Departmental / Civil Engineer Wagons - Divisional Civil Engineer locations

[Ben04uk]

When many of the former Medfits and Highfits open wagons got passed from revenue service to the Civil Engineers, many of them ended up having lettering on them saying things like 'Divisional Civil Engineer Norwich' or 'Div. C.E. Crewe', or 'Divisional Civil Engineer Doncaster', as evidenced in various David Larkin and Paul Bartlett photos. No doubt similar lettering was on purpose built ballast hoppers opens intended for departmental use.

 

Does anyone have a list of the divisional civil engineers locations in the 1960s and 1970s on the Western Region and Southern Region? Is it likely, for example, that some departmental wagons may have had the markings 'Divisional Civil Engineer Brighton' or 'Divisional Civil Engineer Truro'?

[Fat Controller]

I think 'Truro' would have been 'DCE Plymouth'. I'm not sure I've ever seen 'DCE' followed by a place name on SR stock; I think they carried simply a place name, such as 'Three Bridges', 'Woking PAD', 'Redbridge'.

A quick look through DL's second volume on 'Civil Engineers' Wagons', suggests 'DCE' wasn't that common anywhere; SR stock tended to just carry a depot name, and hoppers generally carried a 'Return to xxxxx', where 'xxxxx' is the quarry used by the area for ballast. For the SR, this was normally Meldon or Frome, but the other regions drew from a larger selection of quarries.

[Rivercider]

 

 

Does anyone have a list of the divisional civil engineers locations in the 1960s and 1970s on the Western Region and Southern Region? Is it likely, for example, that some departmental wagons may have had the markings 'Divisional Civil Engineer Brighton' or 'Divisional Civil Engineer Truro'?

In the late 1970s the Divisional Civil Engineers Offices on the Western Region were located at:-

 

DCE Bristol (Parcels Building) covering the Bristol Division, with District Offices at Plymouth and Gloucester and Taunton.

DCE Newport, covering the South Wales Division, with a District Office at Swansea

DCE Reading, covering the London Division

 

I agree with Brian, I don't think stencilling for Divisional ownership was common.

Ballast hoppers were likely to be marked with Return to XXX

In South Wales that would be Machen, Tidenham/Tintern, or Hirwaun, I have also seen Coleford (Forest of Dean?)

In the West Country there Would be Meldon Quarry and Stoneycombe Quarry

 

cheers

[Fat Controller]

In the late 1970s the Divisional Civil Engineers Offices on the Western Region were located at:-

 

DCE Bristol (Parcels Building) covering the Bristol Division, with District Offices at Plymouth and Gloucester and Taunton.

DCE Newport, covering the South Wales Division, with a District Office at Swansea

DCE Reading, covering the London Division

 

I agree with Brian, I don't think stencilling for Divisional ownership was common.

Ballast hoppers were likely to be marked with Return to XXX

In South Wales that would be Machen, Tidenham/Tintern, or Hirwaun, I have also seen Coleford (Forest of Dean?)

In the West Country there Would be Meldon Quarry and Stoneycombe Quarry

 

cheers

Coleford was Forest of Dean.

In South Wales, there was Penderyn (this may have been an alternative name for Hirwaun).

In the West Country, there were hopper wagons marked for Mells Road (sometimes Frome)and Liskeard.

If you want transfers with allocations, Cambridge Custom Transfers do a selection:-

http://www.cctrans.freeserve.co.uk/