A Nod To Brent - a friendly thread, filled with frivolity, cream teas and pasties. Longing for the happy days in the South Hams 1947.

[brianusa]

The lovely Edwardian Loco appears to have gun mounted above its right buffer.

 

 

It's there to blow the "Foriegn" locos outa the way !

 

Colonel Blimp

A mystery!  Going through all the likely books including the Russell tomes, nary an explanation or even a picture of whatever it is!  Its meant to be there for some reason as it appears to be mounted on two stands.  Somebody must know!

 

Brian

[81C]

A mystery!  Going through all the likely books including the Russell tomes, nary an explanation or even a picture of whatever it is!  Its meant to be there for some reason as it appears to be mounted on two stands.  Somebody must know!

 

Brian

OK OK I give in it's a locomotive jack, in olden days when engines derailed it was up to the footplate crew to put the things back on the rails. 

BTW I'm still looking for those bl00dy doors.

 

Mike Caine

[Limpley Stoker]

I see he's planning on doing the SR Lord Nelson if there's enough interest. £3000.

 

https://www.leemarshmodelco.com/collections/future-projects/products/sr-lord-nelson

 

 

bh_single_1024x1024.png

I’m still curious to know why this locomotive carried the jack shaped gadget on its running plate - if it were essential there would be ample evidence of other examples. None of the images of Dean Singles in the Simon Lathlance collection (David Heys) showed one, a Google image search of Dean locomotives revealed only two examples : The Duchess of Teck as published by the GWRS and a 20xx class (Wikipedia).

Edited January 30, 2018 by Limpley Stoker

[Tim Dubya]

I’m still curious to know why this locomotive carried the jack shaped gadget on its running plate 

 

Same reason the old Skoda's used to have heated rear screens

[Tim Dubya]

 

Churston station, autotrain leaving for Brixham, 24 July 1958

Photo:Ben Brooksbank

[81C]

I’m still curious to know why this locomotive carried the jack shaped gadget on its running plate - if it were essential there would be ample evidence of other examples. None of the images of Dean Singles in the Simon Lathlance collection (David Heys) showed one, a Google image search of Dean locomotives revealed only two examples : The Duchess of Teck as published by the GWRS and a 20xx class (Wikipedia).

 

[cary hill]

The Duchess of Teck as published by the GWRS and a 20xx class (Wikipedia).

 

You forgot to add the unofficial name of the second locomotive

 

 

Carrying a wrecking ball and cutting equipment would have been more use than a jack.

 

Edited January 30, 2018 by cary hill

[The Stationmaster]

I’m still curious to know why this locomotive carried the jack shaped gadget on its running plate - if it were essential there would be ample evidence of other examples. None of the images of Dean Singles in the Simon Lathlance collection (David Heys) showed one, a Google image search of Dean locomotives revealed only two examples : The Duchess of Teck as published by the GWRS and a 20xx class (Wikipedia).

 

I do wonder if it was a matter of the Driver's choice as photos of engines carrying jacks are - as you say - far from common.  I'd also wonder to what extent a single bottle jack could be used to re-ail anything let alone an engine (although it might help with a derailed bogie).  the Robinson 2-8-0s in ROD service carried a pair of jacks and photos suggest they were unique in that respect as I've seen no other pictures of Great War ROD engines with jacks which might possibly indicate they were there in case the front bogie wheels derailed - hardly substantial enough for lifting much else in the event of a derailment I would have thought.  And in any case bottle jacks without a traverse bed aren't much use for re-railing anything heavy - they needed a traverse bed even when used to lift  and re-rail c.15 tons.

[81C]

I would not expect anything more than a putting a bogie back on the tracks with the loco's in the photo's with a single jack but I do remember seeing a photo of a gang of men

re-railing a SR tank engine at Brighton with no more than a jack, some timbers and a couple of rerailing plates and I did witness some chaps re-rail the front bogie on a class

4 loco at Bridgenorth yard in early days of the preserved railway with some plates and a shove from another loco.

[Northroader]

I reckon they were used more for the funny little things that happen in goods sidings, which is why they wouldn’t be on a single driver express engine. If you tilt a bottle jack slightly, you can get away without putting it on a traverser, with a few wedges and wood blocks, just for a pair of wheels not far off the line.

[81C]

I reckon they were used more for the funny little things that happen in goods sidings, which is why they wouldn’t be on a single driver express engine. If you tilt a bottle jack slightly, you can get away without putting it on a traverser, with a few wedges and wood blocks, just for a pair of wheels not far off the line.

I've seen that happen in Southall goods yard a few times after the Loco has bounced a wagon off the tracks I'm surprised any wagon came out of that yard in one piece.  

[brianusa]

You forgot to add the unofficial name of the second locomotive

 

kruger.jpeg

 

Carrying a wrecking ball and cutting equipment would have been more use than a jack.

