Fowey Station Goods Yard

[KeithMacdonald]

Most pictures of Fowey are of the china clay traffic. A few older ones do show the station, but even fewer show the goods yard and sidings.

 

Here's the only one I've found (from John Law on Flickr) that shows there might have been four sidings or more. The one nearest the passenger platform has a couple of coaches, reserved for trips to Par perhaps? Does anyone have a track plan that makes it clearer?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

 

[MPR]

The usual source

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=17.36112705570293&lat=50.34054&lon=-4.63735&layers=168&right=BingHyb

isn’t very helpful - neither of the 25 inch maps show the goods yard. I located a few more images that might help, though.

 

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252004522731https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fowey_station.jpg
 

https://thetransportlibrary.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=160958
 

 

 

Edited June 2, 2022 by MPR

[KeithMacdonald]

24 minutes ago, MPR said:

https://thetransportlibrary.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=160958
 

 

Thanks! That looks like the most useful pic I've seen yet. There are clearly four sidings, one as a bay platform for a two-coach train to Par.

 

[Flying Pig]

Signal plan dated 1950:

 

https://www.s-r-s.org.uk/html/gwf/S1111.htm

[Hal Nail]

6 hours ago, KeithMacdonald said:

one as a bay platform for a two-coach train to Par.

Thats the Lostwithiel train in the pic. Another one here:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252004522731

 

Im not sure what the bay was actually intended for originally. Until 1951 Fowey had two through platforms and initially trains on either branch shunted across to depart from the appropriate side. There was a third through road for clay, so no need to park the passenger trains out of the way. The bay was used to berth the Lostwithiel train once the through roads had been rationalised, long after St Blazey/Newquay trains ceased. (I dont think they ever went to Par - you would have to reverse at St Blazey).

 

http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/st-blazey-to-fowey-and-fowey-harbour.html

 

 

 

Edited June 3, 2022 by Hal Nail

[KeithMacdonald]

18 hours ago, MPR said:

https://thetransportlibrary.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=160958

 

@MPR - thanks once again for that link.

 

Now, call me slow-witted, but I've only just noticed what might be a fifth siding in that Transport Library pic. Here's the relevant part:

 

 

(C) Transport Library

 

Just to the right of the steam engine, almost in the shed, another set of points.

[KingEdwardII]

15 minutes ago, KeithMacdonald said:

I've only just noticed what might be a fifth siding

Keith,

 

I think that siding is clearly visible in the original picture which you posted, to the left of the goods shed building. You can see its buffer stops.

 

Yours, Mike.

[The Stationmaster]

3 minutes ago, KeithMacdonald said:

 

@MPR - thanks once again for that link.

 

Now, call me slow-witted, but I've only just noticed what might be a fifth siding in that Transport Library pic. Here's the relevant part:

 

 

(C) Transport Library

 

Just to the right of the steam engine, almost in the shed, another set of points.

According to George Pryer's drawing there were 4 goods yard sidings plus the line next to the platform - which clearly had no road access over all of its length.  

 

As so often Tony Cooke gives us far more information but without any signalling detail so we can't be absolutly certain of the use of that 'bay'.

 

The new Goods yard, i.e. the one you are talking about, was brought int use in 1911.  It is not at all clear when the 'bay' line was added but the platform wasn't extended to the length seen in all the photos - such as the one above - until 1912.  If Tony's drawing is accurate in detail - and he usually is - there was no trap point in the bay line at any time thus implying that it was a passenger line.  The passenger service to/from St Blazey was withdrawn in September 1925 and the layout at that end of the station was remodelled in August 1936 at which time the line from St Blazey was reduced to 'Goods' status.  It appears that the departure platform acquired a stop block at the St Blazey end as part of the 1936 layout alterations and it was of course finally closed in August 1948.

 

What the photo above shows is the end dock siding coming off the goods shed road although it possibly have originally been connected to the 'bay' line as shown in Cooke's layout drawing;  that might be an error on his part (unusual) or it might have been altered at a different time.  But that debate apart what was there was a total of four goods yard sidings reading - from left to right - the end loading dock, the goods shed road, and then the two long roads which were no doubt for mileage traffic 

[KeithMacdonald]

18 hours ago, Flying Pig said:

Signal plan dated 1950:

https://www.s-r-s.org.uk/html/gwf/S1111.htm

 

Excellent, thank you!

 

Here's my best attempt so far to model that SRS signal plan as a 1950's layout, overlaid on the much earlier 1900s OS map. Inevitably, some discrepencies, but the 1900 OS map does at least make sure the scale and curvature is as close as possible.

 

.

 

 

[Miss Prism]

Very busy, c 1910

[KeithMacdonald]

3 minutes ago, Miss Prism said:

Very busy, c 1910

 

Gosh, yes, never seen so much activity there. 😀

I wonder what was in all those barrels?

St.Austell beer perhaps?

 

 

[wagonman]

19 minutes ago, KeithMacdonald said:

 

Gosh, yes, never seen so much activity there. 😀

I wonder what was in all those barrels?

St.Austell beer perhaps?

 

 

 

Sorry to disappoint but the barrels would have been full of clay.

[Miss Prism]

[Mikkel]

55 minutes ago, KeithMacdonald said:

I wonder what was in all those barrels?

St.Austell beer perhaps?

 

34 minutes ago, wagonman said:

Sorry to disappoint but the barrels would have been full of clay.

