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W.R. Early 1980s London Division freight, - my photos


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More great shots Kevin but 47 114 at Newbury is heading west, away from London, on the Down Main.

 

;)

Thanks Nidge,  it is the only time I have ever been there, I did have a slight doubt in my mind as I posted, 

 

cheers

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Cracking stuff there Kevin, interesting to see the B and H in days gone by!

Theale is a bit beyond my area of knowledge, but the trains are plenty familiar enough! I'm keeping an eye on this thread ;-)

 

jo

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I have only visited Reading on a very few occasions though I have passed through there many times over the last 45 years.

A couple of the visits I made were with my father. He visited Reading quite regularly as his job as the WR Civil Engineers Wagon Supervisor

often took him to the Divisional Civil Engineers Office at Reading and also to various yards in the area. On a couple of these trips in the late 1970s I took a handful of photos.

 

In the 1970s and 1980s Reading West Junction Yard as well as handing some remaining revenue earning freight traffic was the main location for engineers trains

in the Division both for midweek trains and weekend engineering blockades. 

Reading Cripple Sidings just to the west of the station on the up side of the line was also an important wagon repair point.

 

edit

The1979 Shunter Duties book showed two class 08 duties at Reading

1  AB Reading Station pilot, also works to Low Level NCL Yard

1        Reading West Junction Yard, also shunted the Cripple Sidings

 

Reading Permanent Way Depot in the Depot triangle and located next to the Bristol main line also received engineering materials in a variety of wagons,

one of the WR engineers PWM shunters number PWM 653 was the regular loco here. 

post-7081-0-14117800-1426519255.jpg

PWM 653 rests between duties at the Permanent Way Depot, 25/11/78

 

On various other threads we have been treated to a number of interesting photos taken at Reading, not least the pictures of Westerns,

but among my few efforts is a single shot of a class 47 hauled freight train

post-7081-0-19185300-1426519310.jpg

47278, another silver roofed Stratford example, heads through the station towards London with a train of tanks, 28/11/78 

 

cheers

Edited by Rivercider
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I have a few more photos of freight traffic on the London Division taken in the 1980s from two visits to Acton,

I have no photos of the other various yards and terminals that were active between Reading and London.

 

Going from memory and looking at my Baker Rail Atlas there were quite a number of freight locations.

 

Maidenhead had a car terminal which I think handled commercial vehicles.

At Taplow I think the small coal yard was one of the last in the area to receive coal in 16t minerals, did it last until the 1980s?

At Slough Estates was an oil terminal, and I think scrap and a stone terminal.

At Langley was the Total oil terminal.

West Drayton had a coal concentration depot, and stone terminal, as well as the freight branch to Thorney Mill (stone and scrap) and Colnbrook (oil, steel and stone?)

Hayes and Harlington had a freight terminal which received various traffic including ferry vans, and a Tarmac stone terminal.

At Southall was a yard with a pilot. The yard here handled some of the ARC stone trains from the Mendips, there was also the branch to Brentford for the London Waste trains loading for Appleford.  

There were sidings at West Ealing which I think were sometimes used by the Control to recess trains awitng crew, as well as the Plasser depot.

Off of the main line was Park Royal with a stone terminal and the Guinness Brewery with two former BR class 08s 08022 Lion, and 08060 Unicorn which sent traffic by Speedlink.

 

Acton Yard was the main Western Region yard in the London area, in the early 1980s it was still handling vacuum braked trains to a variety of locations. With the introduction of the Speedlink Network

WIllesden Yard then handled much of the traffic and Acton was heavily rationalised and thereafter the principle work was handling the Mendip stone traffic, loaded trains would arrive

with two or three portions which would then go forward separately to their destinations, the empty sets would be combined at Acton to return to the Mendips as a longer train.  

 

No doubt I will have missed something from that list! Was the stone terminal at Westbourne Park operating in the 1980s for instance?

 

cheers 

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On the same November day that I made brief visits to Theale and Newbury I then went to Acton,

and from Acton Main Line found my way to the over bridge at the west end of Acton Yard,

here are a couple of misty view. 

