RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted April 1, 2012 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted April 1, 2012 I can't help but think this will all end up as 'Measham Magna' in 4mm... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted April 2, 2012 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted April 2, 2012 No photos but I have all the LMS appendix information from 1931 right through until today, so if you need any info then just ask, Yo Beast, I'm assuming that by appendix info you mean carriage working notices etc? Let me know if I'm wrong... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted April 2, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 2, 2012 Yo Beast, I'm assuming that by appendix info you mean carriage working notices etc? Let me know if I'm wrong... Afraid you're wrong, it's the special instructions for how the sidings were worked, and any restrictions on them - for example, it could say cattle traffic to be attached to down trains only. I do have some marshalling circulars but not sure if they cover this line. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted April 2, 2012 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted April 2, 2012 Afraid you're wrong, it's the special instructions for how the sidings were worked, and any restrictions on them - for example, it could say cattle traffic to be attached to down trains only. I do have some marshalling circulars but not sure if they cover this line. Different companies, different terminology! I'm certainly interested in details of the sort you have, particularly in the latter period of the A&N JR. Let me know by PM..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coombe Barton Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 There was, just south of Shenton, a bridge (demolished about 20-25 years ago) that crossed Fen Lanes (the Roman Road) at its junction with the Dadlington/Shenton Road. The crossroads was under the bridge, IIRC. Would have made an interesting model. Location is SP 987 398. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 Looks significantly poorer these days Peter. Not quite on the A&N, but looking west from Moira giving an idea of how busy this area once was. That is Swain's Park opencast site in the background. The Cl.56 with MGR empties is on the branch to Rawdon Colliery, which closed in 1990. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted April 2, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 2, 2012 Different companies, different terminology! I'm certainly interested in details of the sort you have, particularly in the latter period of the A&N JR. Let me know by PM..... There's a lot of info and I don't have time to copy it all I'm afraid, however if there are particular places of interest then let me know and I will see what entries are in the books. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rail-Online Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Chris, You are correct, the signal box is not original. For anyone thinking about visiting the museum at Shakerston is fantastic -run by a really helpful old signalman who worked the area all his life. Make sure you go when you visit! Tony Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poor Old Bruce Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 If you want maps of the line, go to the County Record Office in Liecester. They should have copies of all the various editions of 25 inch Ordnance Survey maps of the whole county. It may be worth checking if Burton Library's Local Studies section has copies as well. You can usually photocopy the bits you want. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted April 4, 2012 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted April 4, 2012 Big thank you to David (Cary Hill) - the book arrived safely this morning. Many thanks for sorting this out for me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cary hill Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Big thank you to David (Cary Hill) - the book arrived safely this morning. Many thanks for sorting this out for me. I hope that it will be of some use. My own particular interests in this line tend to relate to the strange "additions" to the line such as the Hinckley and Stoke Golding Joint Branch, which appears to have been double track but was never apparently used by a train and appears as disused/dismantled very quickly on OS maps.It's course can still be traced on Google Maps, and ,although it is largely obliterated by Dodwells Bridge Industrial Estate at the Hinckley end, the earthworks at the junction with the present day Leicester-Birmingham line can still just be made out by the railway bridge over the A5 south of Paynes Garage, Hinckley You must allow your research to wander on to the Charnwood Forest Railway in due course, as it once served the other three lesser known cities of Leicestershire. