Dave F's photos - ongoing - more added each day

[mark54]

Of the Barkston photos:

 

from the formation J1417 was the 10:50 Kings Cross-Sheffield. Sheffield Pullman workings (including the Master Cutler) were withdrawn at the beginning of October that year.

IN13 was the 11:30 Kings Cross-Harrogate

[Market65]

Hi, Dave. Some great photo's from Essex. In J6013, there are the remains of a viaduct to be seen. I assume that the demolished section would have had metal girders, and hence the reason it has been demolished before the rest of the viaduct.

 

With warmest regards,

 

Rob.

[keefer]

not many great pics of the full span online.

after a quick search could only get:

 

http://www.history-in-pictures.co.uk/store/index.php?_a=viewCat&catId=353&page=2 (scroll about halfway down)

 

https://www.rcts.org.uk/photographs/archive/380/PMB/PMB0111.jpg

 

EDIT: another - http://www.history-in-pictures.co.uk/store/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=5631

Edited April 18, 2016 by keefer

[Izzy]

That looks like a fire brigade tower, so it's probably a call out siren for retained firefighters.

 

It was a Flood warning siren, one of many around the area, the retained fireman having bleepers.Tested regularly both it and the concrete tower seen have now gone, the tower replaced with a metal structure, while the flood warning system is now via text/mobile phone to those at risk. The general area of North East Essex was one badly affected by the devastating floods of 1953.

 

The scene is now much changed in other respects as you might expect. The gates are long gone along with the gate box and semaphores, with barriers and LED C/L's now in place along with a revised road layout. One refurbished gate now stands in the station approach as a reminder of the past.

 

Izzy

Edited April 18, 2016 by Izzy

[45059]

I agree with Izzy. I remember hearing the flood warning sirens (certainly in the 80s) although I can't remember when they finally went.

 

The good news lmsforever is that the 309s aren't quite extinct, as two 3 car formations are preserved at the Electric Railway Museum, Coventry.

 

Although the driving vehicles had their end corridor connectors 'trimmed' at some point after leaving the ER which means that they don't look quite right.

[Clive Mortimore]

Hi, Dave. Some great photo's from Essex. In J6013, there are the remains of a viaduct to be seen. I assume that the demolished section would have had metal girders, and hence the reason it has been demolished before the rest of the viaduct.

 

With warmest regards,

 

Rob.

Eddie Kidd jumped across the gap on his motor bike for the 1981 film Riding High,

[LNERGE]

Eddie Kidd jumped across the gap on his motor bike for the 1981 film Riding High,

Holy shipping forecast. I didn't like looking at the landing. That was a tank slapper if i ever saw one.

[uax6]

The Flood sirens went in the 90's. I can remember them being tested on occasion and the sound sort of 'hung in the air, in much the same way as a brick doesn't' (to quote a book!), we had one just round the corner, and Dad was a flood warden. Mind you I don't recall them ever being used in earnest (and we would've been ok, as we were on a hill!).

 

A previous boss had one as a burglar alarm.... We eventually got it back to the office in Ealing, and because it was a three phase machine, and we just happened to have three phase, we couldn't resist testing it..... It didn't quite make our ears bleed, but you only needed the power on for a couple of seconds, and it would take about half a minute to stop... The neighbours didn't complain mind!

 

Andy G

[trisonic]

Thanks for the Essex photos, David. Very interesting.

 

I was beginning to wonder whether you had run out of unseen ones!

 

Best, Pete.

[LNERGE]

Eddie Kidd jumped across the gap on his motor bike for the 1981 film Riding High,

I also note a very young Linda Bellingham in the film bless her.

[DaveF]

No locomotives today and not that much track either.  I don't know much about these photos, all I have to go on are Dad's notes, I wasn't there on these trips.

 

From time to time Dad used to go out and photograph closed lines (or almost closed ones) while there was still something to see.  A batch of these images sometimes  surface as I work my way through his photos.  In due course we will come to some I've taken of disused lines in other parts of the country.

 

 

Thorpe buildings and trackbed LNWR Northampton to Peterborough line Oct 70 J2392

 

 

Thrapston view to River Nene viaduct MR Kettering to Huningdon line Oct 70J 2393  You may need to use your imagination on this one.

 

 

Thorney M&GN Nov 70 J2449

 

 

Ramsey GN Nov 70 J2452

 

 

Somersham GN and GE joint Nov 70 J2453

 

 

St Ives Nov 70 J2455

 

 

David

Edited April 19, 2016 by DaveF

[DaveF]

Thanks for the Essex photos, David. Very interesting.

 

I was beginning to wonder whether you had run out of unseen ones!

 

Best, Pete.

 

 

Pete, 

 

There are quite a lot more Essex photos to come, I am slowly colour correcting and captioning a batch for future use.

 

 

David

[jessy1692]

1 one comes to mind for the Ramsey & Thorney pics, bleak...

Excellent as ever Dave

[Mallard60022]

OK this is rubbish but..........

in the 60s there were quite a lot of tower/building mounted sirens, some were for Civil Defence (in case of nukes), some were to warn of escaped prisoners or dangerous patients from 'Institutions', others were for:

flood warnings in areas where it was likely, retained firefighters call (pre leccy gadgets), large industrial area call to do something (e.g. Devonport Dockyard). There were probably more.

For us bods of a certain age, as soon as one of these started up it sent a chill down yer spine due to recent use in a rather nasty 'conflict'. 

