Henley-on-Thames - GWR in the 1930's

[checkrail]

Lovely to see and to read about.  My only sight of 4079 was in 1961 on holiday in Devon as it stopped with a passenger train at Starcross, allowing my father and I to appreciate its fine lines.  Although I knew nothing about its illustrious history then (nor, obviously, its illustrious future) I was excited, having visited the actual Pendennis Castle at Falmouth on a previous childhood holiday.  The GWR bug was beginning to bite this Mancunian youngster!

[TrevorP1]

9 minutes ago, checkrail said:

Lovely to see and to read about.  My only sight of 4079 was in 1961 on holiday in Devon as it stopped with a passenger train at Starcross, allowing my father and I to appreciate its fine lines.  Although I knew nothing about its illustrious history then (nor, obviously, its illustrious future) I was excited, having visited the actual Pendennis Castle at Falmouth on a previous childhood holiday.  The GWR bug was beginning to bite this Mancunian youngster!

 

Many childhood memories and more recent personal attachments to the actual castle for me as well so the overhaul of 4079 is very welcome.

[TrevorP1]

While we're on the subject of Pendennis Castle this happened to be on the layout this morning. It began life as an NRM Caerphilly Castle but has had BR style lining applied, smokebox number plate and 4,000 gallon tender. 

 

[Metropolitan H]

All this talk of "Pendennis Castle" reminds me of an early morning trip to Banbury - 4th March 1967 - to see Clun Castle arriving light engine to take over "The Zulu" special and depart north, followed a bit later by the arrival and departure of Pendennis on the "Birkenhead Flyer" special. In those days my photography was home processed B&W, but the following pictures were worth scanning from the large format prints I made shortly after the event!

 

 

 

 

 

 

That was the last time I saw "Pendennis" in steam - But, I have later pictures of "Clun" out to play, although they will take some finding!

 

I look forward to seeing "Pendennis Castle" in steam again.

 

Hope you like the pictures.

 

Regards

Chris H

[The Stationmaster]

So first - a picture of a 'Manor' at Henley - albeit in the early 1960s not the 1930s but this photo of mine does at least prove that a Reading  'Manor' got to Henley

 

 

 

And was this the nearest 4079 got to Henley I wonder - passing through Twyford on its ill fated trip to the west in May 1964?  The next time I took a photo of it was when it was dumped outside the back of Westbury shed and the next onek after that was of it arriving at Chester on that sad day (for those who loved the Western) in March 1967 which marked the end of Paddington - Chester & Birkenhead trains.  Here it is in full flight at Twyford.

 

[Neal Ball]

Wow! There are some great comments and personal observations here thank you.

 

Personally I've had to wait until 2022 before I can see the loco in action...

 

Plus of course some great photos from @Metropolitan H hand processed, large format I am very impressed.

 

Thanks also to Mike aka @The Stationmaster for not only Pendennis Castle at Twyford, but also for a Reading Manor class loco at Henley on Thames.

 

Here's to 2022 when I can visit Didcot... my hope os that both the Saint 4-6-0 "Lady of Legend" and the Castle class 4-6-0 Pendennis castle will both be on depot. I still haven't seen the Saint either!

 

Thanks again for your comments.

 

 

 

 

 

[The Stationmaster]

14 minutes ago, Neal Ball said:

Wow! There are some great comments and personal observations here thank you.

 

Personally I've had to wait until 2022 before I can see the loco in action...

 

Plus of course some great photos from @Metropolitan H hand processed, large format I am very impressed.

 

Thanks also to Mike aka @The Stationmaster for not only Pendennis Castle at Twyford, but also for a Reading Manor class loco at Henley on Thames.

 

Here's to 2022 when I can visit Didcot... my hope os that both the Saint 4-6-0 "Lady of Legend" and the Castle class 4-6-0 Pendennis castle will both be on depot. I still haven't seen the Saint either!

 

Thanks again for your comments.

 

 

 

 

 

I wonder if there will be an RMweb Members' Day at Didcot next year?   They have been great fun in the past and very informative an useful (and I don't mean my part in them when I say that) but they are the best way by far to 'see behind the scenes' and get tos ee a lot more than the usual visitor sees.

[Neal Ball]

1 hour ago, The Stationmaster said:

I wonder if there will be an RMweb Members' Day at Didcot next year?   They have been great fun in the past and very informative an useful (and I don't mean my part in them when I say that) but they are the best way by far to 'see behind the scenes' and get tos ee a lot more than the usual visitor sees.

 

That would be good Mike. So far I have managed to get the dates double booked.

 

Who do we need to lobby? We are planning to be over @June time and also set dates in August....

 

Was it RMWeb member Castle who organised them?