 

First a general view of the west end of  Acton Yard. 

post-7081-0-33935200-1426527325.jpg

The locos visible are 25243, 08???, 31206 and 33???. 2/11/83

In the late 1980s most of the sidings were lifted leaving only a few long roads adjacent to the main lines,

a Foster Yeoman stone terminal subsequently opened on part of the site

 

A closer view showing some of the yard offices, a number of roads on the left are already out of use. 

post-7081-0-67945600-1426527333.jpg

The locos are 08??? 25243 and 31206, 2/11/83

 

edit - these pictures ilustrate the importance of inter-regional freight services in the London area,

25243 was a London Midland loco allocated to Cricklewood

31206 was an Eastern loco allocated to Immingham

The 33 was a Southern allocated loco. 

cheers

Edited by Rivercider
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Maidenhead used to handle commercial vehicle traffic from the nearby Ford plant, I believe; it may also have received inbound car and Transit van traffic. There was also an ICI terminal nearby which handled paint traffic- not sure when that shut. There was a parcels concentration depot at Slough, I think, which was still despatching traffic by rail until the beginning of the 1980s.

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Maidenhead was a mixture of both inward and outward vehicle traffic at one time - all for Ford.

 

I think both Slough goods and Reading goods saw most of their railborne traffic end within a fairly short time after going over to NCL ownership although the Estate oil trains and some scrap forwarding continued at Slough for a good time after that.  Always difficult to remember dates for these changes but Cox & Danks at Park Royal were still forwarding scrap (and possibly receiving steel?) in the late 1970s and there was at that time still a BR Park Royal pilot which was an Old Oak turn.

 

Paddington New Yard aggregates terminal (it was dredged sand almost exclusively I believe) came a bit later - again a date I can't recall to be honest - and remained in operation until the site was taken over by Crossrail. 

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Lovely Acton Yard shots Kevin - would you mind if I posted them over on the Old Oak facebook group page please? Since you already have a date for them there's a fair chance one of the lads there may still have their diary to refer to and can find out who was about on that particular day.

 

The presence of 31 206 in your shots reminds me that we'd often use a 31 to shunt the yard vice the resident 08, as the cabs were very cosy in Winter with (generally) less draughts, plus you had more room to put your feet up!

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Lovely Acton Yard shots Kevin - would you mind if I posted them over on the Old Oak facebook group page please? Since you already have a date for them there's a fair chance one of the lads there may still have their diary to refer to and can find out who was about on that particular day.

 

The presence of 31 206 in your shots reminds me that we'd often use a 31 to shunt the yard vice the resident 08, as the cabs were very cosy in Winter with (generally) less draughts, plus you had more room to put your feet up!

 

Lovely Acton Yard shots Kevin - would you mind if I posted them over on the Old Oak facebook group page please? Since you already have a date for them there's a fair chance one of the lads there may still have their diary to refer to and can find out who was about on that particular day.

 

The presence of 31 206 in your shots reminds me that we'd often use a 31 to shunt the yard vice the resident 08, as the cabs were very cosy in Winter with (generally) less draughts, plus you had more room to put your feet up!

Yes, you are welcome to post them Nidge.  I think the pilot may have been 08794 as I noted it when passing Acton on the way into London,

and I guess there would have been only one pilot there by then?

 

cheers 

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Yes, you are welcome to post them Nidge.  I think the pilot may have been 08794 as I noted it when passing Acton on the way into London,

and I guess there would have been only one pilot there by then?

 

cheers 

 

Thanks Kevin - I'll post them with a credit to you later or tomorrow ;) . As I recall there was only the one 08 rostered to the yard by then, 08 794 was certainly on of ours at 81A, often seen in the carriage sidings when not trundling round to Acton or Park Royal, or occasionally Willesden Sou' West Sdgs. 25 243 in your pics has most likely come down the bank on the tripper from Willesden Brent with Stonebridge Park men, it wouldn't surprise me if when you took the photos they were in the yard cabin pinching someone else's fish & chips... or in the 'Leamington' pub at the far end of the yard, just outside Acton Mainline Station...!

Edited by Rugd1022
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Class 74 = Tolworth coal traffic ??

I have a 1976 Conditional WTT, and can see

 

8O84 11.12 SX Acton - Tolworth

 

I can not see an incoming working from Tolworth, so assuming a Southern loco diagram would it have been

 

8V18 09.00 Wimbledon - Acton (09.54) coal empties?