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagrizz Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Chris, If you decide to model the line, you may want to base it in 1963 as there were a number of special passenger trains from the North East taking tourists to the new Coventry Cathedral, and they used the A&N as a means of getting from Burton to Coventry. The line was cleared by engineers for taking engines like V2's. The RO June and Sept 1963 and Modern Railways June and July 1963 have some details and there are photos available of V2's and B1's at Coventry on such workings - there are two pictures of V2's at Cov on the 'Railways of Warwickshire' website. Other locos reported on such workings are Brits, Peaks and Jubilees. I lived by the railway in Bedworth at the time and saw a few V2's and B1's - as an 8 year old spotter I had no idea what was going on but was thrilled to underline a few 'sixers' in my book. Although the passenger service on the A&N finished in 1931, special trains occasionally used the stations; 'Steam aound Nuneaton' by Robey and Green (Midland Counties Publications 1981) has a 1954 picture of black 5 45069 on a Nuneaton to Nottingham special picking up passengers at Stoke Golding. This book also has a 1962 picture of Overseal MPD - its a clearer picture than in the Franks book but the locos on shed are still two 4F''s and an 8F! If you need any more details, please get in touch. Graham Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Hi Graham, There's a cracking photograph of a V2 at Coventry on one of those excursions from the North East in Richard Coleman and Joe Rajczonek's book 'Steaming Into Birmingham & The West Midlands'.... it shows 60963 waiting to depart back north around tea time on Tuesday 9th April 1963, the caption stating that it ran via Nuneaton, then Burton, Derby, Sheffield and on up to Newcastle. In a way it's quite a 'rare' picture in itself, as it shows a steam hauled train working under the new colour light signalling at the recently rebuilt station, but before the overhead wires had been erected, a period which I think lasted only around a year or so, if that. It also mentions that Clans visited the station on some of these 'Cathedral' specials! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagrizz Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Nidge, Yes I have the Coleman/Rajczonek book and I saw 60963 at Bedworth. In terms of steam in Coventry station at that time, it would have happened daily. Although the Nuneaton-Leamington locals were DMU services, the morning and evening workmens trains to Nuneaton were steam hauled right through to late-'64-early '65. There were also the Leamington-Nuneaton parcels, plus all the freight trains. Back to the specials - Steam Days May 2008 has a picture of B1 61018 Gnu at Cov, and I have photos from Roger Carpenters collection of double-headed 61094 and 61276 waiting in Cov station to return with the 5.45 pm train to Bishops Auckland on 21/6/63. The Clans you refer to were 72005 and 72008 which worked specials from Barrow on 7/5/63. They were due to access Cov via the Nuneaton line but a blockage on the Trent Valley meant they were diverted via Stechford. I happened to be at Cov station at the time - couldn't believe my eyes. There is a photo of 72008 at Cov on the Railways of Warwickshire website. There were also Cathedral specials from South and West but the motive power was less exotic - eg Standard 5's. Regards Graham Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Great stuff Graham... I only wish I'd been around in '63 and of the right age to have appreciated it all! One of those Clans (possibly 72008) made it as far as Rugby piloting a Black 5 (I think) on another occasion, as I understand it, possibly even further south than that. Sorry to veer even more off topic but your mention of the Nuneaton - Leamington workings reminds of one of our old drivers called Tom Blackburn, now retired, but as a fireman at Nuneaton he regularly worked freights and parcels turns to Leamington and Banbury. I'm sure he mentioned those workmen's trains once or twice during our many conversations about steam days, if memory serves me right he said almost anything could be thrown onto these jobs, ie: whatever Nuneaton shed had going spare at the time. He also worked freights over the 'A&N' with 4Fs, 8Fs etc, with most of these 'local' workings taking up an entire shift. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagrizz Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Chris, a bit more; the Robey and Green book has photos of a 3F on a mineral train in 1952 and a 4F on a passenger special in 1954. Both photos are taken close to Abbey St station in Nuneaton. You may also want to take a look at 'The Railways of Nuneaton and Bedworth' by Peter Lee, Tempus Publishing 2005. There is a short section on the A&N in the Nuneaton area, including a pic of D95 on a special passenger working. What may interest you more is an account of why the Stoke Golding-Hinckley loop was built (politics). Also, BRILL August 2000 gives an account of Nuneaton freight workings including some from the A&N. Nidge, both 72005 and 72008 were serviced at Rugby that day. If you're interested in Clans working into the Midlands then there is a useful summary in Steam World August 2001 which highlights Clans working in the Southern half of England. For instance, in August 1954 72008 did a running in turn from to Nuneaton after visiting Crewe works. Nuneaton shed 'borrowed' it and it worked one of the workmens trains to Cov the next morning. (Some of this info from 'The Birmingham to Leicester Line' by Chris Banks, OPC 1994). Graham Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Thanks again Graham, interesting stuff. The Chris Banks book was doing the rounds amongst the shunters and signalmen at Croft, Bardon Hill and Mantle Lane a while back, I'm still awaiting my turn to borrow it! Considering the line connects two large cities via a large market and ex-mining town, it sometimes feels a little neglected in railway circles. I learnt the route the very week the semaphores were replaced with colour lights, on the Monday it looked one sort of railway, by the Friday it resembled another sort altogether! