Western Times

[Andy M]

3 hours ago, Bluemonkey presents.... said:

 

Apologies I am very late to the party and only just found this thread and the said journal. I attended a finescale modelling exhibition about 3-4 years ago in Warminster Wiltshire where there was an 'interests list' being compiled for a future GWR publication. Nothing ever seemed to materialise from this but I am hoping your publication is either, that what was planned or a development there of.

 

Having read the comments I have placed orders for the first two issues, of which I am immensely looking forward to receiving and reading. I am also encouraged that a subscription is planned. 

 

 

Hi Bluemonkey,

I am glad you have eventually 'found' Western Times and I do hope the first two issues are to your liking and interest.

 

I am certainly aware of a few aspirations to fill the void left by the lamented GWRJ since its demise, and the Warminster episode to which you refer may well have been related to one of these. I can say it was not connected to the release of Western Times though. Our publication came about following a meeting (in a pub obviously) between Kevin Robertson, Jeremy Clements, Robin Fell and myself back in summer 2019. After a protracted gestation period, due in no small part to our respective workloads and existing publication commitments, the fist issue was eventually released in June 2021. Having now become established and proving popular, we feel the risk and perceived market for another printed GW Journal has been on the whole vindicated, and as such intend to pursue our initial aspiration to move to producing four copies per year.

 

Incidentally, having noticed your workbench threads, we have a piece on the GW Crane Tanks programmed into an upcoming issue. Fantastic build by the way!

 

Regards,

 

Andy Malthouse.

Edited January 6, 2022 by Andy M

[Bluemonkey presents....]

7 minutes ago, Andy M said:

I am certainly aware of a few aspirations to fill the void left by the lamented GWRJ since its demise, and the Warminster episode to which you refer may well have been related to one of these. I can say it was not connected to the release of Western Times though. 

 

Shame as that means they more than likely never started, however you have and I am really looking forward to my copies, thank you.

 

9 minutes ago, Andy M said:

 

Incidentally, having noticed your workbench threads, we have a piece on the GW Crane Tanks programmed into an upcoming issue. Fantastic build by the way!

 

Thank you, appreciate it. I look forward to the article, hopefully I have not too many errors on my model.

[Not Jeremy]

22 hours ago, Bluemonkey presents.... said:

 

Apologies I am very late to the party and only just found this thread and the said journal. I attended a finescale modelling exhibition about 3-4 years ago in Warminster Wiltshire where there was an 'interests list' being compiled for a future GWR publication. Nothing ever seemed to materialise from this but I am hoping your publication is either, that what was planned or a development there of.

 

Having read the comments I have placed orders for the first two issues, of which I am immensely looking forward to receiving and reading. I am also encouraged that a subscription is planned. 

 

 

That was a project put forward by Ian McCall of Mainline and Maritime which he didn't in the end pursue.

 

The idea was very much the same as "Western Times" though, something to fill the potential gap left by the cessation of Great Western Journal, covering a subject with continuing interest and appeal to a significant number of people.

 

Here's to many future issues!

 

Simon

[Bluemonkey presents....]

On 06/01/2022 at 16:55, Andy M said:

 

Hi Bluemonkey,

I am glad you have eventually 'found' Western Times and I do hope the first two issues are to your liking and interest.

 

 

Cheers Andy but it seems that I wont be.

As it stands one of the ordered issues appears to have been delivered to someone in Reading not even the same county as myself, and the other is awaiting delivery. Someone is has having a good read on my behalf. I have contacted Robin through eBay, as this is where I made my purchases, with the details and hopefully this clear up the situation as just a clerical tracking number input error and delayed delivery rather than any other problem.

[Andy M]

5 minutes ago, Bluemonkey presents.... said:

 

Cheers Andy but it seems that I wont be.

As it stands one of the ordered issues appears to have been delivered to someone in Reading not even the same county as myself, and the other is awaiting delivery. Someone is has having a good read on my behalf. I have contacted Robin through eBay, as this is where I made my purchases, with the details and hopefully this clear up the situation as just a clerical tracking number input error and delayed delivery rather than any other problem.

Really sorry to hear that Bluemonkey. Has this been attributed to an error by the courier?