 

cheers 

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I have a 1976 Conditional WTT, and can see

 

8O84 11.12 SX Acton - Tolworth

 

I can not see an incoming working from Tolworth, so assuming a Southern loco diagram would it have been

 

8V18 09.00 Wimbledon - Acton (09.54) coal empties?

 

cheers 

At one time, the empties were worked from Wimbledon via Salisbury to STJ.

I remember seeing EDs (of both types, I believe) when staying at my uncle's flat near Malden Manor Station in the very late 1960s/early 1970s. Being used to 'six-eighters' on similar trains, I found the virtual silence of the electrics quite uncanny.

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Thanks again Kevin for stirring some wonderful memories with your photos. Some random observations;

 

After my local station Oxford, Didcot was the first place I went to trainspot, starting in 1972 at the age of 12. I recall seeing Falcon there, always hoped to see a Warship but never did. Just about saw the Blue Pullmans in their last days, but they didn't stop at Didcot and getting their numbers (white on a grey background) was almost impossible ! Platform 5 in those days regularly had a rake of parcels vans stabled through the day. The gents toilet on platforms 2/3 (London end) had a sign saying something like 'Gentlemen adjust your dress before leaving', how much would that be worth now ? At the Bristol end of Platforms 2/3 was a room with a sign 'Information Office', I believe this was for staff rather than passengers however. The pond in the triangle was much larger then, and was used for BR Staff Association fishing competitions; Not sure how many fish are left in the puddle remaining today ! On one visit a friend and I put coins on one rail of the Up main line to flatten them, however after the next (Western-hauled) train had passed at speed we never saw our coins again !

I could never understand why BR demolished the Platform 1 buildings and replaced them with something totally out of character with the rest of the station.

 

When travelling home to Oxford I still sometimes make a point of changing at Didcot, to try and recapture the atmosphere of those days, however it's not quite the same !

 

Langley Oil Terminal was good for seeing Immingham 47s as this was where the trains came from; I also recall seeing the buckled and distorted tank wagons left there after the devastating fire (1972 or 73), which I believe started when the train moved during unloading.

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Looking at the 1979 Shunter Duties book there were a number of class 08 duties for the Old Oak Common based class 08 fleet,

those of course these duties decreased during the 1980s.

 

Old Oak Area

1 AB  Park Royal Freight Depot

1 AB  Old Oak HST pilot

2 AB  Old Oak Carriage siding pilots

1 AB  Old Oak Carriage sidings. works at Paddington parcels pilot evenoings/nights

2/3     Acton Yard

 

Southall Area

1 West Drayton CCD, also trips to Colnbrook

1 Southall Yard. also trips to Hayes and Harlington parcels/freight, and trips to Brentford Town freight depot

 

Slough Area

1 Slough Yard, also works parcels depot.

 

My 1979 Ian Allan Locoshed book gives the following class 08s allocated to Old Oak

08109, 08480, 08483, 08630, 08678, 08785, 08787, 08793, 08794, 08797, 08798, 08936, 08947, 08948, 08949

cheers

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Looking at the 1979 Shunter Duties book there were a number of class 08 duties for the Old Oak Common based class 08 fleet,

those of course these duties decreased during the 1980s.

 

Old Oak Area

1 AB  Park Royal Freight Depot

1 AB  Old Oak HST pilot

2 AB  Old Oak Carriage siding pilots

1 AB  Old Oak Carriage sidings. works at Paddington parcels pilot evenoings/nights

 

 

The last one in that list was the Paddington 'A Pilot', it regularly worked the stock off the sleeper down to Old Oak.  The HST pilot spent most of its time doing nothing and was very rarely manned (I'm fairly sure that it wasn't officially manned on at least one turn anyway - Nidge (Rugd) might remember.  The two carriage sidings pilots were the busy ones (as were the Acton yard pilots).

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I honestly don't recall seeing the HST pilot moving much at all in the time I was at 81A Mike, and there was one occasion when one of the buckey equipped 08s specifically set aside for the job was sat outside the Factory for almost three months awaiting attention. I remember it being hemmed in by the sorry looking carcase of 50 041 for a short time, a few days after the sleeper derailment on 23/11/83.

 

The two carriage pilots were always busy though. A-Pilot was a cracking little job on the night turn for the driver and secondman.... fish & chips from Mickey's Fish Bar, free newspapers all round and plenty of breaks allowing you to put your feet up, happy days indeed.

Edited by Rugd1022
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