John Mair

Just in case anyone is still following the Presteign(e) line thread, may I mention that my book 'The Kington Lines: from Leominster to Kington and New Radnor, including the Branches to Presteigne and Eardisley', has now been published by the Oakwood Press (in their 'Library of Railway History' series)? The book is not intended to be exhaustive/definitive, but does attempt to give some coverage to most aspects of the lines concerned, and includes references for further reading.

The point (previously unknown to me) about tail traffic on the Ashburton line is very interesting - thank you, Stationmaster. On Old Ynysybwl: apparently the line west of the junction between the line from Stormstown Junction and the Clydach Court loop (i.e. the connexion providing a direct route to Pontypridd) rose steeply to Old Ynysybwl, so I was surprised to see the photograph on page 658 of The Railway Magazine for September, 1952: this depicts the engine at the upper end of the train (a single auto-coach) standing at Old Ynysybwl Halt: I might have expected the locomotive to have been at the lower end of the train. As you say, a 0-6-0PT was used, in this case No. 5421. At one time there was a purely mineral extension (1 3/4 miles long) beyond Old Ynysybwl to Llanwonno Colliery, reached by a very steep ascent (1 in 30, 32 and 35). In this case, the Taff Vale Railway insisted that the engine should always be at the lower (Pontypridd) end of the train, irrespective of the direction of travel.

20 March, 2023 I am sorry, John: only on Saturday last (18 March) did I return to this thread, and I then saw your post of 20 December (above). Unfortunately I cannot enlarge much upon what I wrote before. My information came from an article - 'The Kington Branch of the G.W.R.' - written by John D. Hewitt and published in The Railway Magazine for September, 1939 (pages 191 - 196). On page 194 he writes: 'These two branches [Presteign and Eardisley] share one train, which on the writer's visit last year [i.e. 1938] consisted of a standard 0-4-2 tank engine, a brand new composite non-corridor bogie coach, and a goods brake van [type not specified]. The latter carried several milk churns full of water - though whether for supplementing the engine's tank supply or servicing the stations, he did not discover'. I doubt if auto-trains were used on the Presteign and Eardisley branches, as I sense that the G.W.R. was averse to using them on steeply graded, switchback, lines (does anyone know about this for certain?) The LMSR used 'motor trains' on the very steep (in places 1 in 27) Holywell Town Branch, but the inclination was upwards all the way from Holywell Junction to Holywell Town, and so the engine could always be at the lower end of the train. The Titley and Eardisley section was closed in July, 1940, and, after the withdrawal of passenger services over the Kington to New Radnor and Titley to Presteign sections in 1951, auto trains were sometimes/often used on the surviving section between Leominster and Kington. This did include a quite long section (between Pembridge/Marston Halt and Titley) at 1 in 80, but evidently this was acceptable for auto train operation. As for the 'milk churns' - above - I surmise that these may have been the similar looking (but not identical) water churns which were used for the benefit of stations without their own water supply. I imagine that Presteign and Eardisley would have had their own supply, but I do not know about Lyonshall or Almeley. Titley was, however, dependent upon deliveries of fresh water. In ??1947/1948 a former glass lined milk tank wagon was installed in a siding behind the down platform to hold a large volume of water (I believe still delivered by churns). How fresh the contents remained is a matter for the imagination! The Middleton book Ludlow to Hereford does contain about 60 pictures of the Kington lines, in addition to views of Leominster and of Kington Junction (where the Kington line diverged from the main 'North and West' route). Best Wishes, John (Mair)

