The Bournemouth West Model Railway Group / Now known as The South Coast Model Railway Development Group / TSCMRDG

[Andy Y]

What a fantastic image Phil!

[PaulRhB]

Is anyone knowledgeable enough to be able to tell if the 7F has its reversing gear in the right arrangement to be likely to be reversing in that last shot?

Definitely in reverse as the reverser link is up. Look just above the running plate above the motion in this clip. Up is reverse down is forward gear. It moves at 20secs in.

https://youtu.be/NmUt_ByrtsU

Edited January 14, 2017 by PaulRhB

[phil_sutters]

What a fantastic image Phil!

Thanks, Andy. I am always pleased when Dad's photos are appreciated. He never had any expensive cameras and sometimes stretched out rolls of film over several months, so I have been surprised how many good images he produced. As for his log books, I wasn't aware how often he took himself off on his own or sometimes with friends, like Alan Newman, covering quite long distances on his days off. Virtually all his railway photos have been first on Flickr and recently on the smaller ipernity site. That may be now closing so I am gradually uploading batches into albums here.

Edited January 24, 2017 by phil_sutters

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Thank you Bike to Steam, the engine workings book may be useful. I would love to get a copy of the Express publishing book, I've tried everywhere but as you say, out of print and probably remaining so. 1957 just about creeps into our timescale.

 

Roger,

I remember buying a copy for Bournemouth Libraries, so they should have it - unless someone has pinched it.....

[dpgibbons]

Try Amazon - if you are searching by publisher name it's Xpress not Express.  

Edited January 15, 2017 by dpgibbons

[dpgibbons]

Along with the Atlantics, unusual 1950s visitors at Bournemouth included Britannias (on the Belle, 1953), ER V2s (during temporary withdrawal of the MNs, 1953) and the D16/2 diesel class (Belle, 1952-54).

Edited January 15, 2017 by dpgibbons

[Roger Sunderland]

Try Amazon - if you are searching by publisher name it's Xpress not Express.

 

Have tried everywhere, but it's out of print, I'm afraid. However I never considered the library!

[Roger Sunderland]

Roger,

I remember buying a copy for Bournemouth Libraries, so they should have it - unless someone has pinched it.....

Peter

 

Good to hear from you, as you were there at the start of this project. This is good news, I will pay a visit. By the way, if you'd like to see our progress we'd love to see you. You can PM me to fix a time if you like.

[BMacdermott]

Hello Roger

 

Firstly, all the best with this excellent project. I am following it with great interest!

 

If you want 'first hand knowledge' of the operational aspects of the station, you won't do much better than speak with Peter Smith who I know was at one of your first meetings. If you don't have his contact details, please feel free to PM me.

 

Brian

[PaulRhB]

Is this the book your looking for? I bought it for the Swanage workings when researching my layout and its pristine condition. I was keeping it for reference but I'll part with it if it helps this project for a tenner. I pass through the Poole and Bournemouth area fairly frequently or you can collect in Salisbury.

[bike2steam]

Try Amazon - if you are searching by publisher name it's Xpress not Express.  

Oopps, sorry, guilty as charged, and me of all people, should have known better.

[phil_sutters]

Along with the Atlantics, unusual 1950s visitors at Bournemouth included Britannias (on the Belle, 1953), ER V2s (during temporary withdrawal of the MNs, 1953) and the D16/2 diesel class (Belle, 1952-54).

While looking through Dad's loco log books, for visits to Bournemouth West, I came across these pages from 1953, when we lived in Wells. His record starts at Shepton Mallet and his travels only took him as far as Templecombe. The 'recall' of the MNs is mentioned  and the use of Britannia's on the ACE can also be seen. He doesn't seem to have visited Bournemouth West apart from the occasion illustrated above, but he did visit Central a couple of times. I will scan those entries and upload them, as they obviously include some traffic to and from West.

Edited January 15, 2017 by phil_sutters

[scottystitch]

Nope. What's happening is the train arrives at the terminus that is Bournemouth West, having gone past the carriage sidings on the way in. That means the train engine is 'locked in' by the carriages behind it. The pilot would then connect up to the rear of the train which is at the platform ends, and haul it to the carriage sidings, with some banking assistance from the train engine, until the train engine reaches the platform end where it would stop helping and leave the pilot to carry on hauling the train to the carriage sidings.

 

Thank you. Now that you have said that I see that the original text says exactly that.

 

Thanks again.

[phil_sutters]

Hi Roger

 

Dad didn't get as far as Bournemouth very often, but I'll have a look through his log books. One of my favorites among his photos is this one. I know it was taken at Central, but it came from West. (That gives me another date to look up in the logs!)

LBSCR H2 442 32422 N Foreland Bournemouth Ctl 7 7 1956.jpg

Here are the pages from 7.7.56

[45568]

Here are the pages from 7.7.56

Salisbury & Bournemouth Central 7 7 1956.jpg

 

Hello Phil,

                 At risk of going off-topic, and not wishing to detract from the modelling, which is of the highest order, I find I am fascinated by, and envious of, the meticulous record-keeping of your father!

 Might I ask how old he was when engaged in these pursuits, how did he come to have the time to carry them out, and does the fact that some numbers are underlined in his journals and others not, indicate the underlined numbers were 'cops'??

 I certainly to not wish to be over-inquisitive, but the photos and the notebooks are a fascinating archive.

cheers from Oz,

Peter C.

