Cholsey & Moulsford (Change for Wallingford)

[Mike_Walker]

Update.  GWR have now advised us they will be holding a "celebration party" on the Marlow branch next Tuesday morning - the 27th, the actual 150th anniversary - where they will unveil their specially "decorated" train which suggests possibly naming a 165.  There has been a spate of 165 namings in the past couple of weeks:  Henley and Twyford hero Norman Topsom OBE has migrated from 166204 to 165119 and Roger Watkins has moved from 166220 to 165120.  This is because 166s no longer work in the London Division and both names are more connected with this part of the GWR network although for some time Norman fronted GWR's sponsorship of ITV weather forecasts in the South West so would be a familiar face down there even if his name is not so widely known.

[kingmender]

Great to see Norman Topson being rehonoured in this way. I rember him as the friendly face of a "proper" railway when commuting from Twyford in the 1990s. And I had his image inlcuded in a Phillip Hawkins painting of 6024 passing through Twyford, hand on a luggage trolley. 

[5BarVT]

7 hours ago, kingmender said:

Great to see Norman Topson being rehonoured in this way. I rember him as the friendly face of a "proper" railway when commuting from Twyford in the 1990s. And I had his image inlcuded in a Phillip Hawkins painting of 6024 passing through Twyford, hand on a luggage trolley. 

He sold me my first pair of safety boots - in the days when you had to buy your own.  He was in the Red Star parcels office at the back of Reading station at the time.  Somewhere under platforms 12/13 these days.

Paul.

[The Stationmaster]

I first knew Norman when he was a Lad Porter at Henley - a long time ago (in my defence I was still at school at the time - in the same year as his younger brother).  I got to know him better after I'd started full time on the railway and when he first went into what became the Red Star Parcels Office at Reading which I used to pass if I was going over to the Canteen in the side of the Signal Works by the hostel.

 

I then moved off on a circular tour of the WR for something over 20 years but finally got to see him fairly regularly after I'd finished and was travelling over the branch occasionally plus I also came across him occasionally through bell ringing in one of the local churches.

 

I think that apart from Norman and I there is only one other person (he wonders if there might be a second one as well?) still alive who ha worked at Henley. station at some time or other before the line was cut back to where it ends now.

[Nick Gough]

Just catching up on postings after a few days in Monmouth, with variable internet.

 

I don't know Norman but am I right in thinking that I have seen him in one of those 'fly on the wall' tv  documentaries about the modern railway, in recent years? A  bewhiskered and bespectacled gentleman?

[kingmender]

[Mike_Walker]

That's him.

[Nick Gough]

4 hours ago, kingmender said:

 

That's the gentleman I was thinking of.

[RJS1977]

Modelu should scan him! 

[Nick Gough]

I have spent some time contemplating what to do next with the branch line, having got it into an awkward corner of the storage yard:

The branch line is now at a lower level than the surrounding trackbeds, so where do I go now?

 

Eventually I decided to; lower another section of the baseboard surface - the nearer part seen on the left here:

 

To bring it down to trackbed level:

 

I will make this a scenic part of the branch line, with a backscene, keeping the 'trainset' curves off stage, to the left:

 

Next, I cut the front off the adjacent baseboard:

 

And cut sections out of the ends of the crossboard support struts:

To accommodate the branch running along the edge of this baseboard:

 

Thus, the branch line will be partly below the main line storage tracks:

 

 

I'm not sure yet how well this will work and, of course, it would have been a lot easier if I had thought of doing this at the original layout planning stage!

[caradoc]

On 20/06/2023 at 21:50, The Stationmaster said:

I think that apart from Norman and I there is only one other person (he wonders if there might be a second one as well?) still alive who had worked at Henley. station at some time or other before the line was cut back to where it ends now.

 

I was a CO2 at Reading BO from October 1980 to March 1984, and as the GPR was occasionally despatched to cover Twyford BO, and even more occasionally Henley. Checking an old diary, I was at Twyford on Tuesday 30th December 1980, the first time I think I worked there, and at both Twyford and Henley on Friday 9th January 1981; Not only the first time I worked at Henley but my first trip over the branch! Presumably Henley BO was only staffed for a couple of hours in the morning, hence the split shift location. 

 

[Nick Gough]

Starting to cut the front off the next baseboard:

 

Using a variety of hand saws:

Rather than power tools - to try and keep the mess, and distribution of sawdust, to a minimum.

 

Including a broken hacksaw blade - temporarily mounted in a convenient handle:

 

And a rather useful blade designed to fit in a Stanley knife type handle:

[RJS1977]

If the branch runs along the edge of the baseboard - where is it going to finish up? Or is it just going to be a "long siding"?

 

Personally, I'd lower the black "semicircular" part of the baseboard in the first photo down to the level that the branch finishes up, as none of the branch is in a cutting, and instead use trees to disguise the sharp curve.

[Nick Gough]

7 hours ago, RJS1977 said:

If the branch runs along the edge of the baseboard - where is it going to finish up? Or is it just going to be a "long siding"?

 

Personally, I'd lower the black "semicircular" part of the baseboard in the first photo down to the level that the branch finishes up, as none of the branch is in a cutting, and instead use trees to disguise the sharp curve.

I plan to take the branch into, what will probably be, a truncated version of the original Wallingford terminus.

[Nick Gough]

My wife is away for a few days, with our grandchildren, so I decided that this weekend was a perfect opportunity for a field trip to darkest Oxfordshire:

 

I first took a look at this building:

Originally the station hotel for the original Moulsford station. It is sited close to the Up relief line, near the Reading road overbridge:

The local council helpfully have elevation drawings for it on their planning website since, as a listed building, consent was required when the old windows were replaced a few years ago.

