Aston On Clun. A forgotten Great Western outpost.

[AY Mod]

14 minutes ago, BroadLeaves said:

I didn't expect it over the weekend. You have no idea what I'm expecting.

 

I can only go from YOUR choice of words. Hence my response. Not impressed.

[BroadLeaves]

The changes do not appear to be material in how the image appears, which is great. But removing EXIF data? That makes no sense whatsoever. I would have thought that retaining image source information (and EXIF data can include copyright information) would be a sensible thing to do. Obviously not.

The site is removing embedded copyright information from images and not even telling the contributor it's happening. Not impressed. 

[longchap]

As this is a railway thread on a model railway forum, could we please rescue this normally interesting and good humoured thread from irrelevant discussion of this tedious ping pong needing to be shunted to a little used siding of RMweb?

 

Please kind moderators?

 

 

[Schooner]

Choo choo!

 

Train at Savernake Station, Wiltshire, 29 July 1938, by F E Box. A passenger train is entering the station hauled by a Star Class 4035 'Queen Charlotte', which will connect to the train already at the platform serving the branch line to Marlborough. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images, embedding permitted)

 

;) 

Edited August 8, 2022 by Schooner
Caption now links as intended

[Graham T]

Lovely pic, thanks!  There's oodles of reference material in there too.

[Siberian Snooper]

It looks completely different there now, its completely overgrown, each time I pass it gets harder to even guess where the Marlborough branch was.

 

 

[simonmcp]

3 hours ago, Schooner said:

Choo choo!

 

Train at Savernake Station, Wiltshire, 29 July 1938, by F E Box. A passenger train is entering the station hauled by a Star Class 4035 'Queen Charlotte', which will connect to the train already at the platform serving the branch line to Marlborough. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images, embedding permitted)

 

;) 

Is that a water tank trying to hide at the top of the cutting on the left?

[Siberian Snooper]

Looks very much like a water tank too me.

 

Just had a quick look the 25 inch OS map on NLS and it shows 2 buildings at that location, so a tank and pump house?

Edited August 8, 2022 by Siberian Snooper
To add NLS findings

[MrWolf]

25 minutes ago, Siberian Snooper said:

Looks very much like a water tank too me.

 

Just had a quick look the 25 inch OS map on NLS and it shows 2 buildings at that location, so a tank and pump house?

 

Me too, I haven't found any pictures taken that far down the line, but something had to be supplying the water cranes at the end of the platforms.

One of my favourite sites, that is apparently still standing is the M&SWJ Savernake High Level station, the water tank and pumphouse for it being one of my first ever plasticard scratch builds, thanks to the MRC yearbook for 1983.

Here it is in 1947.

 

 

Photo: Swindon's other railway, from the Roger Carpenter collection.

 

[MrWolf]

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Flive.staticflickr.com%2F7423%2F14217490363_df13ab4c51_z.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2F47422047%40N07%2F14217490363&tbnid=RvFRn2faGvJrRM&vet=1&docid=9DcUc95-LAQTPM&w=640&h=426&itg=1&hl=en-GB&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim

 

Savernake pump house and tank in 2012. It looks like someone failed to get the cast iron Stothert & Pitt maker's plate off the tank, or the expanding rust blew it apart.

 

[Nick Gough]

7 hours ago, MrWolf said:

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Flive.staticflickr.com%2F7423%2F14217490363_df13ab4c51_z.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2F47422047%40N07%2F14217490363&tbnid=RvFRn2faGvJrRM&vet=1&docid=9DcUc95-LAQTPM&w=640&h=426&itg=1&hl=en-GB&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim

 

Savernake pump house and tank in 2012. It looks like someone failed to get the cast iron Stothert & Pitt maker's plate off the tank, or the expanding rust blew it apart.

 

How unusual to see that and the signal box still surviving, in relatively good condition, at such a late date.

[MrWolf]

I read somewhere that there was a hot air engine driving the pump in the building to the side of the tower, probably long gone, but have always wanted to know what is or was hidden inside the brickwork.

Something like this Rider type engine and pump would only need a narrow stovepipe to operate.

