David J Hayes

Ok, thanks, Stephen. On the subject of contributions, and taking into account that TRACTION has been absorbed into BRM, have the rates for material appearing in TRACTION been increased to match those paid by BRM? Cheers. Dave.

Thank you, Steve.

Yes, looks good, but what's the cover price, please? Cheers. Dave.

Looks good, but what's the cover price, please? Cheers. Dave.

It will be interesting to see how this pans out in the long term. BRM is a quality publication and is more of a bookazine than a magazine, and will be even more so when it absorbs the TRACTION content, which will now become monthly. However, although interested in model railways, I'm not a railway modeller and I suspect there are quite a few others like myself that read TRACTION. I'm also anticipating a price rise at some point to reflect the extra pages required to accommodate the TRACTION content, which may well force some of the TRACTION readership to choose whether or not to ching-out more for a combined publication containing around 30-pages of TRACTION material while the core content will be aimed at modellers; the February 2024 issue of BRM runs to some 148 pages (including covers and ads). I'm sure some of the readership from both camps will welcome the merger, whilst others may not be so keen. Time will tell. Cheers. David J. Hayes.

THANK You "Covkid" for bringing this book to our attention. I have known Mike Hollick for a number years through a mutual friend of ours, the late Ian Pell. Like Mike, Ian made many visits to Kew (often with Mike, I believe), but to research his beloved South Staffordshire Railway (SSR), which ran from Wichnor Junction to Dudley via Lichfield, Walsall and Wednesbury. It's such a shame that Ian didn't get to produce a book on the SSR, as his knowledge on the subject was second to none. I would like to congratulate Mike on his book and wish him every success with it, too. I'm sure Mike's methodical approach to researching the subject matter will no doubt ensure that it is a fascinating read. Cheers. David J. Hayes.

ANOTHER good issue with a nice variety of features, although image reproduction in the printed version is, again, a bit "hit and miss" with some images appearing a little on the dark side or (in the case of colour) a little too saturated (it's not only me noticing this). However, having said that, the current issue (276) is much better in this respect than in previous issues. The image reproduction in the printed version of issue 275 was particularly poor, I thought, including some of those pictures accompanying Part Two of my CO2 article, but which looked fine for the most part in the digital version. I'm pleased with how my Holmethorpe Sand article has been used in this current issue and I very much hope it will be of interest to the readership. This will be my last offering to this publication and I would therefore like to thank those of you who have enjoyed my many contributions over the years, the first of which appeared in issue 28 (February 1997). Kind regards and long may TRACTION continue. David J. Hayes.

AGAIN, my thanks to TRACTION editor, Stephen Rabone, for providing a pdf of the detailed table I compiled (mainly with the aid of information kindly supplied by Adrian Nicholls) to accompany Part Two of my London Milk article in issue 273. Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the table and article, which I hope readers will enjoy and find of interest, I take full responsibility for any errors contained in both and thus welcome any corrections or other related comments via the TRACTION letters section. My sincere thanks for the positive feedback received thus far for Part One (featured in TRACTION 272). which is very much appreciated. Cheers. Dave.

YES, Phil, I have the OPC book with that "Hymek" pairing on the Regent tankers at Norton Junction, Worcestershire. The same book also contains an image of a "Hymek" heading south, just south of Abbotswood Junction, with a raft of "Regents", which could well be empties from Soho Pool. I have also seen an image of "Evening Star" at Pengam with the loaded train (believed to have originated from Cardiff Bute Docks) coming off the docks line. As you say, the Regent brandings may well have been removed from the tank barrels by the late 1960s because the Regent Oil Company became part of Texaco in 1967, which I think may have also been around the time the "Hymek" pairings ceased on the Soho Pool trains, though I stand to be corrected. I believe the period of "Hymek" pairings was to handle an increased loading of 40 two-axle tankers on this service. Again, as you say, Phil, these were then split at Bescot (into two 20-wagon formations) for final delivery to Soho Pool. Interestingly, the return empties ran as two separately "Hymek"-hauled trains back to South Wales, both departing Soho Pool for Cardiff within a few hours of each other. Cheers. Dave.