 

Well, maybe not always 🙂

 

 

 

[magmouse]

3 hours ago, Miss Prism said:

Very busy, c 1910

Thanks, Miss P - what an interesting picture. Several things caught my eye:

1. the three curious short-wheelbase wagons with wooden solebars and iron bodies, lettered GW. Presumably inherited by the GWR from a railway they took over, but I haven’t seem anything like them before.
2. the GW 5-plank wagons are presumably the ones made specifically for china clay traffic, as they have end doors. I haven’t noticed before that they have tie rods between the axle guards - a feature I normally associate with 4-shoe vacuum brakes.
3. the coaches in either brown or lake livery - at least the nearest one is. The ones behind that have a hint of a lighter tone on the upper body which might be grubby cream.
4. none of the barrels seem to be roped, even when loaded quite high relative to the top of the wagon sides.
5. above the right hand end of the nearest GW five-plank open we can just see the corner of a mineral wagon with individual L strapping, rather than corner plates.
6. a few wagons behind that one, we see the top of the end of a diagram N6 Loco coal wagon, with its distinctively extended sides.
7. The “Federated Coal & [something] Co Ltd” is from Cardiff, suggesting a flow of coal from South Wales - subject of discussion in another thread recently.

Nick.

 

[Hal Nail]

3 hours ago, KeithMacdonald said:

 

Excellent, thank you!

 

Here's my best attempt so far to model that SRS signal plan as a 1950's layout

Im pretty sure for most of the 50s it was only 2 roads through the station as the disused platform road was removed (1951 possibly?). In the photo of the warship running through, there is no truncated line on the left as we look at it.

[Hal Nail]

48 minutes ago, magmouse said:

the GW 5-plank wagons are presumably the ones made specifically for china clay traffic, as they have end doors. I haven’t noticed before that they have tie rods between the axle guards - a feature I normally associate with 4-shoe vacuum brakes

 

I asked about this elsewhere (there is a thread about Carne Point somewhere) but no one knew. My guess was the bars were because there was an end tipper for unloading clay that literally tilted the wagon up and presumbly that put force through the w irons. Incidentally for this reason the wagons were all the same way round

[KeithMacdonald]

3 hours ago, Mikkel said:

 

 

Well, maybe not always 🙂

 

 

 

 

Cornish smugglers or deportation cases perhaps? Or are these extras from a Cornish version of Peaky Blinders?

[The Stationmaster]

34 minutes ago, Hal Nail said:

I asked about this elsewhere (there is a thread about Carne Point somewhere) but no one knew. My guess was the bars were because there was an end tipper for unloading clay that literally tilted the wagon up and presumbly that put force through the w irons. Incidentally for this reason the wagons were all the same way round

I expect the empties are all the same way round because they have been unloaded and came back off the tips in one go.  it didn't matter which way round they were on arrival, loaded, at Fowey because the tips were reached via wagon turntables.

[Mikkel]

5 hours ago, KeithMacdonald said:

 

Cornish smugglers or deportation cases perhaps? Or are these extras from a Cornish version of Peaky Blinders?

 

The latter 🙂 They are mugshots from an article about the "real" Peaky Blinders.  It occurs to me that barrels covered in China Clay is a good medium for smuggling stuff.

 

Anyway, apologies for the nonsense, I have been reading too many fantastic stories in the 1900s Railway Magazine. Let us get on with serious discussion.

 

 

[Hal Nail]

6 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

the tips were reached via wagon turntrable

Thanks, I did wonder about that. Do you happen to know were they still used in the late 50s (my era)?

 

Also reminds me that Ive seen a suggestion that clay arrived via Lostwithiel and empties departed via the station which was more direct but had the climb to St Pinnock. I'm still toying with having a removeable chassis unit so i can swap bodies and save a bit of cost.

[magmouse]

3 hours ago, Mikkel said:

They are mugshots from an article about the "real" Peaky Blinders.  It occurs to me that barrels covered in China Clay is a good medium for smuggling stuff.

The actual offences given would make for a rather unexciting plot line: no.s 1 and 4 have been had up for stealing bicycles, and 4 and 5 for giving false references. I can’t make out the offence for no. 3.

 

Nick.

[Mike_Walker]

8 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

I expect the empties are all the same way round because they have been unloaded and came back off the tips in one go.  it didn't matter which way round they were on arrival, loaded, at Fowey because the tips were reached via wagon turntables.

I've always understood that the wagons had to be the right way round on arrival as there wasn't a facility to turn them.  All the photos I've seen of traffic off the Wenford branch (my area of interest) have always had the end doors facing Wadebridge which would support that theory.

 

I also understand the tie bars were to prevent damage to the W irons when tipped 

[wagonman]

12 hours ago, magmouse said:

Thanks, Miss P - what an interesting picture. Several things caught my eye:

1. the three curious short-wheelbase wagons with wooden solebars and iron bodies, lettered GW. Presumably inherited by the GWR from a railway they took over, but I haven’t seem anything like them before.

Nick.

 

 

Inherited from the Cornwall Mineral Railway. From memory they were built by the Swansea Wagon Co in about 1875.

 

 

[The Stationmaster]

2 hours ago, Mike_Walker said:

I've always understood that the wagons had to be the right way round on arrival as there wasn't a facility to turn them.  All the photos I've seen of traffic off the Wenford branch (my area of interest) have always had the end doors facing Wadebridge which would support that theory.

 

I also understand the tie bars were to prevent damage to the W irons when tipped 

It probably made it easier at Fowey but as all the tips there were accessed by wagon turntables and the wagon movements for tipping was carried out using capstans there was no real problem - except one of time - if a wagon was the wrong way round.