Regardless, I’m sure Robin and the Transport Treasury team will resolve and get copies to you ASAP. He may well read this himself, but please PM me if you continue to encounter problems and I will contact Robin directly on your behalf.

Regards,

Andy.

[Bluemonkey presents....]

@Andy M Thank you Robin has pulled out all the stops and both copies arrived today. Will have a good read over the coming days, thank you again. 

[Andy M]

WESTERN TIMES - Subscription Update

 

We are pleased to advise that following requests from many readers, a subscription service to receive future issues immediately upon publication is now available from Transport Treasury.

 

 

To make things easy, issues will be bundled into annual releases available as follows:

 

2021 - Issues  No1 & No2   https://ttpublishing.co.uk/product/western-times-bundle-issues-1-and-2/   (For those of you that missed the first issues)

 

2022 - Issues No3, No4 & No5   https://ttpublishing.co.uk/product/western-times-bundle-issues-3-4-5/   (The complete package of issues coming up this year)

 

 

Copies will of course still be available individually as required, along with all other Transport Treasury publications via the main pages at https://ttpublishing.co.uk/

 

 

Regards,

Andy.

[Andy M]

WESTERN TIMES - Issue No.3

 

Dear RMWebbers,

 

I am pleased to update that Issue 3 is on its way to the printers this week. The predicted release date is early April and copies are available to pre-order on the Transport Treasury website.  https://ttpublishing.co.uk/product/western-times-issue-3/

 

Here is a preview of the contents for this issue.

 

Regards,

Andy.

 

Edited April 13, 2022 by Andy M

[Mikkel]

Beyers and a strange pet. Looks very good! 

 

A question if I may: Is it possible to hold back the bundled issues so that they will all be sent together when they have appeared? I ask because the latter would be ideal for those of us in the EU (with GBP 16 in courier's VAT admin fees per order, also on the ebay option). 

 

Edited March 8, 2022 by Mikkel
Rephrased after reading earlier post properly :-)

[Strathwood]

1 hour ago, Mikkel said:

Beyers and a strange pet. Looks very good! 

 

A question if I may: Is it possible to hold back the bundled issues so that they will all be sent together when they have appeared? I ask because the latter would be ideal for those of us in the EU (with GBP 16 in courier's VAT admin fees per order, also on the ebay option). 

 

No problems we can do that for you, and you could even make use of our 3 for 2 offers as well.

 

https://strathwood.co.uk/collections/february-sale?page=11

 

Kevin

 

[Andy M]

1 hour ago, Mikkel said:

A question if I may: Is it possible to hold back the bundled issues so that they will all be sent together when they have appeared? I ask because the latter would be ideal for those of us in the EU (with GBP 16 in courier's VAT admin fees per order, also on the ebay option). 

 

Hi Mikkel,

 

I fully sympathise with you unfortunate overseas readers exposed to these extra costs. I will speak to Transport Treasury to see what is in the art of the possible, that is if Robin does not post on here first.

The simple solution is to hold off ordering the bundle until the end of the year, so you receive all three issues in one shot, but then you miss out on reading them when first published and I do know how impatient ‘we types’ are regarding getting hold of new releases!

 

Kind regards,

Andy.

[Mikkel]

Many thanks Andy and Kevin. I will then go for the simple solution and wait until Nos 2-4 are all out. Looking forward to something is part of the pleasure!

 

[Andy M]

Dear RMWebers,

 

WESTERN TIMES 3 - IS OUT!

 

I am pleased to report that Western Times Issue No.3 has arrived from the printers and is available to purchase now https://ttpublishing.co.uk/product/western-times-issue-3/

 

All existing pre-orders will be being processed as we speak.

 

Regards,

Andy.

 

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by Andy M

[Pteremy]

The cover image of the road bridge at Dulverton is a familiar one. But interestingly the 2 and 4th coaches appear to be Gresleys - rain strip on roof and high waist line. From the photos I have seen Gresley coaches were very exceptionally rare visitors to the Taunton-Barnstaple line, only appearing at the end steam on the line, i.e. 1963/64. I have always understood this to be because they were not suitable for negotiating the Taw Bridge at Barnstaple (between Barnstaple Jct and Barnstaple Town) - I am sure I read this somewhere but cannot remember where. The different coupling mechanism would also have been an issue. But by 1963 withdrawals of older coaches meant that Mk1 coaches had started to appear more regularly, and therefore a summer Saturday inter regional combination of Mk1s and Gresleys is less surprising. But did the restriction on the Taw Bridge get lifted (if it ever existed)?? Or was it simply that by 1963 the stock forming summer Saturday inter regional trains made use of whatever was available?