YOU'RE very welcome, Phil. As I also mentioned, the Albion run-rounds at Wednesbury were shown to take place at Pleck Junction in one of the early 1970s WTTs, but this was a short-lived arrangement. It's quite possible they ran into Bescot instead to perform the said run-round during this short period, but I have not seen any official WTT information to support this. As you say, all the empty trains from Albion were booked via Bescot from where they then either proceeded via Dudley or Wolverhampton High Level to reach South Wales (also routed via Walsall during the 1990s), or via Walsall if returning to the likes of Lindsey, Ripple Lane or Teesport (there were also empties to Stanlow, which travelled Bescot-Portobello Junction-Bushbury). I believe the reason trains between Waterston and Albion during the early 1970s were re-routed via Hereford and Shrewsbury was because of problems with the permanent way on an embankment in the Brierley Hill area, which also affected the Texaco oil service from Cardiff Docks to Soho Pool (booked for a "Hymek" until circa 1970). The routing of the Albion trains via the N&W was meant to be a temporary arrangement, I believe, but became a permanent fixture. The Soho Pool train, however, reverted back to running via Dudley again and continued to travel this way until the service ended in 1982. Cheers. Dave.

WITH regards Phil Bullock's earlier query regarding the Albion tanks, previous to them being routed via the N&W "Welsh Marches" axis in the early 1970s, they had entered the Black Country region at Stourbridge Junction and ran via Dudley to Wednesbury where they were booked to run-round and then proceed by way of the Princes End line to reach the Stour Valley main line at Tipton. One of the WTT's also showed them running-round at Pleck Junction for a while, but this was a short-lived arrangement. Cheers. Dave.

I'VE experienced a similar situation myself in the past, "Pint of Adnams". A local newsagent to me stocks several railway titles, including TRACTION, but usually only one or two copies of each. Likewise, my nearest WH Smith (WHS), in Walsall, may have just a handful of copies of TRACTION at any one time, whereas there'll be wads of 10 or more copies of other railway titles sitting on the shelves. When I've been away on holiday or visiting other parts of the country, out of curiosity I have visited several WHS to see if TRACTION was available. More often than not, it wasn't. I suppose it depends on how well it sells in a particular area. It might be possible for your local WHS to have a copy brought in for you from another WHS store. Cheers. David J. Hayes.

THANK you for asking, "Pint of Adnams". As you can appreciate, I don't want to give too much away, but, yes, there were, indeed, movements between the West Country and East Anglia in the early 1980s, and other ad-hoc workings, too, all of which shall be mentioned in Part Two of my London Milk article in TRACTION 273 (due out 25th November). Although I'm aware there are many who are well-versed on post-1980 milk operations, I hope there is still the odd nugget of information contained in my article that will still be of interest even to those who know far more about the subject matter than me. Cheers. David J. Hayes.

YOU'RE very welcome, "Southwich". Glad my comments/suggestions have been of possible use. I tip my hat to all you modellers. And thank you for your complimentary comments, too. Much appreciated. Hope you enjoy my other TRACTION articles as and when they appear. Keep up the good work. Cheers. David J. Hayes.

HELLO again, "Southwich". Shall you be exhibiting your Pensnett-based layout when it's finished? If so, I very much look forward to hopefully seeing it one day at a model railway event and perhaps even featured in the modelling section of TRACTION, accompanied with a nice selection of images taken by Andy York. It would certainly be interesting to see how Pensnett "might have been" had it survived into the rail freight privatization era. Whilst I have several articles pending use in TRACTION, my latest offering being a two-parter titled London Milk (Part One is now out in TRACTION 272), it just so happens I'm about to submit another two-part feature soon to TRACTION with the railway modeller particularly in mind, which I hope you and other modellers will find of interest if it's accepted and published (I'd rather not say where or what it's about as I don't want to give too much away just yet). As I mentioned elsewhere, I'm not a modeller myself, but even I'm tempted to model the subject matter now I've written about it, although I'm sure my long-suffering wife would have something to say about that! Cheers. David J. Hayes.

GREAT to see the development of your Pensnett layout, "Southwich". I'm not a modeller myself, but I'm very familiar with the location as I'm from the Black Country area where it's based-on. As mentioned by "Ramblin Rich", there have been various freight articles covering the Black Country region published in TRACTION (most are mine) featuring images of my own and those of Andy Williams (BescotPlus), John Whitehouse (Flickr) and Paul Dorney (Flickr) amongst others. To the best of my knowledge, the fireclay traffic from Northumberland (Butterwell) was the last rail traffic to be handled at Pensnett. I'm pretty sure it was a LoadHaul contract and I believe the last trains ran in September 1994. Ironically, this was the same month and year Transrail launched its Enterprise wagonload venture! The HEA hoppers initially used for the fireclay workings, as seen in my mate Andy Williams picture, were not suitable for this commodity and subsequent deliveries were made using MEA wagons. The routing of the trains was via the Lickey and Worcester (run-round). You probably have chapter and verse on the traffic and trips that served Pensnett during the BR era, although I believe you are basing your layout's fictional period of operation on the EWS era, which should open up a whole host of traffic flows that could have potentially been dealt with at Pensnett had it remained open, including, perhaps, intermodal business. As for a name for your layout, should you not wish to call it Pensnett, there's a road called Dreadnought Road right next to where the terminal used to be located and an area known as Tansey Green (I think Dreadnought Road sounds quite good). I wish you well with your project. Cheers. David J. Hayes.

