Thornfalcon - Somerset

[DWS]

Hi All

 

Being new to the Forum I hope this is the correct place for this question.

 

I am planning a small 00 scale layout based on Thornfalcon station and goods yard in Somerset.

 

Anyway, I have found a few photos of the station, but only ones that show the 'Rail/Platform' side of the station buildings, I am looking for information and/or photos showing the rear of the station buildings and goods yard.  Can anyone help please?

 

Still to decide on the exact period but possibly 1940s/1950s.

 

My Great Grandfather was a Railway Plate Layer who lived and worked in Thornfalcon, he later moved to Cardiff to live and work on the railways.

 

 

Thanks.

[BG John]

Have you seen the articles that were in the Railway Modeller in the late 60s/early 70s? I don't think there were any photos, but think I remember small scale drawings of the buildings for all/most of the stations?

[BG John]

Something like March, April and May or April May and June 1969.

I've probably got them cut out, but I'll need to shift some stuff to get to the filing cabinet, so was hoping someone may find them first!!!!!

[DWS]

Thanks for all the replies chaps.  I just found the aforementioned RM magazines containing the article 'Legend of Thornfalcon' on the 'well known auction site' and have bought them today, they were from 1984, it will be interesting to see what they contain.  Thanks for the tips.

[cromptonnut]

I have the Middleton Press book "Branch Lines around Chard and Yeovil".  It has a track plan and several pictures but they also seem to concentrate on vies of the platform side so there may not be much of use..

 

Some views you may not have found.

http://www.ruishton.org.uk/gallery/rrr.htm

http://gezl.webs.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=90878855

http://www.trainweb.org/railwest/railco/gwr/chard.html#thorn (scroll down for signal diagram)

 

 

Don't forget that it was known as "Thorne Falcon" when opened in 1871, renamed "Thorne" in July 1890 and finally "Thornfalcon" in January 1902.  That may aid research.

[DWS]

I have the Middleton Press book "Branch Lines around Chard and Yeovil".  It has a track plan and several pictures but they also seem to concentrate on vies of the platform side so there may not be much of use..

 

Some views you may not have found.

http://www.ruishton.org.uk/gallery/rrr.htm

http://gezl.webs.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=90878855

http://www.trainweb.org/railwest/railco/gwr/chard.html#thorn (scroll down for signal diagram)

 

 

Don't forget that it was known as "Thorne Falcon" when opened in 1871, renamed "Thorne" in July 1890 and finally "Thornfalcon" in January 1902.  That may aid research.

Thanks for the links.  One question I'm trying to solve about the area to the rear of the station buildings is passenger access to the station.  It seems that the 'loop' siding went around the back of the station buildings, quite close to the buildings themselves.  So one must assume there was some sort of 'crossing' for passengers to access the station through the goods yard, probably leading to steps up to the platform.  None of the photos I've seen so far show this area and the passenger access.  As Thornfalcon was a very small village or hamlet, priority seems to have been given to goods and freight and I guess that not many passengers were using the station.  Hopefully the atricles in the old copies of RM may have the answer. 

[cromptonnut]

On the page about Thornfalcon in "Branch Lines around Chard and Yeovil" , it states The 1904 survey reveals the unusual and dangerous arrangement of the loop siding which necessitated passengers walking over it.

 

I don't know whether a phone call or email to Somerset Museums at Taunton may provide some more detailed information?

[DWS]

On the page about Thornfalcon in "Branch Lines around Chard and Yeovil" , it states The 1904 survey reveals the unusual and dangerous arrangement of the loop siding which necessitated passengers walking over it.

 

I don't know whether a phone call or email to Somerset Museums at Taunton may provide some more detailed information?

Thanks, that confirms what I thought, it certainly seems to be an odd set up.  I'll try the museums and see what they can come up with.

[DWS]

"Still to decide on the exact period but possibly 1940s/1950s."

 

Having discovered the newly released Dapol wagons shown below, I have decided to make a feature of the Small & Son wagons and the firm's merchants yard at Thornfalcon.  And, having read up on the period of use of these wagons, I have now decided to place my layout in the 1930s.  Not sure if Small & Son were still about in the 1930s but maybe a bit of artistic licence is called for here to make an interesting theme for the layout. 

 

[cromptonnut]

Again not sure of the heritage etc but some of the Buffers exclusive wagons are also "local" - Crewkerne, Yeovil, etc and may well suit.

 

http://www.buffersmodelrailways.com/products/exclusives/wagons-151

[DWS]

Again not sure of the heritage etc but some of the Buffers exclusive wagons are also "local" - Crewkerne, Yeovil, etc and may well suit.

 

http://www.buffersmodelrailways.com/products/exclusives/wagons-151

Thanks for the suggestion, maybe a good addition.