[Andy M]

On 09/04/2022 at 18:10, Pteremy said:

The cover image of the road bridge at Dulverton is a familiar one. But interestingly the 2 and 4th coaches appear to be Gresleys - rain strip on roof and high waist line. From the photos I have seen Gresley coaches were very exceptionally rare visitors to the Taunton-Barnstaple line, only appearing at the end steam on the line, i.e. 1963/64. I have always understood this to be because they were not suitable for negotiating the Taw Bridge at Barnstaple (between Barnstaple Jct and Barnstaple Town) - I am sure I read this somewhere but cannot remember where. The different coupling mechanism would also have been an issue. But by 1963 withdrawals of older coaches meant that Mk1 coaches had started to appear more regularly, and therefore a summer Saturday inter regional combination of Mk1s and Gresleys is less surprising. But did the restriction on the Taw Bridge get lifted (if it ever existed)?? Or was it simply that by 1963 the stock forming summer Saturday inter regional trains made use of whatever was available?

 

Hi Pteremy,

 

Many thanks for your comments, we always appreciate further information and lines of questioning.....it is what develops collective knowledge and understanding after all.

 

That cover image at Dulverton was undated and without further detail, but is either 1962/63 for sure. I was unable to trace the exact train details in the relevant Working Timetables before the editorial deadline, but surmised a Summer Saturday working to Yorkshire (possibly Sheffield) from what information I had to hand. As you are probably aware, it is a teaser for an extended feature article on Dulverton by Freddie Huxtable which leads in Western Times Issue 4. This contains many previously unseen images of the station from as early as the 1920s. He is probably also the man to answer your query on the Taw Bridge restriction and I will pose it to him when I get the chance.

 

Regards,

Andy.

[Pteremy]

3 hours ago, Andy M said:

 

but surmised a Summer Saturday working to Yorkshire (possibly Sheffield) from what information I had to hand.  

 

Not Sheffield over this route - by the late 1950s/60's interregional Summer Saturday train destinations were Wolverhampton and Manchester. The make up of the coach sets is specified in the summer 'Working of Coaches and Vans in Through Trains'. Some were sourced from the WR, some from LMR, a continuation of earlier LMS/GWR practice. One possibility is that there was a regional boundary change to the LMR in around 1963 which resulted in the use of sets not previously used for these services.

 

[Andy M]

I notice that the front cover image of Western Times Issue 3 at Dulverton has generated quite a bit of debate on RMWeb. Particularly the small cream cabin (enlarged below).

 

Without stealing too many of Freddie Huxtable's sandwiches, as his full article on Dulverton will appear in Western Times Issue 4 in August, I can confirm by the time of this image in the early 1960s it was being used as a Porters' Cabin. Freddie does state that it could well have been the earlier Signal Ground Frame structure that stood at this position before construction of the larger Signal Box on the up platform. Regardless, it makes a most unusual little building just crying out to be modelled!

 

Andy.

 

[The Fatadder]

On page 29 there is a photo in the weedkiller article of an outside framed Siphon G which has been rebuilt with windows and is being used (in BR days) as part of one of the weed killer trains.

 

I dont suppose anyone has more info about this coach, in particular when it was rebuilt?  I dont recall seeing it mentioned in Slinn, but in the unlikely event it was a GWR rather than BR conversion I would love to model it...

 

[The Stationmaster]

5 minutes ago, The Fatadder said:

On page 29 there is a photo in the weedkiller article of an outside framed Siphon G which has been rebuilt with windows and is being used (in BR days) as part of one of the weed killer trains.

 

I dont suppose anyone has more info about this coach, in particular when it was rebuilt?  I dont recall seeing it mentioned in Slinn, but in the unlikely event it was a GWR rather than BR conversion I would love to model it...

 

It was around in the early 1960s and was, i think, at that time in the Chipman train which operated on the WR.  I have a photo of it at Reading c.1964 but it is very much in the background of the view so not at all useful for any sort of detail.  I have never seen a Siphon conversion in any photos of the pre-war GWR weed killing train which used converted tender but it might be worth searching for photos of that train to try to establish if a Siphon had been converted that early.

