Evercreech Jct station goods yard

[andreas]

Hi all,

 

I’m trying to understand find out a little more how the small station goods yard just at Evercreech Jct was operated (i.e. not the large marshalling yard(s) at Evercreech Jct North).

Was it served by trip workings from the yard or a passing goods train? How was the yard shunted?

 

Does anyone know what the small siding off the back road was used for? The siding was only removed in January 1960. However, I think I’ve only seen it in use once: on the far left of the attached Ivo Peters picture from 12th July 1952 (marked in red).

The only clues I've found so far are from old maps:

• There must have been a 7 ton hand crane once. Perhaps it was used for heavier loads that couldn't be handled in the goods shed. However, the crane must have been long gone by the time of Nationalisation as I can't find any traces in photos. Also the ground isn't flat, which would have limited the use of road vehicles.
• The siding could have been used in connection with a cattle sale yard that is mentioned on a map from 1901. There was indeed a cattle dock between this siding and the entrance to the goods yard but I'm not 100% sure which way that faced. There is around 1 to 2 metres of space between the pens and the edge facing the mainline. In any case, the cattle sales must have stopped relatively early as more recent maps don't show anything.
• I would rule out the slaughterhouse and the tile works, both of which had their own sidings.

 

 

Edited July 27, 2023 by andreas

[25kV]

Looking at an 1885-ish map, the crane does indeed seem to be on the north side of that left hand spur.  But there's no indication of purpose.

https://maps.nls.uk/view/122162585

 

 

[RailWest]

The 1938 RCH Handbook says that Evercreech Jcn had a 1-ton crane.

 

[andreas]

Having spent a bit time double and triple-checking my photo collection, I think I may have found a picture of the crane. The following is a crop from a D. Cullum photo reproduced in Middleton Press's Bournemouth to Evercreech Junction and also in SDRT Bulletin 177. The photo is dated 1922 so fits nicely into in-between the 1901 map and the 1938 RCH handbook.

The older maps also show some open space around and what looks like road access to the crane. The open space had disappeared by the 1950s (see photo below) but there is still some kind of crossing visible just ahead of the coach. Perhaps the area was simply filled in when the crane was taken out of use?

 

Another aspect I had missed, I can't see how the spur could have served the cattle dock. Sure, it looks like it on maps from c1900 but compare the position of the point lever on the left (1962, from John Betjeman's film) with the photo with the spur intact (1954, thetransportlibrary.co.uk). The spur would have run straight into the concrete of the cattle dock.

 

I assume that's more arguments in favour of the crane theory. The only question remains, why was the siding kept until 1960 if it's original purpose had vanished by the 1930s? The other sidings had been removed much earlier.

[adriank]

'An Historical Survey of the S&DR Track Layouts and Illustrations' by Judge & Potts which illustrates track plans c. 1930 shows two cranes and two sets of cattle pens. A 7-ton hand crane is shown on the north side of the northernmost siding (almost within your red rectangle) and a 1-ton radial crane at the eastern end of the goods shed. In addition to the cattle pens to which you refer, there was one adjacent to the down platform close to the station building and served by the rightmost siding in your photograph. There was a siding between the running lines stopping just short of the level crossing which was terminated with a buffer stop that had a three-link coupling used to stop wagons running downhill.

 

The book was published in 1979 by Oxford Publishing SBN 86093 003 3 and makes for rewarding reading.

 

Adrian

[RailWest]

"There was a siding between the running lines stopping just short of the level crossing which was terminated with a buffer stop that had a three-link coupling used to stop wagons running downhill..."

 

To clarify - the coupling was on the buffer-stop at the north end of the siding, next to an accommodation crossing, not the one at the south end near to the public road level-crossing.

[andreas]

I have just come across an aerial photo taken on 16th January 1924 (Source: https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/collections/aerial-photos/record/RAF_CPE_UK_1924_FS_2112, among others)

The resolution is not good enough to make out details, but based on the shadows it looks like there used to be a small structure alongside the short siding. Judging by the length of the shadows I would say no more than perhaps ten feet tall. Also interesting is the lack of even ground in that part of the yard. Why would a heavy 7 ton crane be placed in such an inconvenient spot?

 

The second photo seems to support the cattle sales yard hypothesis. If I'm not mistaken that's three cows on the way to the cattle dock.

 

 

 

[KeithMacdonald]

Also at Evercreech Junction, I noticed the OS map appears to show a turntable. But how big and what kind?

 

 

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=18.7&lat=51.12767&lon=-2.51725&layers=168&b=1

[RailWest]

AFAIK that turntable was removed when the new one was installed in yard at the Junction. I'm not aware of any photo of it. As late as 1930 the points (No 10) leading into the goods yard were still known as the Loco Yard points.

[KeithMacdonald]

Just found a pic of the turntable here:

http://somersetanddorset.blogspot.com/2009/03/evercreech-junction-6768.html

[RailWest]

1 hour ago, KeithMacdonald said:

Just found a pic of the turntable here:

http://somersetanddorset.blogspot.com/2009/03/evercreech-junction-6768.html

Errr.....that's the new TT in the New Yard, not the old one in the goods yard.

[KeithMacdonald]

On 02/10/2023 at 17:25, RailWest said:

Errr.....that's the new TT in the New Yard, not the old one in the goods yard.

Whoops!

[cctransuk]

On 29/09/2023 at 21:27, KeithMacdonald said:

Also at Evercreech Junction, I noticed the OS map appears to show a turntable. But how big and what kind?

 

 

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=18.7&lat=51.12767&lon=-2.51725&layers=168&b=1

 

You've overdrawn the yard exit as a double slip - I'm pretty sure that it was a single slip; thus avoiding a facing point on the main.

 

(It's a single on my iteration, anyway)!

 

CJI.

[RailWest]

Actually, it was neither ! The line from the goods yard crossed the Down Main by a plain diamond crossing and connected into the Middle Siding only.

[KeithMacdonald]

1 hour ago, cctransuk said:

You've overdrawn the yard exit as a double slip - I'm pretty sure that it was a single slip; thus avoiding a facing point on the main.

 

I don't doubt you are correct.  I, however, can blame AnyTrack, as I used their track library for Streamline 100. They offer SL-94 crossing or SL-90 double-slip, but nothing for a single-slip.