heycons2

Dear terry,

I have pdf's of the PTM books for the LMR Western lines for summer 1960 and summer 1961, but maybe they are a bit later than you would want. If you do want them, pls let me know by email, same address as before, and I'll send them along as attachments.

best, tony heywood

Hello Tony

Thanks for your message.

I checked the Geoff Plumb site you mentioned and it's very interesting with good colour prints which will help fill in some more gaps in my knowledge. Also (off topic) it's given me a few views of Aberystwyth which interest me as well.

 

The books you mention fortunately I already have except for the Kirkman & van Zellar; I'll look into that.

 

As regards your queries, can I suggest that the Cooperline site will give you quite a bit more source material. Most of the captions are sound, but one or two are not, so use with care. I have checked the Bolton le Sands section and also "near Hest Bank" and there appear to be two shots of Pasture Lane bridge. Couldn't be sure about whether you'll find detail on the huts/tanks. There are many photos to look at, so it'll give you hours of fun!

 

Your point about the bay platform road being skewed intrigues me. It's only slight, but it's there. The aerial views taken after the '65 crash prove it, albeit that much of that spot is in shadow. I can only concur with you that the bay buffer stop is a railbuilt one, while the best view I have seen of siding 2's stop is that it's sleeperbuilt and extends back further than I would expect.

 

I have done some groundwork on the buildings on the west side of Marine Drive. With the help of photos I took onsite years ago and Google maps streetview, I have identified 26 separate buildings (counting a pair of semi-detached houses as one structure) fronting the A5105 road between the overbridge and the station building. Most of these seem to date from the 1930s and the majority are bungalows. I will pass on what information I have with pleasure. I can scan in the information and Email it if you wish.

 

Also did you see the article by Keith Miles on Hest Bank in March 2011 issue of BRILL with a further page or two in August 2011?

 

All the best

 

Terry D

Thanks for this.

I'll have a careful look through the cooperline site soon, probably next week. I didn't see the BRILL items. Many thanks for offering to scan your buildings info. My email is heycons2@onetel.com

If you want the 1950s WTTs that i have I can look into getting scans for you.

Someone mentioned to me the other day that Bachmann will soon release an 00 model of the current hest bank signal box. If they repeat it in N i shall be very pleased.

There are 1960s photos scattered about in various books, eg.

Welch, Lancashire steam Finale, frontspiece and p.18

Beecroft & Pirt, Steam memories 1950s-1960s No.21: WCML and branches in lancashire, pp.60-68

Ballantyne, London Midland Steam in Colour, p.78

Must get round to going through all my books and making a proper list of relevant pix!

best, tony

Hi Tony

 

Congratulations on your choice of prototype! I have a great deal of source material although I have obviously tended to focus on the pre 1958 era. Nevertheless a lot of the surrounding buildings and infrastructure remained unchanged throughout the 50s and 60s so a lot would be relevant. As a start point for photo references, I would heartily recommend the Cooperline website (as I mentioned earlier in the post) as it has a wealth of photos of Hest in your era. The photos are on the site in thumbnail form, but I admit I've cheated a bit and blown them up as I printed them off. I only just found this site myself a short time ago, and I would have benefited greatly if I'd found it earlier.

 

I think that if you can get some or all of the troughs in, that would be great; hope you've got plenty of space as you'd need it! Please let me know if there are any more specific areas of query and good luck!

 

Terry D

I dedcided to do this because I wanted a main-line with a Duchess and diesel mixture, and I lived in Bare as a kid in the mid-1960s.

I started collecting information slowly in the mid-1990s, and have a fair amount now: These are the books that i have found the most helpful:

Ron Herbert, The Working Railway, both vols

Andrew McRae, British Railway Camping Coach Holidays: The 1930s and British Railways (London Midland Region), see pp.66-81.

plus the Darnborough book that you mention.

R Kirkman and P van Zellar, Rails to the Lancashire Coast - has a nice colour photo on the cover (shows the catch point clearly as of 1964), and on p.71 there is an LNWR period photo of part of the station and yard which shows part of a loading dock on the west side, which survived until at least the mid-1960s. (for which see also p.68 of the Camping Coach book). There was no buffer stop off the catch point line.

Websites: I have found a lot of photos by google image searches. Some of the best are some 15-20 colour photos in the mid-1960s by Geoff Plumb (google Geoff Plumb Hest bank and you will find the relevant section on his site). I didn't know the Cooperline site until yesterday, and yes, there's a lot there, must make time to go through it.

I got a set of about 30 contact prints of the 1965 crash clear-up from the archives of the Morecambe Visitor. Many are not great, but I ordered proper prints of three pix that had detail of the crossing etc.

Prototype workings: I have managed to get copies of the 1962 working timetables and the 1960 and 1961 carriage marshalling books plus a few STNs. I have the various appendices etc, and the only special instruciton that I've noticed abnd remember is a specification about the maximum number of wagons allowed on the Morecambe spur. FWIW I also have the freight WTT for Euxton Jn-Gretna Jn 21 Sept 1953 UFN, and the passenger WTT for 11 June-16 sept 1956. Very helpful for loco info are the WCML sighting reports being published by Chris Coates. I believe 1959 is available and that he wants to do earlier years as well.

So far as I have been able to establish, the up semaphore at the crossing was replaced with colour light some time between early June 1962 and April 1963 - I would love to know when. I assume that the bracket on the platform end was removed at the same time. The loop line in the yard was removed in August 1963.

I would like to get more information about the buffer stops. The platform line had a metal one, but i don't know whether it was LNWR or LMS pattern by the 1950s. The other line apparently had some kind of wooden concoction, but i have not found any clear photo. The platform line was skewed to avoid a small wooden (?) structure at the back of the down waiting shelter - no idea what it was or really what it looked like. See p. 68 of the Camping coach book.

I haven't done much research yet into the buildings on Marine Drive. Any info would be very welcome.

I am struggling to find pictures of:

1/ the two sets of tanks and huts serving the water troughs, on the east side of the line

2/. the down distant signal for Bolton le Sands crossing, located somewhere between Pasture Lane bridge and the foot crossing (I'd like to know exactly where)

3/ Pasture Lane bridge

As for my layout, no, I don't have enough room at home, I envy your shed. Nonetheless, the plan is 11 x 1m boards, covering the line from Pasture Lane bridge to the A5105 bridge. Phase 1 is to build the northern part, as far as the south end of the troughs: that's boards 1-6, which are all but ready for the track. Phase 2, in the distant future, will have the crossing and station on boards 7 and 8, then the cutting on boards 9-11. Boards 7 and 8 are built and awaiting cork underlay, whereas 9-11 aren't built yet. I haven't decided what to do off-scene - possibly cassettes. The latter are attractive because I am building in 2mm finescale, and the fewer points I need to build the better. Perhaps it's not impossible to mix cassettes with a through circuit capability. Whatever, i'm inclined to leave the Morecambe line as a branch to a dead-end.

Hope that's of interest, and if you can help with any of my queries, many thanks. Best, Tony H

Hello. I just found this thread when googling for images of hest bank, and so i have signed up to RMweb in order to make contact. It's of interest because, believe it or not, I too am making a model of hest bank, though in 2mm scale. It is not nearly so far along. I am focusing on the troughs just now, I have just completed the boards, and am currently laying cork, with track-laying to start in a couple of weeks. Period: 1962. Would be good to exchange notes. Tony H