 

However a number of outside framed siphons were converted for departmental use in the 1960s  - mainly as boiler vans from what I recall seeing at the time.  So other departmental type uses might not be entirely ruled out.

[bubbles2]

13 minutes ago, The Fatadder said:

On page 29 there is a photo in the weedkiller article of an outside framed Siphon G which has been rebuilt with windows and is being used (in BR days) as part of one of the weed killer trains.

 

I dont suppose anyone has more info about this coach, in particular when it was rebuilt?  I dont recall seeing it mentioned in Slinn, but in the unlikely event it was a GWR rather than BR conversion I would love to model it...

 

Is it this one 

 

Edited April 13, 2022 by bubbles2

[Andy M]

Rich,

That O11 Siphon was I think a 1959 conversion, I need to dig out my notes to be 100% sure. It is definitely not the one shown by bubbles2 (although they are cracking images), as the corridor connection has been removed at the spraying end as can be seen. I love the fact it is still on American bogies as well. I’ll have a search to see what else I can find.

 

Andy.

Edited April 13, 2022 by Andy M

[bubbles2]

9 minutes ago, Andy M said:

Rich,

That O11 Siphon was I think a 1959 conversion, I need to dig out my notes to be 100% sure. It is definitely not the one shown by bubbles2 (although they are cracking images), as the corridor connection has been removed at the spraying end as can be seen. I love the fact it is still on American bogies as well. I’ll have a search to see what else I can find.

 

Andy.

😞 or maybe this one? Or maybe not because I’ve just realised this is an inside frame.
https://flic.kr/p/WcWLqx

Siphon G ADW 150322, Swindon Works, 23-08-83 by afc45014, on Flickr

Edited April 13, 2022 by bubbles2

[Pteremy]

18 hours ago, Andy M said:

I notice that the front cover image of Western Times Issue 3 at Dulverton has generated quite a bit of debate on RMWeb. Particularly the small cream cabin (enlarged below).

 

Without stealing too many of Freddie Huxtable's sandwiches, as his full article on Dulverton will appear in Western Times Issue 4 in August, I can confirm by the time of this image in the early 1960s it was being used as a Porters' Cabin. Freddie does state that it could well have been the earlier Signal Ground Frame structure that stood at this position before construction of the larger Signal Box on the up platform. Regardless, it makes a most unusual little building just crying out to be modelled!

 

Andy.

 

 

There is a building designated 'Ground frame' in this position in the 'pre island platform' map shown in Clark's Great Western Stations Vol 1.  That is said to be based on an 1890 survey, and before the Signal Box was moved on to the platform next to the Good's Shed. But a detailed GWR Engineer's Dept map date stamped October 1926, concerned with the lighting at the station, has the hand written annotation 'Porters' next to the building.

[The Stationmaster]

19 hours ago, Andy M said:

Rich,

That O11 Siphon was I think a 1959 conversion, I need to dig out my notes to be 100% sure. It is definitely not the one shown by bubbles2 (although they are cracking images), as the corridor connection has been removed at the spraying end as can be seen. I love the fact it is still on American bogies as well. I’ll have a search to see what else I can find.

 

Andy.

Plenty of departmental bogie stock still on American bogies well into the 1960s.  The boiler van conversions I saw - including the one I photographed - were on American bogies and the riding coach (not sure what its origin was but definitely a passenger carrying vehicle of some sort) in the Reading brakedown train was also on American bogies and rode very nicely at 60+mph through Sonning Cutting when I had a trip in it in 1967 on the way to a derailment.

[Andy M]

Good Morning All,

 

As the 'Weedkiller Siphon' has caused a bit of interest, I have enlarged it from the original image. Definitely part of the Chipman Chemical Company Weedkiller Train mentioned by Mike previously and it is numbered CWT5. This vehicle is just ripe for modelling, as indeed is the entire train ensemble. The whole weed-killing process, which is described in the article in Issue 3, is a fascinating and previously overlooked area of railway operation and one of the many unusual facets we intend to explore within the pages of Western Times.

 

Regards,

Andy.

Edited April 15, 2022 by Andy M