Operation of private sidings at Cameron Bridge

[Ian Kirk]

Hi All,

The railway I am building in my  "office"  will hopefully have some resemblance to Cameron Bridge station.  Photos of this are in  Lochty's post in the distillery thread. 

 

Here the main  Thornton - Leven line actually cuts through the distillery and the station itself is in the midst of the industrial buildings. As far as I can see there were sidings serving the distillery on both sides of the main line. The distillery owned it's own locomotive so my question is: was this allowed to run on the main line to access the northern sidings? In later years when the 0-4-0 Barclay had been replaced by an 88RB I can remember it working the South side sidings but by then IIRC the sidings on the North side were quite overgrown. I can not remember ever seeing anything in there.

 

best wishes,

 

Ian

[Graham R]

The distillery owned it's own locomotive so my question is: was this allowed to run on the main line to access the northern sidings?

 

You're in luck Ian... the 1937 LNE sectional appendix authorises the Distillers Co. Ltd. private loco to work on Up and Down line sidings and main line, as long as the authorised and registered men were doing the job. (The 1947 and BR appendices don't list private loco authorisations).

 

regards

Graham

[Ian Kirk]

Many thanks Graham.

 

I was along at Kirkland Yard today where Pete Westwater and a few others (myself included) are building a model of Wemyss Castle station, WPR loco sheds/wagon works etc. In one of Pete's Mark 1 coaches. Unusually Pete, our local guru, did not know and as you say the BR appendices don't cover it. 

 

best wishes,

 

Ian

[Graham R]

Hi Ian,

 

That sounds a great place to build a layout! Mind you I hope there's steam heating in winter, I remember ice on the inside of these windows on early-morning workings... Will it go on public display?

 

I have distant memories of a nice WPR-themed layout with scratchbuilt 4mm track and stock in the mid-1970s in the McLellan Galleries (I think). Was Mr Westwater behind that? It was clearly done by someone who knew the WPR backwards, it just oozed atmosphere.

 

You may be interested in the two signalling diagrams below, with thanks to Robert Dey:

 

Cameron Bridge (at the time of the 1910 doubling of the Thornton-Leven line):

 

 

and a marked-up 1901 Stevens drawing of Wemyss Castle showing a (planned?) resignalling there:

 

 

Coming back to private locos on railway company metals, I dug out a 1901 NBR appendix, and interestingly it is more restrictive about Cameron Bridge. It says the Distillery Co.'s engine is authorised to run between "Distillery Sidings and No. 5 Warehouse Siding, Cameron Bridge. (Note - The Distillery Company's Engine must not, under any circumstances, be allowed to enter upon or foul the Main Line in any way either by itself or Wagons, and the men in charge of the Engine, and  otherwise engaged in working the traffic between the DIstillery Sidings and No. 5 Warehouse Siding, must strictly confirm to the Rules of the Company". So you need to get a rulebook if you're modelling the NBR period! On the other hand, things were better in 1901 at Wemyss Castle, where the Wemyss Coal Company's loco could run from Up to Down side of the line and run along the main line to West Wemyss; and the Fife Coal Company's loco could work between Up and Down sidings at the station.

 

Edit: forgot to add: at Cameron Bridge, propelling was authorised from Muiredge Colliery to the station...

 

best regards

Graham

[Ian Kirk]

Hi Graham,

Thanks again for that.

The coach is as you say a great place for a model. Last Winter we suspended operations and started again in the Spring(there is scope for fan heaters but we try not to use them) when I say we suspended operations that was not strictly speaking correct. Most of us did but when we got back we found that Pete had hand built about a third of the point work at home. The K of F Preservation Soc. have open days and the idea is that the model once completed will be open to the public then. It certainly could not be taken out to exhibitions as it is firmly built into the coach.

 

I think that the layout you saw at the Glasgow Show might have been one of Pete's. I do know that one year he exhibited a model of a wagon works with a bit of WPR "main line" going past. He has had models of the WPR locos since the 60s although he is currently building anew to "modern" standards.

 

My office railway will not be a proper model of Cameron Bridge but will be an impression of something similar. It is "bent" the wrong way for a start as it has to fit around two walls of a 9ft square room but the general idea: Island platform, overbridge one end hidden between industrial buildings the other. The real purpose is to get me modelling again and provide a place to test stock for a Kirkcaldy themed layout and answer the vital question. Can some of my 50 year old efforts be improved enough to run in these days of wonderfully detailed RTR.

 

best wishes,

 

Ian

[Lochty no more]

Hi All,

The railway I am building in my  "office"  will hopefully have some resemblance to Cameron Bridge station.  Photos of this are in  Lochty's post in the distillery thread. 

