SED Freightman

Looking through my old SR timetables, what became the Speedlink Coal Network service based on Didcot Yard commenced on 19/01/1987, Section WK WTT 29/09/1986 - 10/05/1987, Supplement No.1 commencing 19/01/1987 refers. Initially the trains were shown in the WTT as COY (Company) services, however from the Section WK WTT commencing 11/05/1987 they were shown as SCN (Speedlink Coal Network) services. I do have a vague recollection of the term Discrete Coal Network being used, however this may only have been used within the Coal Business / Train Planning Organisations prior to the services actually commencing.

David, I am a little behind with viewing your excellent photos which bring a lot of pleasure, particularly when they depict locations at home and abroad that I am familiar with. For what its worth, should you wish to update your records, the locations of these Gent tramway photos are as follows :- C15234 - Ketelbrug C15235 - Koophandelsplein C15236 - Koophandelsplein C15237 - Bridge over R. Leie, Koophandelsplein C15238 - Koophandelsplein C15239 - Koophandelsplein approaching Ketelbrug C15240 - Kortrijksepoortstraat

Although I do not possess a copy of the book or the 1971 WTT, I believe you are correct. To the best of my knowledge the ARC Terminal at Ardingly never forwarded traffic other than the very occasional single wagon that could not be discharged due to door problems etc. In the WTT commencing 01/05/1972 the empty working from Ardingly departed at 2345 and was routed via Redhill and Guildford, so unlikely to be the train in the photo. The Holmethorpe traffic was certainly conveyed in HKV's (and other types) and in the 1972 WTT at least some was was forwarded on 8M17 1033 Redhill Yd to Newton-le-Willows (headcode GB), which may be the train in the photo.

They are likely to be the vents from the gas heating system.

I suspect that BR, with perhaps the exception of the Scottish Region, may not have had any drawings or diagrams for the road bogies as they were presumably owned by the MoD and did not operate on the railway. It would certainly be interesting to see a photo of the wagon in road mode along with whatever tractor unit/s were used to move it.

I cannot recall the timings for inward workings to Chatham, but latterly in the 1980's outbound loaded workings left the Dockyard in the afternoon, then spent the evening rush hour in Gilligham Down Sdgs before departing as 8Xxx (35mph) later in the evening, generally to Cricklewood Brent Sdgs where the LM took over. I did have the pleasure of travelling on the train up the Branch to Gillingham one afternoon, as I was keen to see the operation that I had been involved in arranging. Having been collected, along with Norman (Ron) Aylen, SED Loads Insp & Ted Funnell, SR Gauging Engineer, by an MoD car from Gillingham (or possibly Chatham), we were taken into the Dockyard and deposited at the Exchange Sdgs. The BR loco and escort coaches were already present and after a while what seemed to be an immaculate but tiny 0-4-0 diesel appeared with MODA 97580. After a bit of shunting to marshall the coaches either side of the wagon, detailed measurements were taken to ensure the flask was correctly positioned and secured. Once all was confirmed to be OK, we set off up the Branch to Gillingham, where a mainline shunt was needed to access the Down Sdgs. After running round, further checks on the load were carried out to ensure everything was still secure and correctly positioned, ready for the evening departure. It is interesting to learn that Peaks had previously worked through to Gillingham on these wokings, presumably the SED provided motive power conductors and guards.

Looking again at the OP's photo at the start of this thread, the wagon looks to have been equipped with three internal baffles, presumably to allow the conveyance of two smaller flasks. Movements to / from Chatham conveyed one cylindrical flask, suspended between the main girders, similar to the Devonport Road model. The wagon had a number of different fixing points on the main girders, so could presumably be adapted to carry several load configurations. I have some copies of photos showing how the Chatham flasks were suspended and secured within the main girders which may be helpful for modellers, once I can locate them I will scan and post them here. It would be very interesting to see the wagon in its road movement configuration, surely photos must exist of such an unusual movement.

Attached photo (apologies for the poor quality) may be of interest, it shows the 1333 Norwood to Ashford VB service hauled by 33046 on 14/04/1980 departing from Tonbridge West Yd with MODA 97580 marshalled behind the loco. It is just possible to make out the antenna restraint supports, but not the provision, or not, of lamp brackets. MODA 97580 was almost certainly en route to Ashford Works for overhaul or modification.

The upright supports are part of the aerial system mentioned above by HGR, and were presumably to prevent the actual aerial from getting too close to the OHL.

Did the Mk1 Escort Coaches ever get fitted with generators before they were replaced ? In the 1980's they had propane gas heating supplied by gas cylinders like the old kitchen cars etc. On the all electric SED it was always a nuisance having to get the gas cylinders changed at Chatham Dockyard before each trip, originally they were obtained from Clapham Jn where there was presumably still some loco hauled catering vehicles that used them, latterly they were obtained from Old Oak Common. Arrangements also had to be made for the gas cylinders to be changed over en route, I think perhaps in the Leeds area for Chatham - Sellafield movements to avoid any risk of the MoD escorts having not cooking or heating facilities.

This copy of the wagon diagram may be of interest as it is the one used by the SR Loads Inspector (Terry Knight) when checking the loaded wagon prior to departures from Chatham Dockyard. Whilst the later movements from Chatham used the converted Mk1's MODA 99150/1 to convey BR staff and the MoD armed escort, in the early days it would appear that normal goods brake vans were used as possibly no military presence was required at the time.

The shuttered area on the ground floor is the original Travellers Fare kiosk, the ticket office was in the area facing the top of the stairs where the ticket vending machine is now located.

Excellent model of the Up Side entrance, looks just like the real thing. Interesting to recall that when originally built it also incorporated a ticket office and Travellers Fare outlet.