 

Surely one of the most ugliest GW locomotives.  What was the 'hunchback' for anyway?

 

Brian.

[Trains&armour]

As to jacks, those where carried on Cambrian engines after the Welshampton accident of 1897, a practice that lasted into Great Western days. The Cambrian Railways album by C.C. Green has several photo's of Great Western lettered engines with jacks, among them a Dean Goods.

[St Enodoc]

I reckon they were used more for the funny little things that happen in goods sidings, which is why they wouldn’t be on a single driver express engine. If you tilt a bottle jack slightly, you can get away without putting it on a traverser, with a few wedges and wood blocks, just for a pair of wheels not far off the line.

Absolutely - but don't stand too close...

[Limpley Stoker]

Thank you for putting me out of my misery. I know nuffin’ about jacks.

 

I think I’ll go back to Nodding

[Tim Dubya]

I know nuffin’ about jacks.

 

So jack about jack then...

.

Edited January 30, 2018 by Tim Dubya

[brianusa]

Thank you for putting me out of my misery. I know nuffin’ about jacks.

 

I think I’ll go back to Nodding

 

They'll beat a Ten anytime!

 

Brian.

[bgman]

Surely one of the most ugliest GW locomotives.  What was the 'hunchback' for anyway?

 

Brian.

That's a Dean "Kruger" named after President Kruger as an insult following the Boer War.

I think that the "hunchback" was used to keep sand dry when used for the driving wheels.

 

Personally I like the beast but then it's my sort of period and I am of GWR persuasion!

[Northroader]

Mum,mum, who’s Kruger?

Promise not to tell your father, dear!

[Captain Kernow]

That's a Dean "Kruger" named after President Kruger as an insult following the Boer War.

I think that the "hunchback" was used to keep sand dry when used for the driving wheels.

 

Personally I like the beast but then it's my sort of period and I am of GWR persuasion!

What kind of persuasion was used on you, to get you to like it?

[The Stationmaster]

I reckon they were used more for the funny little things that happen in goods sidings, which is why they wouldn’t be on a single driver express engine. If you tilt a bottle jack slightly, you can get away without putting it on a traverser, with a few wedges and wood blocks, just for a pair of wheels not far off the line.

 

DIdn't use jacks unless something was well and truly off and needed to be traversed - and that meant getting the gang out  otherwise (if the breakdown gang weren't looking) it was set to with fishplates and bits of timber.  Although some decent steel sheet could be better than fishplates which had a habit of breaking at the wrong moment.  A past Yardmaster at Reading West Junction was known as 'spraggy' because he invariably used sprags for rerailing but they were more or less history by my time in a yard.

 

The Bristol breakdown gang - who were an absolute shower - often tried to use the trick of jacking and shoving to save getting out the traverse kit; best advice when they were about was to stand a long way away and watch out for flying shards of wood as the packing timber was wrecked.  The other large depot gangs I worked with over the years (Canton, Landore, and Old Oak) were all very professional and a pleasure to work with but the Bath Road bunch were terrible and seemed to spend most of their time shouting at each other to do the job in a different way - the breakdown supervisor wore a hearing aid and as soon as the shouting started he used to turn it off and ignore everybody (and they usually ignored him).

Edited January 31, 2018 by The Stationmaster

[bgman]

What kind of persuasion was used on you, to get you to like it?

None whatsoever, I'm just weird !

 

T.E.Letubby

[Limpley Stoker]

I hope there was a jack on this engine.

[Oldddudders]

I hope there was a jack on this engine.

 

I suspect the driver's attention was diverted by the jumbo mauve brassiere beyond the tracks?

[Worsdell forever]

DIdn't use jacks unless something was well and truly off and needed to be traversed - and that meant getting the gang out  otherwise (if the breakdown gang weren't looking) it was set to with fishplates and bits of timber.  Although some decent steel sheet could be better than fishplates which had a habit of breaking at the wrong moment.  A past Yardmaster at Reading West Junction was known as 'spraggy' because he invariably used sprags for rerailing but they were more or less history by my time in a yard.

 

The Bristol breakdown gang - who were an absolute shower - often tried to use the trick of jacking and shoving to save getting out the traverse kit; best advice when they were about was to stand a long way away and watch out for flying shards of wood as the packing timber was wrecked.  The other large depot gangs I worked with over the years (Canton, Landore, and Old Oak) were all very professional and a pleasure to work with but the Bath Road bunch were terrible and seemed to spend most of their time shouting at each other to do the job in a different way - the breakdown supervisor wore a hearing aid and as soon as the shouting started he used to turn it off and ignore everybody (and they usually ignored him).

 

If you can get hold of a copy of 'Taking the Weight' by Bob Willis, you can read about his time on the breakdown crane at Thornaby, brilliant read, there were good and bad gangs all over the country...

 

http://titfield.co.uk/Book-shelves/Books-J6-det.htm#4170