[phil_sutters]

Hello Phil,

                 At risk of going off-topic, and not wishing to detract from the modelling, which is of the highest order, I find I am fascinated by, and envious of, the meticulous record-keeping of your father!

 Might I ask how old he was when engaged in these pursuits, how did he come to have the time to carry them out, and does the fact that some numbers are underlined in his journals and others not, indicate the underlined numbers were 'cops'??

 I certainly to not wish to be over-inquisitive, but the photos and the notebooks are a fascinating archive.

cheers from Oz,

Peter C.

The oldest volume I can find is from 1949, when he would have been in his early 30s. What you have to remember is that at that time and really up into the 60s there weren't the distractions of TV and computers etc. He could go out on his day off with his notebook, camera, a pork pie and a bag of buns and travel to an interesting location like Bristol, Exeter or Templecombe and spot. Then he would write up the log while listening to music on Radio 3.

A lot of the entries are in fact local records of when he would visit the stations in our home towns. His work allowed him to organize his time, so he could go and catch particular trains as they came through. I remember going down with him to the mail pick-up point at Highbridge on a number of occasions to see the tea-time up mail TPO come through.

He had an ability to see locos and remember their numbers - in quantity. I remember passing by Swindon works on a train with him. He was still writing down numbers several minutes afterwards.

The underlinings in the above pages do signify 'cops' - if you look at the bottom of the right page, he notes how many on that trip. Later on it sometimes indicated that he had photographed the loco.

Thanks for your interest. He would have appreciated the benefits of computers for recording, sorting and finding data and would have really loved digital photography. One roll of film had to last him several trips over several months.

Phil

Edited January 24, 2017 by phil_sutters

[Roger Sunderland]

Brilliant stuff Phil and the info in these logs is so useful. Thanks for this.

[phil_sutters]

Brilliant stuff Phil and the info in these logs is so useful. Thanks for this.

There are a couple of Bournemouth Central trips to add. The centres he most frequently visited from our homes in Wells, Coleford (Somt) & Highbridge were Bristol, Exeter & Templecombe - and further afield to Swindon & Salisbury. If there are particular dates/periods logs from any of these that would be of interest please let me know - here or by message.

[dpgibbons]

 

Is this the book your looking for?

 

That's the book I was quoting from. A goldmine of operational information and perhaps surprisingly a cracking read too.

[phil_sutters]

I have found an earlier trip to Bournemouth which included West - 

(Is it OK to carry on uploading to this thread, as these pages take up a lot of space and reducing their size would make the data harder to read? I have a nice six page spread over two weekends in July 57 - on 6th at Salisbury, with Bournemouth trains included, as you would expect, and on 13th mainly at Bournemouth Central. Would you prefer me to message or do you think the interest would justify hogging the space here?)

 

Edited January 17, 2017 by phil_sutters

[phil_sutters]

Having scanned as many of Dad's log book pages, with visits to or references to Bournemouth, as I can find, I have uploaded them all to a new album in my RMweb gallery  a http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/gallery/album/4148-john-sutters-loco-logs-ref-bournemouth-services/

The pages shown above are included, so there is a bit of duplication, but it seemed sensible to make them all available, without clogging up this thread.

 

Later note - In the gallery there doesn't seem to be the same magnification capability as here. I have a fairly small screen, so I have to use the pc's own magnification function, from the three dots menu at the top right of the screen. If anyone needs a bigger or clearer version, just send me a message.

 

Even later note - I subsequently spotted that if you click the black 'Options' above and to the right of the photo, you can get a 'View all sizes' option and there one can 'blow up' the photo to a more readable size.

Edited March 17, 2017 by phil_sutters

[Ceptic]

Having scanned as many of Dad's log book pages, with visits to or references to Bournemouth, as I can find, I have uploaded them all to a new album in my RMweb gallery  a http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/gallery/album/4148-john-sutters-loco-logs-ref-bournemouth-services/

The pages shown above are included, so there is a bit of duplication, but it seemed sensible to make them all available, without clogging up this thread.

Many thanks Phil. .

One can, never, have too much info.

 

All the best,

Frank.

[phil_sutters]

Here are the pages from 7.7.56

Salisbury & Bournemouth Central 7 7 1956.jpg

A photo taken on the 7.7.56 visit - http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/gallery/image/78143-bournemouth-shed-w-30287-30787-30791-on-7-7-1956/  I have now set up an album with all of Dad's Southern steam photos. It includes the Lyme Regis and IOW photos that have their own albums, but the rest have not been uploaded before, unless they are individual ones that have been used for illustration in threads.

[bike2steam]

Yes, interesting stuff there Phil, very envious of your dad, I didn't get to Bournemouth 'til 1963, by which time the more interesting stuff had gone.

[phil_sutters]

Yes, interesting stuff there Phil, very envious of your dad, I didn't get to Bournemouth 'til 1963, by which time the more interesting stuff had gone.

I am a bit too! I didn't get to go on many of his trips, although I think I went to Swindon works with him once. Most of the time I was away at boarding school - Hogwart's it was not! Dad spotted all the way to my schools in Kent and Surrey, from Somerset and all the way back. He took the scenic routes back - e.g. Leatherhead, Effingham Junction, Guildford, Woking, Templecombe, Evercreech Junction, Highbridge!