There you go and oh yes, some places had several of these so they had to have different tones!

Phil

[Market65]

Hi, Dave. An excellent selection of photo's of closed lines that your Dad took. I have taken similar photos of locally closed lines.

I wonder what all those 16 ton mineral wagons were doing in J2455.

 

With warmest regards,

 

Rob.

[russ p]

Excellent Dave, am I right in thinking that if you tried to repeat the thrapston picture you'd have to stand in the middle of the A14?

[waggy]

It was a Flood warning siren, one of many around the area, the retained fireman having bleepers.Tested regularly both it and the concrete tower seen have now gone, the tower replaced with a metal structure, while the flood warning system is now via text/mobile phone to those at risk. The general area of North East Essex was one badly affected by the devastating floods of 1953.

 

The scene is now much changed in other respects as you might expect. The gates are long gone along with the gate box and semaphores, with barriers and LED C/L's now in place along with a revised road layout. One refurbished gate now stands in the station approach as a reminder of the past.

 

Izzy

 

I was a Retained Firefighter back in 1975, it is a Fire Station Drill Tower back in those days there were no Bleepers / Alerters the siren operated during the day and an alarm bell operated in there houses on a night ( connected via a GPO line ) . The siren was tested once a week on Drill nights

[Rugd1022]

No locomotives today and not that much track either.  I don't know much about these photos, all I have to go on are Dad's notes, I wasn't there on these trips.

 

From time to time Dad used to go out and photograph closed lines (or almost closed ones) while there was still something to see.  A batch of these images sometimes  surface as I work my way through his photos.  In due course we will come to some I've taken of disused lines in other parts of the country.

 

 

Thorpe buildings and trackbed LNWR Northampton to Peterborough line Oct 70 J2392.jpg

Thorpe buildings and trackbed LNWR Northampton to Peterborough line Oct 70 J2392

 

 

 

There's something strangely comforting about looking at these abandoned / closed stations which are seemingly in the middle of nowhere, the shot of Thorpe on the N'pton - Peterb'ro line particularly so.... devoid of life and purpose, platforms now silent, waiting rooms with nobody waiting anymore... I could look at that all day long! All those cross country routes south of the Midlands which connect the WCML, MML and ECML have a certain air of 'loss' about them.

Edited April 19, 2016 by Rugd1022

[uax6]

Excellent Dave, am I right in thinking that if you tried to repeat the thrapston picture you'd have to stand in the middle of the A14?

 

Not quite, the A14 runs on a viaduct to the right of this structure (by about 100-200yds), and gives a very good view of it.

 

I've been trying to place the Thorney photo, I'm not sure but that might be under the A47 now...

 

Andy G

[LNERGE]

No locomotives today and not that much track either.  I don't know much about these photos, all I have to go on are Dad's notes

 

 

Somersham GN and GE joint Nov 70 J2453.jpg

Somersham GN and GE joint Nov 70 J2453

 

 

St Ives Nov 70 J2455.jpg

St Ives Nov 70 J2455

 

 

David

The Somersham photo was taken fairly close to where B track circuit light is in this diagram.. 

 

 

and St Ives, taken from the level crossing looking towards the platforms..

 

 

Both these locations were set up to take freights of 90 SLU in the loops. Such a tragic loss.

[Dr Gerbil-Fritters]

Why were there two stations in Ramsey?  I guess they must have been constructed by different companies, but even so.  It is a tiny village according to the NLS map for 1926.

[uax6]

Disused stations may help:

http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/r/ramsey_east/index.shtml

http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/r/ramsey_north/index.shtml

 

(I've not read these pages mind!)

 

Now for a bit of useless trivia: Ramsey was used by the GPO as a trial site for the first unattended unit type automatic telephone exchange. This was in the late '20's/early 30's.....

 

Andy G

[russ p]

I think Thorney is a slightly North of the A47 possibly up the road from the middle roundabout.

You can still see bits of the m&GN from the A47. That bit was still open to Eye from Murrow until about 1965

[dvdlcs]

Supposition on my part but ...

 

The wagons at St Ives may have been stored there. After severing the through routes, I believe both the Ely and Huntingdon links were used for wagon storage at their different periods of time. As this is dated 1970, I would assume that they are on the section towards Huntingdon, as there was still (just) a passenger service from St Ives to Cambridge. This finished in 1970.

 

The two stations at Ramsey were built by two different companies. Usual story. I believe one, the first, was a terminus which after the second (a through) station came into being and with the amalgamation of the railway companies latterly became the goods station. Or were they both termini but one was converted into a through station and the other became the goods station. Sorry, been a long time since I was in (and researched) the area.

 

Excellent pictures as always Dave F, despite the desolation. If you look at a contemporary map of the main roads in this part of the world and overlay it with a map from 1930 or before of the rail network, there are a lot of similarities.

[DaveF]

Some from the ECML between Peterborough and Grantham for today.

 

 

Little Bytham Class 47 down ex pass1o.20 Kimgs X to Hull Sept 70 C400

 

 

Little Bytham Class 55 probably D9013 down ex pass 11.00 Kings X to Newcastle Sept 70 C403

 

 

Little Bytham Class 47 1872 down ex pass 08.15 Kings X to Leeds May 71 C609

 

 

High Dyke Class 46 down Pullman 12.00 Kings X to Glasgow Queen of Scots April 63 J029

 

 

Little Ponton viaduct April 71 C526

 

 

David

Edited May 3, 2016 by DaveF