 

 

The Flywheel coolspringspowermuseum.org

 

Edited August 9, 2022 by MrWolf

[MrWolf]

Further level crossing avoidance behaviour has resulted in this:

 

 

Cambrian kit of the GWR 18 Ton sleeper wagon. Slater's sprung 3 link couplings, Bachmann wheels in brass bearings.

 

It's been a nice easy build. The buffer heads are left a bit rough until the glue has hardened. I don't have any way to hold them securely and carefully file then to shape.

 

 

There's not a lot of room for weight, so I sawed a 5g motorcycle wheel weight in half and stuck the two halves with their adhesive pads up behind the bulkheads.

I've sloshed a little freight grey around under the upper decks and frames because the instructions advise fitting the wheels early as once they're in....

 

 

 

Edited August 10, 2022 by MrWolf

[Rowsley17D]

Ah, a PW train in the making?

[Graham T]

Nice.  I think I've got some Cambrian kits stashed away somewhere, but not that particular one.

[MrWolf]

49 minutes ago, Rowsley17D said:

Ah, a PW train in the making?

 

It certainly is, I'll be having a look back through the pages of Little Muddle to remind myself of how Kevin loaded his.

I also have an eclectic collection of ballast wagons and I'm thinking of converting an old Mainline Toad into a PWay brake van.

 

Then there's the crane....

 

I really must get around to finishing that!

 

Now what to haul the train with?

[Rowsley17D]

My plough brake is from a Cambrian kit BR Oyster which to me is near the LMS version. Un-numbered as yet as I need a Derby or  Longsight area one. Good luck with your conversion.

 

[MrWolf]

That looks really good and I particularly like the subtle weathering of the bauxite paintwork.

I think that it was @KNPwho I saw had modified an old Mainline Toad with panelled in verandah. It certainly solved the issue of the verandah sides being a bit too thick. I remember taking a file to one years ago after reading a comment in the MRC.

[KNP]

21 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

That looks really good and I particularly like the subtle weathering of the bauxite paintwork.

I think that it was @KNPwho I saw had modified an old Mainline Toad with panelled in verandah. It certainly solved the issue of the verandah sides being a bit too thick. I remember taking a file to one years ago after reading a comment in the MRC.

 

Do you mean this one, Mr Wolf?

 

 

[MrWolf]

That's the beast! I hope you won't mind if I use that as a yardstick for the conversion, I've collected a few photos of PW Toads and decided it would probably be easier than hacking about a Ratio kit, which was the other option but the dimensions seem a bit out.

[KNP]

5 hours ago, MrWolf said:

That's the beast! I hope you won't mind if I use that as a yardstick for the conversion, I've collected a few photos of PW Toads and decided it would probably be easier than hacking about a Ratio kit, which was the other option but the dimensions seem a bit out.

 

The only thing I wish I had done was some windows on the end that match the other end....to late now as I don't want to spoil it.

Rule 1 ....again!!

[Nick C]

On 05/08/2022 at 21:52, Nick C said:

I spotted a rather shiny red 'B' reg (1964) BSA on the way back from the allotment this afternoon - was going to post a photo of it here but just found that the photo didn't come out. I'll try again if it's still there next time...

 

On 05/08/2022 at 22:04, MrWolf said:

Feel free to post it if you can, I'll try to identify it. Manufacturers were using some almost custom looking metallic colours by that time to keep up with fashionable folk about town.

 

Here it is:

 

 

[MrWolf]

2 hours ago, Nick C said:

 

 

Here it is:

 

 

 

That would appear to be a 175cc two stroke BSA model D7 Bantam Super from about 1960 onwards in that style. I think that 1966 was the last year, when it was replaced by the D10.

 

Well spotted!

 

 

Edited August 11, 2022 by MrWolf
Missed a bit!

[The Stationmaster]

On 09/08/2022 at 07:35, Nick Gough said:

How unusual to see that and the signal box still surviving, in relatively good condition, at such a late date.

The signal box is till - visible through the jungle from a passing train but alas looking increasingly dilapidated.  It was still in quite good condition - as far as you could see from a passing train - back in the late 1970s but it appears to have gone steadily down hill since then.

[MrWolf]

Some more up to date pictures from the Wiltshire Gazette and Herald, 2020.

 

 

It looks like there's still a fair amount of GWR stone paint still adhering to the woodwork.Of course, it's not a Great Western pattern of signal box. Does anyone know which company supplied it?