 

[The Fatadder]

1 hour ago, The Stationmaster said:

I wonder if there will be an RMweb Members' Day at Didcot next year?   They have been great fun in the past and very informative an useful (and I don't mean my part in them when I say that) but they are the best way by far to 'see behind the scenes' and get tos ee a lot more than the usual visitor sees.

I really do hope so, always such good days out 

[Neal Ball]

I'm on holiday!

Which means I can't access my loco books!

 

Re: THE Manor!

 

You can't deny it does look good... DCC sound fitted is £217 with a little change.... (Image from the Accurascale website)

 

 

Clearly the thing is.... IF Bachmann or someone were to offer a rake of GWR carriages, such as Toplights or new Sunshine stock, then clearly that £200+ will be going there....

 

Sadly I don't think anyone at Bachmann is listening... although clearly Accurascale are..... Manor anyone?

 

The Accurascale model with the GWR shirt button livery is no 7801 Anthony Manor, which I see from the Great Western.org website was allocated to Bristol Bath Rd from Jan 1938

 

A better loco would be no 7802 Bradley Manor which was also built in Jan 1938 and allocated to OOC.....

 

But of course it is still a IF I decide to by a sound fitted Manor from Accurascale at £217

 

Thank you. Neal

 

edit April 2022: I have a Manor on Pre-order

Edited April 1, 2022 by Neal Ball
photo changed

[Neal Ball]

4 minutes ago, The Fatadder said:

I really do hope so, always such good days out 

 

Who do we need to lobby to get a favourable date Rich?

 

Thanks

[KingEdwardII]

3 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

I still haven't seen the Saint either!

Hope that you get to see 2999 pulling the rake of Edwardian coaches for the truly authentic appearance. For Pendennis Castle, perhaps some of the Collett coaches would be more appropriate - I'm not sure of their current status, since some at least were undergoing maintenance.

 

Yours,  Mike.

[The Fatadder]

1 hour ago, Neal Ball said:

 

Who do we need to lobby to get a favourable date Rich?

 

Thanks

It was Castle who arranged it in the past

[Pendennis]

"Castle" gives notice on the RMWeb Events thread; from memory he makes the initial posting about May with the Tour on a Sunday in late July.  It can be thoroughly recommended, an excellent day out.

 

Martin

[The Stationmaster]

17 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

 

That would be good Mike. So far I have managed to get the dates double booked.

 

Who do we need to lobby? We are planning to be over @June time and also set dates in August....

 

Was it RMWeb member Castle who organised them?

 

Yes - 'Castle' was the organising genius and they were always excellent days I thought.  The most amusing thing of the last one, in 2019, was that (almost?) nobody except me noticed that Chris Leigh was at the GWS that day and no one noticed that he was carefully checking out some detail on 18000 in order to correct what he considered was not right on the Heljan CAD images or that I was with him while he was doing that and we ere looking closely at the angles on the front ends of the loco (most of the RMweb folk were in the carriage shed).

[Castle]

Hi All,

 

The bad penny returns.

 

I see you have been talking about that little 12":1' project of ours. Nearly there, nearly there... I would be more than happy to run another modeler's tour of our train set again. It would be a really nice way to get everyone together when the time comes. I look forward to it!

 

All the best,

 

Castle

 

PS: I've been writing a fair bit of this which started as a way of keeping people engaged with Didcot while the 'thing' was a thing and seems to have become mildly popular so I've kept doing it. There are numerous updates on No. 4079, including this week's (24th September) offering so enjoy!

 

https://didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/product.php/78/going-loco/44b54030f100ec49cd404c6354754ec0

[KingEdwardII]

26 minutes ago, Castle said:

There are numerous updates on No. 4079, including this week's (24th September) offering so enjoy!

An excellent write-up - many thanks.

 

Interesting to see the name of Sir Ralph Wedgwood of the LNER turn up - he was second cousin to another interest of mine, Ralph Vaughan Williams, the composer. Vaughan Williams dedicated his first symphony, "A Sea Symphony" to Ralph Wedgwood, as well as his earlier tone poem "In the Fen Country". 

 

Roll on the day when Pendennis Castle again moves under her own steam. 

 

Yours,  Mike.

 

PS. There is a glorious photo of the blue King Edward II further down in the blog, with the pair of wrecked driving wheels in the foreground. "Nothing is impossible"

Edited September 27, 2021 by KingEdwardII

[Harlequin]

54 minutes ago, Castle said:

Hi All,

 

The bad penny returns.

 

I see you have been talking about that little 12":1' project of ours. Nearly there, nearly there... I would be more than happy to run another modeler's tour of our train set again. It would be a really nice way to get everyone together when the time comes. I look forward to it!

 

All the best,

 

Castle

 

PS: I've been writing a fair bit of this which started as a way of keeping people engaged with Didcot while the 'thing' was a thing and seems to have become mildly popular so I've kept doing it. There are numerous updates on No. 4079, including this week's (24th September) offering so enjoy!