IF I may, "ModRXsouth", unless anyone else can give reason otherwise, such as route availability issues etc, I suppose it could be possible that a "Warship" or "Western" turned up at Morden South on a milk train at some point back then, as such types did work across London by way of the West London Line on inter-regional freights from the WR to the SR. However, I have recently been trawling through various complete-year back issues of Ian Allan magazines from the 1960s and 1970s, as part of some research for another project, and have not seen anything reported of such an occurrence. Also, as "Karhedron" said, the arrival time of such a working at Morden South would not normally be witnessed by the average enthusiast unless, of course, they were actually employed at the said bottling plant or perhaps worked for BR, but even then it may not get reported to the railway media. There would probably have been more chance of empty milk tanks being observed and/or perhaps even "photted" being worked by a "Warship" or "Western" at Morden South, although, again, I have not come across anything to support this. That's not to say it didn't happen, although I'm pretty sure that if any decent pictures did exist, at least one would've appeared in print by now, or maybe it has? Cheers. David J. Hayes.

FURTHER to my above comment, Part Two of my London Milk article, in TRACTION 273, should hopefully contain further tabulations showing the milk train activity to be seen in capital during the late 1970s. I have also compiled a slightly more detailed version for possible inclusion here on the RMweb. Part Two will also look at milk movements in the 1980s and the attempted milk by rail revival of the late 1990s. There should also be a "companion" wagon feature by respected author and wagon expert David Ratcliffe. Cheers. David J. Hayes.

THANK you, "Karhedron" for your welcome comments and query. Much appreciated. Your knowledge on this topic is far better than mine, as I wasn't even aware of a bottling plant at Mitre Bridge. However, as mentioned in the article, there was a train from Shrewsbury to Willesden, which as of October 1970 was electric-hauled from Wolverhampton. I, therefore, assumed that Willesden was used mainly as a forwarding and gathering point for milk tanks for the London area (loaded traffic ex-Shropshire and possibly ex-Cumbria), although I did wonder if there may have been an unloading facility located close by as there was a milk empties departure to Kensington Olympia shown in the WTT (see below). The October 1968 West London Line WTT shows Willesden ML (Main Line) as a starting and terminating point for "trips" to and from Kensington Olympia (I'm pretty sure I've also seen Willesden DED - District Electric-Depot - mentioned as well somewhere!), such as 3V33 and 3V52, the latter shown as empties. However, I may have thought the reference "empties" for 3V52 was possibly a "typo". There was also an evening 3M08 empties from Kensington to Willesden ML, again giving me reason to assume that Willesden was a milk hub. Having quickly checked the official WTT again, another empties was that of 3V37 from Cricklewood to "Kenny-O", which was shown as departing Willesden ML at 06:28 (there's no arrival time shown). Unfortunately, I didn't include this detail in the RMweb table, so apologies for that omission. As I hope your good self and others can appreciate, the RMweb table is very detailed and required a lot of cross-referencing of the official WTT to obtain the necessary information. Although I have tried to be as thorough as possible, there may well be certain other details that have not been included, which I may have thought (at the time of its compilation) as not being relevant, but perhaps, in hindsight, I should have included. Cheers. David J. Hayes.

MY thanks to Stephen Rabone for featuring the 6B09 route map and my Kensington Olympia table on this site to accompany my London Milk feature in TRACTION 272 & 273. I would also like to thank Andy Williams for producing the route map and Adrian Nicholls for providing the route map timing details. I hope the readership will find these additions and the article itself of interest. Cheers. David J. Hayes.

THANK you, "Karhedron", for the confirmation and additional interesting details. I'm pleased that you're looking forward to my two-part London Milk feature in TRACTION 272 & 273. I hope I've done the subject matter justice and that you also find the accompanying maps and tabulations of interest, too. There should, hopefully, be a nice shot on the front cover of issue 272 containing Part One of the feature. As I mentioned elsewhere, the article mainly covers the last decade of milk traffic on British Rail and I welcome any corrections or other related comments via the TRACTION "Letters" section. I wish you well with your forthcoming book. I'm sure it will be very popular and sought after. Cheers. David J. Hayes.