[DWS]

Having had a good think about how to proceed with the Thornfalcon layout, I have come up with this "Draft" layout:

 

The original branch line and platform was slightly curved however, it was too difficult to re-create this with the software I am using  

The Kits I am planning to use are:

 

Station Building - Wills SS67

Merchant's Building - Ratio 525

Office/Store - TBD

Signal Box - Wills 48

Parcel Office - TBD

 

I also have some other questions;

 

Is there anyone on the forum who has some knowledge about GWR branch line operations in Somerset, especially around the Taunton - Chard area?  I could do with some advice on the type of locos used in the 1930s for shunting in the area.  I like the look of a Bachmann GWR 57xx Pannier Tank however, as Thornfalcon was a very small station and yard I am guessing that locos would have been sent from Taunton for these duties?  Any advice on this subject would be welcome.

[DWS]

Progress so far, the track has been temporarily laid and tested and the loco runs to all points on the track.  So far so good...

 

Now the base board needs finishing and the wiring started.  Work can also begin on the road and embanbkment that leads up to the bridge, which crosses over the track at a point at the bottom of the photo, just below the turnout.  The bridge will back on to the back-board end.  

 

The black and white photo gives an idea as to the general layout of Thornfalcon station and hopefully helps explains to layout.  The photo was taken in July 1964 when the station closed and the tracks were being taken up.

 

       

[DWS]

Thornfalcon is progressing - slowly - but I thought I would add an update.

The more I study Thornfalcon buildings and structures the more "non-standard' (for want of a better term) details I find. One photo I have shows the station sign which apprears to be supported on lenghs of rail - see photo - I'm guessing this is not a common method for a GWR station sign.



I have also started to scratch build the station building, parcel office and signal box, as nothing like these structures are available in kit form, the photos below show progress so far. I am using Wills OO Scenic Materials packs for these along with Dornaplas doors and louvers, the doorways have not been cut out yet so the doors look a little lop-sided in the photo. I am waiting for some etched brass sash windows to arrive to add to the station building.

[Douglas G]

Have you tried ebay for photos?

 

There are two pics for sale at the moment that show the approach to the station:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/THORNFALCON-STATION-Somerset-/200977352163

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RB-Digital-Railway-Image-GW-Railway-Station-Thornfalcon-1960-/111223118761?pt=UK_Collectables_Railwayana_RL&hash=item19e56a1ba9

 

In the first it looks like they have separated the coal wagons in the siding to give access to the station building.

 

It is also worth trying the Aerofilms collection, now with English Heritage, as they may have an aerial photo showing the rear of the station. Send them an e-mail as they don't seem to have an online list. But they are expensive...

 

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/professional/archives-and-collections/nmr/archives/photographs/aerofilms/

 

Douglas

[DWS]

Hi Douglas

 

I have copies of those two photos on ebay and others that have been published in two books on the Chard branch however, I will look into the English Heritage option.

 

All I am really missing now is a good view of the front of the station building, most show it from an oblique angle and don't show any detail of doors and windows etc. Also I have no idea of what the rear of the station building looked like, it may have been brick, as there were two brick chimneys toward the rear of the building but may also have been timber?

 

As the station building and parcel office were set upon sort of plinths at platorm level, access to the station building, and platform, was via a set of steps and a gate between the station building and the parcel office, the hand rail for the steps can just be seen in the photo below. Frustratingly the whole photo didn't include the rear of the station building. Hopefully a suitable photo of the rear of the station building will turn up at some point.

 

[DWS]

The more I research Thornfalcon, and study the available photos, the more I am coming to the conclusion that Thornfalcon station did not conform to the accepted GWR standards.  Certainly the general layout was not very 'passenger friendly' with the goods loop passing behind the station with no safe access to the platform for passengers.

 

When it comes to the colour applied to the station buildings it seems, again, that the normal rules went out the window.  Admittedly I only photos I have leave a large gap between 1912 and 1959 with nothing in between.  Studying the few available black & white and two BR period colour photos I have, the station buildings show no evidence of the usual light stone/dark stone colour scheme, other that the BR period photo showing the Gents door and sign being brown (dark stone?).  The station buildings appear to have been painted in a uniform light stone (cream?) all over with no darker embellishments, other that to the 'Footing' running around the base of the buildings.

 

There is one photo dated 1909 which shows the station building corner posts and guttering (?) being painted a much darker colour (looking very much like black) but this is no evidence of this in later photos.  Also, the station fencing appears to have been creosoted rather than painted?

 

Is it possible that the accepted GWR colour scheme for the station was ignored for so long at this particular station?  As far as I can tell, this was the only station in the area which had timber build buildings, all the others on the branch were stone built.

[ess1uk]

interesting layout you have there

good stuff

[hornbyandbf3fan]

Great plan, a very interesting station. 

[RailWest]

I've only just come across this thread, tho' I see that I've merited a link already <g>. If you're modelling the period after the closure of the signal-box, then a small plea not to forget the trap-points at each end of the goods line (even if only 'cosmetic'). You can see the one at the south end in the previous colour picture at link http://www.ebay.co.u...t-/200977352163.