 

Here the main  Thornton - Leven line actually cuts through the distillery and the station itself is in the midst of the industrial buildings. As far as I can see there were sidings serving the distillery on both sides of the main line. The distillery owned it's own locomotive so my question is: was this allowed to run on the main line to access the northern sidings? In later years when the 0-4-0 Barclay had been replaced by an 88RB I can remember it working the South side sidings but by then IIRC the sidings on the North side were quite overgrown. I can not remember ever seeing anything in there.

 

best wishes,

 

Ian

Ian

I worked in Cameronbridge Distillery for 17 years, the Duty free warehouses to the north of Cameronbridge stored aged stock ( I.E. it was in the warehouse for a lot longer than the minimum 3 years - more like 12 to 15 year old whisky ) so once the warehouse was full it could be 12 or 15 years before it was re-stocked this would explain the dormont period. The original Cameronbridge station was not an island - it was a platform with a bay prior to the doubling of the line ( possibly for the Haig family - who owned the distillery and were directors of the Leven railway ) see old maps.co.uk. This platform became the north loading bank, No5 warehouse was built up to it, wagons were unloaded into the second floor of the warehouse from a pulley suspended from a girder projecting from the warehouse. Cameronbridge is one of the few stations with 2 loading banks ( I assume this was a Customs & Excise requirement - one for distillery traffic and one for public use ) perhaps some of the stations in speyside had similar arrangements. Either way Cameronbridge is a great subject for a model, hopefully the KFRPS will be running a steam train into one side of the island platform before to long.

[Graham R]

I think that the layout you saw at the Glasgow Show might have been one of Pete's. I do know that one year he exhibited a model of a wagon works with a bit of WPR "main line" going past. He has had models of the WPR locos since the 60s although he is currently building anew to "modern" standards.

 

Maybe that was it then. I remember being very impressed by it.

 

Any chance of his WPR models, old or new, making a photocall on this forum?

[Lochty no more]

Some photo`s of Cameronbridge station from Peter Westwater`s legendry collection, some have appeared elsewhere on RMweb - I post them here for convinience. All photo`s are copywrite of P. Westwater.

 

[Ian Kirk]

Hi Lochty,

 

Thanks for that these photos will be a great help when I get around to the buildings.

I must know you by sight. I presume that you are one of the preservation team at KFRPS.

 

Graham I will try and persuade Pete to get some photos of the coach interior (layout) and of the stock he is preparing for it but will not see him for a couple of weeks now.

 

best wishes,

 

Ian

[Ian Kirk]

Hi All,

I went to have a quick look at what is left today. I really wanted to know how many spans there were in the bridge as the photographs tend to show it bit at a time.

The old distillery buildings have all gone, replaced by shiny metal tanks and being a distillery it does have a lot of barbed wire fences and security. Under all the greenery though the rails are still there, on the goods yard and up (now single? there is so much greenery in the down platform you can't tell) main line. The Muiredge branch has been long gone.

Strangely the goods yard lines have been added to or at least reinstated. If you look at the second last photograph above you can see that at the time that Pete took the photograph (late 50s early 60s which is the time that interests me) the sidings on each side of the loading bank had been cut back and fitted with buffer stops. The 1914 map shows these continuing under the bridge and joining together with a facing connection to the up main line. Sometime since the 60s (perhaps when the line was singled)these connections have been put back in using fairly heavy duty flat bottom rail points and the goods yard is once again all loops. I paced out the bridge and found that my scaling of the ordnance survey maps was about right. Came back and corrected some mistakes. Some of the track has been up and down twice and the layout still barely started! Pity the whole thing curves the wrong way so "Camerish Brig" it shall be.

 

best wishes,

 

Ian

[Scottish Modeller]

Hi Ian,

 

Some 80's photos are about for Cameron Bridge.

 

When Scottish Modellers were looking for information we found quite a lot by following less obvious links nad searches.

 

For example:

 

The Tay-Forth Venturer (A Grice of Fife) D.E.D. Blades/Swindon Preservation Society

Saturday 16th June 1984

http://www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/80s/840616de.htm

Six Bells Junction website gives details of the route.
 

I'll try and dig out the photo set I took in 2008 and post the link to them.

 

Arran Aird also has some photos - I'll try and find the link to where he put them.

 

Thanks

['CHARD]

What a tremendous and evocative wee place for basing a model.  I've always been fascinated by the location since seeing it circa 1972, and I think a fifties scenario is delightful.  I note some of the vintage grain cottage wagons in one of the photos - absolutely Lothian and Fife through and through.  Very best of luck with this.