MANY thanks, "Ramblin Rich", and very much appreciated. I hope you (and others) enjoy the other articles of mine pending use in TRACTION as and when they appear. I am mindful that certain articles of mine may be of interest to railway modellers, such as London Milk, and have purposely "penned" several features with the modeller in mind for potential use in the time portal that is TRACTION, so watch this space..... Not being a regular commentator on the RMWeb, I apologize in advance if I'm breaking any rules here, but I have also prepared a couple of PowerPoint presentations based on a couple of articles of mine that have appeared in past issues of TRACTION. One is about the West London Line (WLL), the other about Kent Coal. The WLL presentation mainly focusses on the late 1960s and 1970s when the line was busy with numerous freights, milk traffic and Motorail services. Kent Coal is also a post-steam-era subject, although both do include a modicum of steam imagery, plus a few other bits and bobs, which I hope adds further interest to the presentations plus a little humour. I also have a presentation about Black Country Freight (I live in Wednesbury), but I shall be giving this a "re-work" for possible future use, hopefully in 2023. For anyone reading this who might be interested and live in the Shrewsbury, Stafford or Wolverhampton areas, I shall be giving talks/presentations during October 2022. Details are as follows: Wednesday 5th at the Amasal Sports & Social Club, St. Albans Road Industrial Estate, Stafford, for the Stafford Railway Society. Subject: Kent Coal. Tuesday 11th at the Parish Rooms, Codsall, for the St. Nicholas Railway Circle. Subject: West London Line - Late 1960s & 1970s. Thursday 13th at The Gateway Education & Arts Centre, Shrewsbury, for the Shropshire Railway Society. Subject: West London Line - Late 1960s & 1970s. Wednesday 19th at the Royal Oak pub, Gnosall, Staffordshire. Subject: Kent Coal. Talks start around 7pm, last approximately 2-hours and include an intermission. A small fee (normally £2 or £3) is payable on the door. I very much look forward to meeting you if you can make it. If any railway groups or societies would be interested in me giving a presentation, then please get in touch. Cheers. David J. Hayes. davidjhayes126@yahoo.co.uk

IN response to "Covkid" and based on the limited information I have to hand, the Shrewsbury to London milk service was electric-hauled from Wolverhampton High Level and travelled via Bescot, Aston and Stechford. It was reported in certain mags of the time that it was, indeed, booked for "Warship" haulage to Wolverhampton. It's possible that it may have run via the Stour Valley and Birmingham New Street at some point, calling at Exchange Sidings and Coventry, as you suggest, but I don't have such details. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think such workings between Shropshire and the capital may have travelled via Birmingham Snow Hill during in the steam era. There were also milk trains from Shrewsbury to Swindon, which ran via Bescot, Soho Road and the Stourbridge Extension, and in the late 1970s there were movements of milk between Swindon and Carlisle, which were electric-hauled from Bescot. The empties from Carlisle were electric-hauled to Bescot and I have seen images of Class 40's working the diesel-leg southwards through Worcestershire. Cheers. David J. Hayes. PS: By the way "Covkid", good to know you're looking forward to London Milk. I also hope that you (and others) enjoyed T-Four-Two in TRACTION 270 & 271. Cheers.

IT is pleasing to see that my forthcoming London Milk article in TRACTION 272 & 273 has already sparked some welcome interest and I can confirm to "ModRXsouth" that Morden South is, indeed, mentioned in the feature, which mainly looks at the last decade of regular milk traffic on British Rail. I am very grateful to Stephen Rabone for arranging for the October 1968 Kensington Olympia timetable and mid-1970s routing map of an Acton Yard to St. Erth service to appear on this website (lack of space precluded their inclusion with the main article itself). The said table provides a good insight of the intense milk operations that were centred on "Kenny-O" back in the day, with a tabulation of around 300 movements (including local Feeders and Light Engines) each week just for this traffic alone! A greatly scaled-down version of the table should hopefully appear with the article itself (together with other tabulations) and gives details of some 44 trunk milk train arrivals at Kensington Olympia each week from the main areas of supply. I very much hope that readers will find the article of interest and I welcome any corrections or other related comments via the TRACTION "Letters" section. Cheers. David J. Hayes.

Yes, "Covkid", 6F57 was the afternoon return empties from Monmore Green to Ditton and makes for a cracking cover shot by David Rostance. Hope you enjoy the feature and issue 261 as a whole. Cheers.