 

As a Brunel building, with close proximity to the line, I thought it might be nice to include on my layout in the future. However, the white painted exterior is recent. The council website says it is red brick with stone dressings, but I'm not sure.

 

A closer look suggests some kind of block work but, to me, they look too big for conventional bricks:

 

I thought the chimneys might help, but though one is red brick the other three are dirty yellow:

 

A close-up of one does shew larger blocks towards the base:

Could this be the original building material?

 

According to "The Wallingford Branch" (Karau/Turner) the nearby station building was "one of Brunel's roadside station buildings, executed in stone to a mock Jacobean style with drip mouldings over the windows and doorways". 

 

Just to complicate things these old railway cottages are nearby:

 

 

[Nick Gough]

Next, the plate girder bridge, carrying the Reading Road, has been modified in recent years:

 

Both to increase the parapet height and to strengthen it with concrete beams.

 

The original structure remains beneath:

Again, these alterations have resulted in planning applications and drawings on the council website.

 

Then it was a walk along the Thames to Moulsford Viaduct:

For some photos below the arches:

 

You probably notice that I had an assistant on my rambles.

[Nick Gough]

A walk down a farm track:

 

Brought us to Silly Bridge:

 

Not that you can see much of it from the lineside here:

Is that vegetation getting worse?

 

Again the parapets have been raised since my last visit:

 

 

Pity they didn't use some matching bricks!

 

Yet again the parapet raising has resulted in drawings on the council website, though I already have the basic structure of this bridge:

 

The station, in the distance, is hiding behind the gantry forest.

I noticed that the newer side of the cutting (on the right), from the 1892 quadrupling, is much steeper than the original:

But has required some netting, plus some (recent?) concrete retaining walls alongside the bridge:

 

 

Then it was off to the station:

Edited July 17, 2023 by Nick Gough
Adding photo

[Neal Ball]

13 minutes ago, Nick Gough said:

A walk down a farm track:

 

Brought us to Silly Bridge:

 

Not that you can see much of it from the lineside here:

Is that vegetation getting worse?

 

Again the parapets have been raised since my last visit:

 

 

Pity they didn't use some matching bricks!

 

Yet again the parapet raising has resulted in drawings on the council website, though I already have the basic structure of this bridge:

 

The station, in the distance, is hiding behind the gantry forest.

I noticed that the newer side of the cutting (on the right), from the 1892 quadrupling, is much steeper than the original:

But has required some netting, plus some (recent?) concrete retaining walls alongside the bridge:

 

 

Then it was off to the station:

Interesting site visit Nick, thanks for posting.

[Nick Gough]

There were a number of things I wanted to check at the station.

 

The buffer stop for the branch bay is set back from the end wall of the main station building:

But how far?

 

Well - it's 15 feet to the rear of the buffer beam:

The adjacent spear fencing is made up of two & half standard 6' lengths plus three intermediate 2" square posts.

At last I know exactly where to position @checkrail's spare buffer kit that he kindly let me have.

 

The left hand chimney:

Is positioned above the corner of the waiting room and gentlemen's lavatories. 

According to the plans it only served a fireplace in the parcel's office on the ground floor.

 

The platform level plan suggests that the flue passed through the wall at first floor level, but with a small projection into the waiting room:

Is this correct?

Yes - it does:

 

The chimney breast on the other side of the waiting room is still there though the fireplace is sealed:

 

And I wanted to confirm that the chimney actually sits at the junction of the two outside walls, where two slopes of the roof meet:

 

Yes - with plenty of lead flashing.

Edited July 17, 2023 by Nick Gough

[Nick Gough]

 

A closer look at some of the detail around the main station building:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nick Gough]

Anybody got a spare can of paint or three?

[checkrail]

Very impressed by this thorough and detailed research. Looks like a nice day out was had too.

 

John C.

[Nick Gough]

2 hours ago, checkrail said:

Very impressed by this thorough and detailed research. Looks like a nice day out was had too.

 

John C.

Thanks John.

It's been far too many years since I last had a good look round at Cholsey, so it was good to go back.

Also useful to clarify all the little queries that have arisen since I started since I started building.

 

I'm luckier than some modellers of real locations in that most of 'my' station, and its surrounding infrastructure, still exist - albeit some has been modified.

 

Just to finish a good day, when I finished at Cholsey, I spent the afternoon at Didcot.

[Nick Gough]

Behind the buffer stop, at track level, there is a line of stone blocks, at the end of the building, on top of a concrete pad:

The stone blocks appear to align with the top of this brick column that rises from the forecourt:

The ivy doesn't help!

 

I believe this is capping for the thicker, lower section of the building's wall, which along with the column and an adjoining retaining wall, retain the end of the branch line embankment.

It appears to be shewn on this drawing:

 

 

There appears to be a similar arrangement at either end of the Down Main building, so I headed over to take a look:

Oh dear!

I considered having a look at the rear of the building but this can only be accessed from the wheat field behind, which is surrounded by a wire mesh fence now - topped with barbed wire. Anyway as far as I could tell from the road the rear is covered with vegetation at the relevant areas - oh well.

[Mike_Walker]

I'm amazed you can still gain access to Platform 1 (Down Main).  At most stations in the Thames Valley the DM platforms are closed to public access as is the UM side of the islands behind robust fences.  That even applies at Slough now!