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted April 5, 2012 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted April 5, 2012 Not quite on the A&N, but looking west from Moira giving an idea of how busy this area once was. That is Swain's Park opencast site in the background. The Cl.56 with MGR empties is on the branch to Rawdon Colliery, which closed in 1990. Strangely I was driving back from Swadlincote today and looked right when driving down Spring Cottage Road and suddenly clocked the modern day version of the Swain's Park view in your photo. Spooky. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted April 5, 2012 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted April 5, 2012 Thanks folks for all the snippets and pointers. Lots to follow up on and currently reading the book that was published when I was 4 years old..... Funny how much of what was written to be in the future is now well in the past. Some came true, some didn't. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeh Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 The book "Burton Railwayman" by David Fleming and published by him has acounts of working over the line as a fireman and his time in charge of Overseal MPD. A very enjoyable read. Overseal was a sub shed of Burton and in 1962 had six diagrams for a 3F, four 4Fs and an 8F. A 4F and the 8F had two trips a day to Hams Hall or Bromford via Nuneaton with coal. Regards Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted April 5, 2012 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted April 5, 2012 Just spent an enjoyable evening tracing the old line on maps c1900 from Moira down to the A5 bridge. Spent quite a while looking around Measham and how it changed between c1900 and the 1960s. I had no idea just how many pits there were around here and how extensive the rail-links were to the main A&NJR. All the curious tracks and old bridges in the area are now starting to piece together as a wider picture, not forgetting the canal too. It's amazing the history that's on your doorstep when you start to look with interest. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Chris, Another book worth looking at is "A Pictorial Record of the Leicester and Burton Branch Railway" by Nelson Twells (1985). It has a little bit about Moira in it at the northern end of the A&N, but more importantly from your viewpoint, the 1935 freight working timetable (which includes the A&N north of Shackerstone)plus point-to-point timings and loadings. Neither volume, unfortunately, of Hendry & Hendry's "An Historical Survey of Selected LMS Stations" covers the A&N. Regards, Peter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted April 6, 2012 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted April 6, 2012 Thanks Peter, looks like another one to add to the book search list. Going back to the stations themselves, none of the old maps seems to show a goods shed at Shackerstone. This seems strange as Shackerstoneseems to have been the epicenter and administrative hq of the line. The facilities at Snarestone were far more impressive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted April 6, 2012 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted April 6, 2012 Chris, Another book worth looking at is "A Pictorial Record of the Leicester and Burton Branch Railway" by Nelson Twells (1985). It has a little bit about Moira in it at the northern end of the A&N, but more importantly from your viewpoint, the 1935 freight working timetable (which includes the A&N north of Shackerstone)plus point-to-point timings and loadings. Neither volume, unfortunately, of Hendry & Hendry's "An Historical Survey of Selected LMS Stations" covers the A&N. Regards, Peter I had a feeling that the Pictorial Record book rang a bell last night. Just checked the bookcases and I already have a copy! I think I bought it about 15 years ago when we moved into this area. Can't help but think that a similar volume for the A&NJR would be good but doubt it would sell in the millions, even if stocked by the Battlefield Line! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenceb Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 Not a book but Marsden Rail dvd 26 a rail tour ran via the A&N. the dvd also includes footage of the Bass railway in Burton and preserved locos parked outside Derby loco Laurence Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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