Gran was luckily reasonable well off and could easily have afforded gas central heating in her later years, but insisted on retaining the coal boiler and fire until the end of her days. She greatly enjoyed sitting by the coal fire which burned for about six months of the year, being banked up with dust to keep it going overnight. The small coal boiler (Sentinel?) In the kitchen kept going all year to provide hot water and keep the kettle warm on top. I remember an earlier boiler being condemned (furred up inside) at which time the family tried to convince her to switch to gas central heating, but to no avail, after some delay the local heating engineers were able to source a replacement.

Even if the houses used solid fuel for everything other than lighting, they would probably only each need 10T of coal per year at most. Provision of rail facilities to handle 60T / 4 or 5 wagons pa would seen very unlikely. Obviously ignoring modellers licence, any coal yard would realistically need to serve a much wider area than a hamlet of 6 houses, unless there was a nearby industrial user needing a relatively small year round supply such as a brewery, brickworks, water pumping station, etc.

I've thought a bit about these figures and concluded that for an average size dwelling the amount of coal used would be relatively constant regardless of the number of people living there. Thinking back to the 1970's, my Gran still had a coal fired boiler providing hot water and one open fire in her back room. The boiler was in use all year and the open fire burnt continuously for around 6mths of the year. There were two coal bunkers at the house which had a combined capacity of around 3 Tons. Each summer, Gran would take advantage of the summer pricing and from memory would buy 2T of house coal and 2T of boiler nuts (Phurnacite?). Any excess that could not be accomodated in the bunkers was stored in the garage and transferred when space became available. Towards the end of the winter there was another delivery, probably a further ton of boiler nuts and some house coal if needed. So for a house that used coal for heating all hot water and say 50% of room heating (there were gas fires in other rooms and a gas cooker), the annual consumption of coal was around 5-6 Tons for a household of one.

If the coal yard only despatched bagged coal then there would probably be no need for a weighbridge as the coal would be weighed into the sacks. However if any coal was despatched in bulk, say to a local industry, then the carts / lorries would need to be weighed empty and loaded so that the merchant could arrange billing and control their stocks. Of course if the end customer had a weighbridge that could perhaps be used instead if agreed with the merchant.

Thinking a bit more about lime, I guess the Westerham / Brasted area would most likely have been supplied by road from Jessups Limeworks (not rail conected) at Dunton Green.

The ground at the foot of the North Downs (chalk) tends to be clay, however I think you are correct and the fertiliser would be a chemical type as suggested above by Becasse

Unfortunately the records I have do not state the wagon types used, but assuming the lime was for agricultural use by local farms, then perhaps it was bagged and carried in vans. An example of a smaller more rural location with no industry would be the nearby village of Brasted. For the year November 1958 to October 1959 the small goods yard received 159 wagons of coal, 6 wagons of mineral traffic and 2 wagons of merchandise for delivery by BR cartage (lorry sent from Sevenoaks?). All the coal was for the local merchant Bowser who had coal pens in the yard. Whilst Brasted was/is a small villag, the merchant also delivered to other local villages. The mineral traffic included 4 wagons of fertilser for Stevens, a local farmer. During the year no loaded wagons were forwarded.

Whilst not having a gasworks, it may be of interest to know the actual volume of traffic handled at Westerham (a typical small town) goods yard in the year from December 1958 to November 1959. Received traffic was 173 wagons of coal and 60 wagons of mineral and merchandise traffic, whilst a total of 26 wagon loads were despatched. The coal traffic comprised 103 wagons for the South Suburban Co-op who rented wharfage space in the yard and 70 wagons for Messrs Widgewood which appear to have been unloaded and transferred by road to the nearby Westerham Brewery. The mineral and merchandise traffic is recorded as being 26 wagons of fertiliser for local farmers, 6 wagons if carboys and bottles for Westerham Brewery, 2 wagons of paper for Westerham Press, the remainder comprised wagons of steel, pipes and various other materials. With this volume of traffic it is not hard to see why small town goods yards were actively being considered for closure.

The so called BT building sits on former railway land, including the site of Sevenoaks market (cattle and general), the well known property development company Railtrack decided to sell off the land to BT, who at the time were developing a ring of offices around the M25. By the time the building had been completed BT's plans had moved on and it was never fully occupied, various other companies like Baby Bel Cheese have leased parts of the building over the years and earlier this year it was used as a film set. Some time ago it was apparently under consideration for the location of Network Rail's Kent area office. Yes, the former coal office is the buiding on legs at the end of the London Road bridge, there used to be a similar building at the other end as well. Charringtons were the last coal merchant to use the building as a sales office, following closure of the coal yard it has been used as a shop (Richer Sounds and others), a taxi office and by a coach tour company. Sadly the building has now been derelict for some time and will probably end up being demolished as I suspect Network Rail or their property agents will be seeking a totally unrealistic rent.

Yesterday I stumbled across this thread for the second time (previously 2017) and having seen your more recent scenic efforts I felt compelled to go back to the start and read all 17 pages again. It is quite amazing how you have managed to capture the essence of the area to the north of London Rd, including the ugly BT building, which we have Railtrack to thank for. The old coal office still lingers on in a semi derelict state, I remember sitting on the bank beneath it watching the trains go by in the early 1970's. The internal views of the ticket hall, post its 2012 expansion, are also very realistic. I look forward to seeing further updates as your layout progresses.

The 1956 BTC Hand-Book of Stations lists Nesmilk Ltd as having a siding at Carlisle on the former Maryport & Carlisle, with the position or parent station given as Bog Goods Depot.

The wagon ends have what are presumably Express Dairies fleet numbers 5 & 6. Interesting that the tank ends appear to be clamped or bolted to the barrels, could the tank be lifted off the frames and the ends be removed for maintenance ?