the DMU.  This was a goods arm as the Up centre road was not signalled for passenger traffic.  There was also a "calling-on" arm below the Home signal which had also gone by this time. 

 

680513 Bury St Edmunds D5699.jpg

 

Brush Type 2 D5699 passes Bury St Edmunds Yard signalbox on 13th May 1968 on what is probably a Peterborough service.  Note the preponderance of 16 ton mineral wagons in the yard in various shades of rust and the gasholder.  A working gasholder would be a good subject for a model; has anyone made one?  St Johns church is in the background.

 

680513 Bury St Edmunds D6723.jpg

 

English Electric Type 3 D6723 enters Bury St Edmunds from the west on the same day as D5699 above.  This will be either the return leg of the Harwich boat train or the Newcastle to Colchester train.  Note the raft of Insulfish vans in the foreground.  A good exercise in weathering I think!

 

681019 Bury St Edmunds D5699.jpg

 

Finally D5699 again on 19th October 1968.  Only one car in view!

 

Thanks to Jonny777 again.

 

Chris Turnbull

The car appears to be one of the 'badged and booted' Mini derivatives; a Wolseley Hornet or a Riley Elf. The station approach is in a lot better condition than many I've seen; the railway, rather than the Council's Highways Department were usually responsible for them, and they were last-in-line when money was being spent.

The Newcastle- Colchester was presumably originally intended for the military leave market? 

[Chris Turnbull]

The Newcastle- Colchester was presumably originally intended for the military leave market? 

Do you know, I've always wondered why it started from Colchester but I never thought of that reason.  You could have provided the answer.

 

Chris Turnbull

[Fat Controller]

Do you know, I've always wondered why it started from Colchester but I never thought of that reason.  You could have provided the answer.

 

Chris Turnbull

Into the 1970s, at least. there was a lot of Forces 'Warrant' traffic about; the NE-SW trains used to have a portion for Torbay (almost entirely students/ holidaymakers) and one for Plymouth (usually military). If the portions worked out of Birmingham New Street in reverse formation, there would be absolute chaos, as the two heavily-encumbered groups tried to get past one another on the platform. The through trains from the north to Folkestone and Dover were as much for this traffic as for tourists.

The French had lots of 'permissionaires' trains (leave trains) until National Service finished a few years ago; these would run from all over France to a few stations in the north (principally Reims and Chalon sur Marne), where the various regiments would be put on trains to their respective barracks. The operation at Reims used to be around midnight, and was run by a RSM who really didn't need the tannoy.. We were trying to sleep in a hotel 500 metres away, and we heard every word.

[jonny777]

As I may have mentioned on another thread (David Ford's excellent photos, I think) the Newcastle to Colchester only ran between June and September for much of the 1960s. The rest of the year it ran to Lincoln.

[michaelp]

Great photos Chris, thanks for posting. Looking forward to more!

[LNERGE]

As I may have mentioned on another thread (David Ford's excellent photos, I think) the Newcastle to Colchester only ran between June and September for much of the 1960s. The rest of the year it ran to Lincoln.

I was always led to believe this train was mainly for service personnel. A quick search of the net doesn't readily reveal much evidence of regiments from the north of England being based there but i think it was the reason.

[don]

I thought we'd have a BTH (British Thomson-Houston) Type 1 / Class 15 fest today so here goes:

 

680422 D8227 and D8229 Ipswich.jpg

 

This is D8227 and D8229 on a very wet 22nd April 1968 at Ipswich

 

680528 D8203 and D8209 Bury St Edmunds.jpg

 

Another pair, D8203 and D8209 on a drier and sunnier evening at Bury St Edmunds on 28th May 1968

 

680531 D8240 and D8236 Haughley.jpg

 

Finally D8240 and D8236 at Haughley on 31st May 1968

 

These locomotives were a bit of a "white elephant" of the BR Modernisation Plan as they were intended for branch line freight which was in the process of terminal decline when they were introduced.  They also suffered from poor forward vision for the driver so were used in pairs in their final years as are the remaining Class 20s still today.

 

Anyone intending a model of one of a BTH Type 1 / Class 15 should note that the front and rear of the cabs were painted a light grey.  I have seen one model with these painted yellow which, to me, spoilt what was otherwise a fine representation.

 

Well, that's enough of locomotives for the time being.  I thought I might dig out some photographs of signals and other railway paraphernalia for the next batch but don't worry all you loco fans, I've got a couple of thousand photographs taken over the last 50 years and they increase on a regular basis.  I also thought I might try a few "then and now" selections but please bear with me as this all takes time!

