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AFAIK the line out of the front of the station and down to the quayside was there from the very start when the station was opened in 1840. If you look at the building plan I posted one track came through the right hand portico across The High street and down Quay Street. Healing’s Mill was opened in 1865 but the quayside at Tewkesbury was in use long before that. The River Severn was navigable for a very long way beyond Tewkesbury and the major artery for goods and trade hundreds of years before the railways came along. I would recommend getting a copy of this Tewkesbury Historical Society publication. https://tewkesburyhistory.org/Tewkesburys-Two-Railways The lower picture on the front cover shows a photo from very early in the station’s life with a loco on the High Street. Morgan

Amazing! Thanks for that. Some really interesting background history. Morgan

Yes, I agree. It was a very bold and ostentatious design. Perhaps it was to make up for the fact that built route of the main Birmingham to Gloucester line had bypassed Tewkesbury town centre by a good 2 miles. I actually don't know the original source of the document. It was passed to me a number of years ago by a member of the Tewkesbury Historical Society. Judging by the title on the top of each page it looks like it was published in a journal called "Railway Practice" Here are a couple more excerpts. Stuff only pertaining to the actual construction specification. Morgan

This excerpt from the 1928 Aerofilms image shows the original 1840 station Gothic frontage with the overall roof behind. The loco shed is immediately behind that and Oldbury Road runs between the two. The following are elevations and plans of the 1840 station taken from the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway's contract 15G for the construction of the Tewkesbury Depot. I have a copy of the whole contract document that goes into details of the materials etc... to be used. It is dated 1838. Front elevation facing onto the High Street Side elevation - looking North Ground floor plan First floor plan Hope this is all of some use? Morgan

Here are a few more photos taken from different angles. Looking towards the High Street. The white building in the background left is the Anchor Hotel. The photo is dated 1965. About 2 to 3 years after the shed closed for good. Looking towards Oldbury Road, this is dated c1953. Locos were stabled in the old station area when space was tight on the other side of Oldbury Road in front of the loco shed building The line between after Oldbury Road and through to Healing Mill was severed in 1958. I have copies of the original civil engineers scheme for doing this dated 1957. After that the station site was taken over for storage and remained derelict for many years. The two vans were permanently marooned on the old station run round loop. I believe the following two photos are late 1960s Finally, here is another picture of 3879 crossing the High Street. It seems to be hauling wagons from left to right cheers...Morgan

https://pin.it/wvxfj6hes245pz Yes, this is the only photo that I know of the shows this. It is not thought to have been a common occurrence and locomotives were most certainly banned from crossing into the Mill complex at the bottom of Quay Street. Wagons were more normally horse or gravity shunted across the High Street, down the gradient into Quay Street and across the cast iron bridge into Healings Mill. There is an anecdotal account of a petrol powered shunting tractor also being used but, to date, no photos have come to light. Morgan

This photo is the site of the 1840 station taken from Oldbury Road looking towards the High Street. The overall roof was supported on the high walls on each side. Disused platform on the right. Gothic frontage onto High Street long gone only small waiting room/ticket office building remaining on right. You can see the roof of the Mill building in the far distance. Morgan

Between the High Street and Oldbury Road was the site of the original terminus station in Tewkesbury. Opened in 1840 and closed in 1864 when the new station was opened about 1/2 mile ENE of the site. The new location was a through station to Malvern until 1952 and Upton upon Severn until August 1961 for passenger trains. Goods went on for a little longer. A year or two. The original 1840 station had a gothic frontage and a wooden overall roof. This was still in situ in 1937 IIRC but disappeared soon after, perhaps during WW2. I’ll PM you some stuff I have went I get a moment. Morgan

Hi Dave, will that include the BZ buffers you did a little while ago? Also really like the electric lamps. cheers...Morgan

Hey Mark, I've been in the aircraft stress analysis business for more years than I care to remember and I've never heard stress referred to in quite that way before. It must be something that only you concrete and re-bar boys use...

That’s an interesting technique Mike but if you’re going to the trouble of cutting and drilling a piece of brass shim why not solder it over the etched hole in the kit part. Then drill a new hole to tapping size for 8 or 10BA using the etch hole as a guide and then use a hand tap to make the thread?