 

My first acquaintance with this station was not until late 1963, in the short period of goods-only working. My main recollection from subsequent years was an overwhelming sense of an area strewn with scrap paper! - so sadly no much use for help from personal experience :-(

 

I would agree that certainly this station was 'unusual' for the GWR in terms of the passenger access to the platform. Put the platform on the other side of the single line and it would have looked much like quite a lot of other stations.

 

There is one 1962 pic of the station on p38 of "Scenes from the Past 34: Railways in and around Taunton Somerset & North Devon" (Michael Fox, Foxline 1999). This is taken roughly from the SE looking NW - rather annoyingly there is a train in shot obscuring much of the platform <g>, but it gives a nice view of the coal staithes in the SW corner and also the yard crane.

 

(EDIT. I have found subsequently that the above picture is very similar to the one in plate 69 of "Working the Chard Branch" (albeit a different date and engine), but it does show a little bit more of the crane.)

[RailWest]

Out of curiosity, I have been looking briefly at the early history of Thornfalcon. I am not aware of any detailed book on the line (yet) and most other books which cover railways in the area give the same brief coverage, from which I get the impression that they are merely repeating 'basic facts' rather than quoting the results of detailed research (but I may be wrong!). These books give the opening date for the station and describe the (later) track layout as we know it - the unwary reader may gain the impression that 'everything came at once', but I would treat that view with caution.

 

Although the branch was opened by the B&ER in 1866, Thorne (later Thornfalcon) station was a later addition in 1871. RA Cooke's "Track Layout Diagrams of the GWR" Section 16 says that the platform was lengthened at the north end and "all sidings added" by/in 1893, although this may have been in the previous year when the signal-box was opened. However there is a 1888-9 map on www.old-maps.co.uk which shows sidings in place, but connected to the running line at the Taunton end only. (Unfortunately there appears to have been a 'cut line' in the original material at the north end of the station and the two edges have not been aligned correctly prior to scanning.) What IS interesting on that map is an apparent set of steps down from the road by the north-west corner of the overbridge, which would imply that passengers had foot access to the Chard end of the platform at that time.

 

I can imagine a scenario in which initially the B&ER provided only a passenger platform and then added goods facilities at a later date, at which time they did not want the expense of moving the platform to the east side of the line. Then perhaps the connection at the Chard end was added at a later date to improve access for traffic purposes. The style of the station buildings suggests that they may have been provided by the GWR at (roughly) the same time as the signal-box was built, with the wooden construction suggesting a desire to reduce costs. But what - if anything - would have existed on the platform previously?

 

As regards the rear wall of the station building, if cost was a factor in the construction of the building then would it not have been all-wooden? However photos seems to show two brick chimney stacks at the rear, so was the wall partially brick in that area? If it were a fully-brick rear wall, then would there not been some brick visible at the ends as with the signal-box?

 

[EDIT: but see next post! ]

 

Chris

[RailWest]

Thanks to a friend, my attention has been drawn to an article on the branch by KW Powell in the April, May and June 1969 issues of the Railway Modeller. On p147 of the May issue there are sketches of Thornfalcon, including the rear of the station building.

 

In essence, at the rear:

 

7" horizontal weather boarding

Brick wall base below platform top level (brown brick in northern half, red brick in southern half), with spaces either side of central chimney stack

Brick chimney stack about 1/4 way along from Taunton end

Brick chimney stack about midway

4'x1' sash window close to Chard end

 

Main building approx 36' long.

[DWS]

Hi Chris

 

This is fantastic information, please pass on my thanks to your friend for that vital piece of information.  I shall now attempt to find a copy of the May 1969 magazine.

 

As for your previous post, I agree with most of the points your raise, I think there is more to Thornfalcon station than first meets the eye, by reading the two books I have found about the branch.

 

Such as; having studied the available photos carfully, there appears to be a barn/stable like structure with loft access and winch to the front, which leads me to believe that they may have been using horses to shunt the wagons around the yard?  Make sense for such a small rural setting.

 

Much more to discover in think.

 

Many thanks.

[RailWest]

I have now seen a picture (source unknown) of the station taken c.1905 from the road bridge, where it is clearly obvious that a section of the station building roof at the north end is much lighter in colour than the rest. This would /suggest/ a later extension to an earlier building, but.....was that earlier building c.1871 or later (say 1890s)? It /might/ also account for the second chimney stack?

[DWS]

Chris

 

Re: your quote - "The style of the station buildings suggests that they may have been provided by the GWR at (roughly) the same time as the signal-box was built, with the wooden construction suggesting a desire to reduce costs. But what - if anything - would have existed on the platform previously?"

 

I have been looking at the earliest photo I have dated 1905 and if you look at the station building it appears to have an extension built on the Taunton end, this extension is visible in most photos but is quite clear in this early photo. There appears to be a join running up the front wall (between the two far windows) and over the roof, in the 1905 photo that far end part of the roof is a different colour to the rest of the building, suggesting an extension.