 

https://didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/product.php/78/going-loco/44b54030f100ec49cd404c6354754ec0

There's some biographical info related to the 1925 loco exchanges in Meccano Magazine of 1930 that might be of interest: https://www.meccanoindex.co.uk/Mecmag/MMissue.php?MID=5932&Missue=3001&id=1632768767

(Albert Pibworth is a distant relative of mine.)

 

[Neal Ball]

1 hour ago, Castle said:

Hi All,

 

The bad penny returns.

 

I see you have been talking about that little 12":1' project of ours. Nearly there, nearly there... I would be more than happy to run another modeler's tour of our train set again. It would be a really nice way to get everyone together when the time comes. I look forward to it!

 

All the best,

 

Castle

 

PS: I've been writing a fair bit of this which started as a way of keeping people engaged with Didcot while the 'thing' was a thing and seems to have become mildly popular so I've kept doing it. There are numerous updates on No. 4079, including this week's (24th September) offering so enjoy!

 

https://didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/product.php/78/going-loco/44b54030f100ec49cd404c6354754ec0

Welcome back Drew.

 

I’ve enjoyed the GWS blogs since the lockdown thank you for them.

 

A tour next year would be great thank you. Let’s hope we can arrange it fir when I am back in the UK.

 

Thanks again, Neal.

[Castle]

Hi All,

 

2 hours ago, Harlequin said:

There's some biographical info related to the 1925 loco exchanges in Meccano Magazine of 1930 that might be of interest: https://www.meccanoindex.co.uk/Mecmag/MMissue.php?MID=5932&Missue=3001&id=1632768767

(Albert Pibworth is a distant relative of mine.)

 

 

The LNER driver on the GWR? That’s amazing! Thanks for sharing that. My friend has a copy of C. J. Allen’s ‘The Locomotive Exchanges 1870 - 1948 published by Ian Allen in about 1949 which is sat next to me right now. Absolutely cracking read! C. J. A. was on some of the trains in the 1925 trial and it’s very well documented in this book. Well worth tracking down a copy if you are related to Mr Pibworth.

 

1 hour ago, Neal Ball said:

Welcome back Drew.

 

I’ve enjoyed the GWS blogs since the lockdown thank you for them.

 

A tour next year would be great thank you. Let’s hope we can arrange it fir when I am back in the UK.

 

Thanks again, Neal.

 

Thanks - That’s really kind! Yes to the arranging it as and when. We will try and sort a time when as many of you can all get to 81E and do a proper meet up when circumstances allow.

 

All the best,

 

Castle

Edited September 27, 2021 by Castle
Speylin...

[The Fatadder]

10 hours ago, Castle said:

Thanks - That’s really kind! Yes to the arranging it as and when. We will try and sort a time when as many of you can all get to 81E and do a proper meet up when circumstances allow.

Will very much be looking forward to it, particularly as I really need to take some measurements of the lights & arms etc on the side of the TPO so that I can draw up a 3d print, and of course the tour of the carriage shed would be the best time to do it...

 

[Neal Ball]

6 hours ago, The Fatadder said:

Will very much be looking forward to it, particularly as I really need to take some measurements of the lights & arms etc on the side of the TPO so that I can draw up a 3d print, and of course the tour of the carriage shed would be the best time to do it...

 

Plus of course when both the Saint and Pendennis Castle are on shed… in steam… not asking too much surely!

[The Stationmaster]

Talking of the 1925 GWR/LNER loco exchange I have somewhere an original copy of train notice timings for the LNER's first 'excursion' trip to Plymouth.

[Neal Ball]

GWS Loco blog:

We have spoken a lot about Pendennis Castle on this page. 
 

The latest blog by Drew aka @Castle sets the stage for the official launch next year of the loco. There are some great photos included as well. https://didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/product.php/78/going-loco/ac42674c12beae49f1f17c30916e5ad5
 

Another interesting blog Drew thank you.

 

Sadly the blog also marks the passing of Doug Godden, one of the last mainline fireman associated with the loco. RIP Doug.

[Siberian Snooper]

4 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

GWS Loco blog:

We have spoken a lot about Pendennis Castle on this page. 
 

The latest blog by Drew aka @Castle sets the stage for the official launch next year of the loco. There are some great photos included as well. https://didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/product.php/78/going-loco/ac42674c12beae49f1f17c30916e5ad5
 

Another interesting blog Drew thank you.

 

Sadly the blog also marks the passing of Doug Godden, one of the last mainline fireman associated with the loco. RIP Doug.

 

 

Sorry to hear of Doug's passing,  I new him when he was a driver on the ESR, he used to tell a few stories when we were having a brew, the odd one or two were quite hair raising.

 

RIP  Doug.