Yes I did. I did the conversion and painted it for David. He then did a really nice weathering job on it. Morgan

The comments about the Hornby A1/A3/A4 valve gear are spot on. It is pretty awful and, if upgraded, would have finished off 2505 and 2596 nicely. I would certainly have done it if they were my models. I remembered this morning that I also commission built a pair of DJH A3 a few years ago. DJH valve gear out of the box isn’t too bad. The only thing that is a bit iffy to my eyes is the shape/size of the expansion link. Along with other selected parts for replacement valve gear I drew a multi-layer etched expansion to support the Graeme King Thompson Pacific conversion kit. Here it is seen on a model of Great Northern that I did. I also corrected the return crank angle on the donor Hornby valve gear to lean forward on both sides. I’ve never made the expansion link part of the etch available commercially. Firstly to respect that the Thompson 4-6-2 project was Graeme’s baby and also, in hindsight, I felt the expansion link I drew was a bit undersized for 4mm scale. Finally here is an example of the Gresley Pacific valve gear from Comet applied to a full Comet A3/A4 chassis. The spec of the rest of this model is fully written up on page 97 of this thread. The Comet gear also isn’t bad, much better than Hornby, but does lack a certain “je ne sais quoi” in a couple of areas. Are there any others out there worth commenting on? SE Finecast springs to mind. I don’t have experience of building the SEF product. There are no others that I can think of that can be purchased as a full set of aftermarket rods and valve gear to improve a RTR model. cheers...Morgan

Tony, I've seen a couple of your photos of these two A3s on LB which are much better than these snaps. How long did you have them on loan for? Starting point was two Hornby A3s supplied in BR green livery. I stripped, detailed, backdated to 1930's condition and then repainted/lined (including the wheels) into Doncaster green. Cheers...Morgan

Looking closely at Tim Peacock’s excellent A5/1 I think the trailing radial truck wheel is Ultrascale https://www.ultrascale.uk/eshop/products/view/CAT021/116 It has a Stanier pattern bevelled rim but it is not that noticeable. I’d spot an incorrect number of spokes first. An acceptable compromise? I’d say so. Not all P4 lads/lasses are “hairshirt” you know :o) Morgan

Nice A5 photos Tony. Just thought I'd mention that there is also a nice looking kit of both A5 types produced by Pete Stanger of 52F models. I only say "nice looking" as I haven't started to build my original GC kit yet. Having said that Pete does test build his stuff thoroughly and I recall there was an article in MRJ 210/226 about it. https://www.52fmodels.org/gcr-class-9n-lner-br-class-a5-1 https://www.52fmodels.org/lner-br-class-a5-2 Cheers...Morgan

A knowing chuckle there I think. Many years ago I unwittingly bought an unbuilt MJT non gangwayed 3rd off this chap on EBay. The follow up messages basically telling me how to go about building it and that he considered it one of the best coach kits on the market were not really necessary but I tried to be polite. It went on and on and was accompanied by a long litany of bad experiences he had had with other kit manufacturers including the attempts to pursue them with trading standards. It then moved on to a number of bad experiences with various society workings. Frankly it all got pretty uninteresting and I decided it was time to employ a bit of Roy Jackson style diplomacy. This was sent along with a couple of photos of stuff I had built to “prove” my credentials. As those “in the know” will know the last word had to be his. He conceded that “you obviously know what you are doing”. Morgan

Tony, That's a great anecdote about Roy and I know exactly who you put him in touch with. I was extremely saddened to hear the news when I read it this morning. But reading this, and your earlier tribute, has made me smile and brought back fond memories of the, too few, times I chatted with Roy. He will be sadly missed but never forgotten. Morgan

Looks like an ex LNWR toplight.

OK, last one from me for now. The discussion on Morayshire's tender has also been had here. Tony (t_b_g) made the suggestion in that thread the tender was originally an ROD version. It could be but the back end of what I believe to be a true ROD tender shows another variation. It doesn't disprove the ROD theory but does confirm the mongrel status of 246's tender. Devil in the detail as per usual. Morgan

A bit of Flickr mining found a couple more photos on the Morayshire tender question. https://flic.kr/p/ycXGo3 https://flic.kr/p/pyHjim I'll retract my previous self trimming conclusion. Looks like a heavily modified non self trimming tender. Water pickup gear removed and D shape filler replaced with round Rear coal plate replaced and positioned further back LNER GS buffers Front sandboxes removed Front platform raised above original height Front vertical handrails modified from original Apologies if this a digression from the B3 project discussion. Morgan

Fascinating! Thanks for sharing this picture. Certainly looks more like a non self trimming tender from this point of view. I think measurement of some key dimensions would need to be done to confirm the heritage. The more curvaceous coal side plate support brackets look to be different to "more usual" GCR style. It is most definitely a bit of a mongrel. Does the tender number plate "6032" give us anything to go on? Morgan

That is a lovely tender Tony. I particularly like the attention to detail with the spare lamp holders. Do you have some sandboxes for the front bulkhead as I know where you can get some cast W/M ones with filler lids? You might already know. Morgan

Don't think so. It actually has a number of non-GCR original features. Here are some I noticed in this useful photo External evidence suggests it has a self trimming coal space but I've yet to see the inside / front of this tender to confirm. Morgan

In actual fact page 21 post #521 is my first post about the wheels and includes the background about why I did it. Cheers...Morgan