 

Chris Turnbull 

Hi Chis.loved those Paxman's(later class 15's!) i started at Hornsey as a cleaner in 1960 aged 15.we had a small allocation of these Paxmans.it was said we got them because the Stratford men kept running past red lights with them!?the brakes were very good and the locos light !!we mainly used them on jobs from Ferme Park to Victoria Docks and Hackney Docks.they were also used on some south London exchange freights but only with a reduced load via. the Widened lines(the Met) to Hither Green Norwood Jnt etc.

They had nice warm draft free cabs and rode well, during the summer months when steam heating was not required they would be a loco of last resort on London to Moorgate and Kings cross commuter services from Hertford North and Welwyn Garden City.

If you were long nose forward at 70MPH they looked to be quite frightening!!!!! but that high speed Paxman sounded good!!!!!

The biggest drawback was that you had to manually operate the radiator grilles to keep the engine temperature at optimum.very easy to not notice a rise in temp and an impending shutdown!!!

Ah.alas nowt but good memories now!!! 

[Steve-e]

Cracking photos like the Green 31's will have to put one on my want list.

 

 

 

Steve

[Rivercider]

Into the 1970s, at least. there was a lot of Forces 'Warrant' traffic about; the NE-SW trains used to have a portion for Torbay (almost entirely students/ holidaymakers) and one for Plymouth (usually military). If the portions worked out of Birmingham New Street in reverse formation, there would be absolute chaos, as the two heavily-encumbered groups tried to get past one another on the platform. The through trains from the north to Folkestone and Dover were as much for this traffic as for tourists.

The French had lots of 'permissionaires' trains (leave trains) until National Service finished a few years ago; these would run from all over France to a few stations in the north (principally Reims and Chalon sur Marne), where the various regiments would be put on trains to their respective barracks. The operation at Reims used to be around midnight, and was run by a RSM who really didn't need the tannoy.. We were trying to sleep in a hotel 500 metres away, and we heard every word.

Even today forces traffic is noticeable in some places, I have just travelled up from Dawlish Warren on an Paignton - Exmouth service,

I changed at Exeter St Davids, and there must have been 30 or 40 lads joining heading for Lympstone Marine Commando,

 

cheers

 

PS thanks to Chris and Jonny for this enjoyable thread  

[Fat Controller]

Even today forces traffic is noticeable in some places, I have just travelled up from Dawlish Warren on an Paignton - Exmouth service,

I changed at Exeter St Davids, and there must have been 30 or 40 lads joining heading for Lympstone Marine Commando,

 

cheers

 

PS thanks to Chris and Jonny for this enjoyable thread  

The uncle of a French friend was one of the lot who went over to the Allies in North Africa after Petain's surrender; he volunteered, and was accepted, for commando training, and was sent up to the Highlands to be trained. When the train arrived at the station in Scotland, they discovered that the doors on the platform side had been locked, obliging them to jump out, in pitch darkness, of the other side of the train. As they picked themselves up, a voice boomed 'I thought we'd give you a little taste of what to expect'...

I often wonder if some of the sleeper services that survived into the late 1970s did so because of military traffic; Milford Haven to Paddington, and some of the Scottish ones, for example. The 'country' end often seemed to be in places with clusters of military/ naval activity. I'm pretty certain that the services from Harwich to Manchester/ Glasgow were the successors to the MEDLOC services that ran after WW2 for service traffic to mainland Europe.

[uax6]

Hi Chis.loved those Paxman's(later class 15's!) i started at Hornsey as a cleaner in 1960 aged 15.we had a small allocation of these Paxmans.it was said we got them because the Stratford men kept running past red lights with them!?the brakes were very good and the locos light !!we mainly used them on jobs from Ferme Park to Victoria Docks and Hackney Docks.they were also used on some south London exchange freights but only with a reduced load via. the Widened lines(the Met) to Hither Green Norwood Jnt etc.

They had nice warm draft free cabs and rode well, during the summer months when steam heating was not required they would be a loco of last resort on London to Moorgate and Kings cross commuter services from Hertford North and Welwyn Garden City.

If you were long nose forward at 70MPH they looked to be quite frightening!!!!! but that high speed Paxman sounded good!!!!!

The biggest drawback was that you had to manually operate the radiator grilles to keep the engine temperature at optimum.very easy to not notice a rise in temp and an impending shutdown!!!

Ah.alas nowt but good memories now!!! 

Not all a memory, as the Class 15 PS is slowly rebuilding the last one left. They seem to have a decent power unit and another good spare and a third as a collection of parts, so at least the engine side is covered!

 

See here: www.d8233.org.uk

 

Andy G

[jwealleans]

Yes, indeed - found it at Pete Waterman's place at Crewe just after I'd built my kit a few years ago.   I had no idea there was one left.

 

I think the mechanics have come from something similar used in Ireland?

 

Cracking photos, Chris.  Have you got any round Thurston?

[uax6]

I believe that the traction motors are ex-Irish, but everything else was on the loco (although a few things like controllers and electrical cubical, have gone missing since...)

 

Andy G