I hope that it is in order to revive this topic - although I am afraid that I do not have any reliable information about passenger rolling stock on the Presteign(e) branch. It would seem likely that during the 1920s the four wheeled carriages would have been replaced by bogie stock 'cascaded' from other (dare one say more important) lines. I think it unlikely that B sets were found on the Eardisley/Presteign branches: they were sometimes used on the Kington and New Radnor 'main line' because the trains concerned worked through from Worcester via Bromyard. By the late 1930s the Eardisley/Presteign service was worked by a new non-corridor composite coach with a goods brake van attached (in case it were desired to attach/detach goods vehicles en route). As J Daniels noted on 15 November, 2015 (above), the Presteign and Eardisley branches were (at least as early as 1932, and probably before) worked by a single train, which normally began and ended its journeys at Kington (rather than at Titley Junction). Whether this operating economy actually corresponded with the times at which people actually wished to travel is another matter! There were some signals at Presteign, specifically a presumably distant signal sited some distance east of the station, and, again presumably, home and starting signals. The position of the signals can be seen on an early 20c. 25" O. S. map. The line was built by the Leominster and Kington Railway, but the GWR operated the line from the outset, (September, 1875), and (for the proverbial song) acquired the L&KR in 1898, whereupon it looked for economies. Apparently these included the abolition of the signals, deemed unnecessary because the line was worked on the one-engine-in-steam principle. What appears to have been a (non-standard) signal box remained in situ at the south end of the passenger platform, but photographs do not show any rodding tunnel. The points were latterly worked from two ground frames, and the point at the far (north) end of the layout leading to the run round loop was operated by a simple hand lever. The main station building was of typical - and pleasing - William Clarke design, but looked forlorn after the removal of the canopy in c.1950. John Mair

I have some recollection of seeing the Bossington layout at a MRC exhibition held in the late 1960s or perhaps 1970? It had a pleasing simplicity, and seemed to exert a fascination upon many visitors. Perhaps one reason for this was that the operation was accompanied by a well written tape recorded commentary, which began as I seem to recall with something like 'The real Bossington ...', and then there was, if I remember correctly, a description of the (imaginary) station's setting. As the sequence of movements proceeded, so did the commentary explain what was happening. 'The real Bossington' was - and is - a charming small settlement situated about one mile north east of Porlock, and about half a mile from the sea. To the east is the massif of Selworthy Beacon, and (considerably) further to the south are the steeps of Exmoor. Not easy terrain for railway building!

I am afraid that there is a calendrical error here. The last slip coach working took place on 09 September, 1960, not 1961. The Friday dating for the last such event is thus correct, though Chris is right in saying that there was no 5.10 p.m. train from Paddington to Wolverhampton on Saturdays during the summer timetable of 1960. (I am not offering any comment about when the Railway Roundabout film(s) was (were) actually made!) I have a copy of the Summer 1960 Western Region public timetable, and what seems to have happened is as follows: 1. On Mondays to Saturdays a stopping train to Wolverhampton (Low Level) left Paddington at 4.34 p.m., and, after calls at Gerrards Cross, Beaconsfield, High Wycombe, Saunderton (except on Saturdays), Princes Risborough, Haddenham, Dorton Halt, and Brill and Ludgerhsall Halt (Saturdays only) arrived at Bicester North at 5.59 p.m. (6.03 p.m. on Saturdays) and would depart from that station at 6.25 p.m. (See below.) 2. On Mondays to Fridays an express to Wolverhampton (Low Level) left Paddington at 5.10 p.m., and was booked to arrive at its first stop at Leamington Spa General at 6.48 p.m. It was this train which conveyed the slip portion for Bicester North. 3. The slip portion is shown as arriving at Bicester North at 6.15 p.m., after having been detached shortly before by the 5.10 p.m. from Paddington. The slip came to rest on the centre road, parallel with the platform road. 4. The engine of the 4.34 p.m. from Paddington, which was then standing at the down platform at Bicester North, then collected the slip and attached it to that same 4.34 p.m. from Paddington. Passengers for Bicester were then free to alight. 5. The complete train was now ready to leave Bicester North at 6.25 p.m. and to travel as a stopping train to Wolverhampton (Low Level), where it was due to arrive at 8.31 p.m., 40 minutes after the 5.10 express from Paddington had arrived at Wolverhampton (Low Level) at 7.51 p.m. A note in the public timetable specifically says that arrival at Bicester North was by slip carriage. The date of 09 September, 1960, for the last slip working was appointed presumably because the summer timetable for that year ended on Sunday, 11 September. John