Rivercider

Great pictures Nigel. I must have arrived at Creedyford towards the end of your photo and video session when you were requesting the class 50 NSE photo charter! cheers

I don't know whether this will be any help but I still have my TOPS Location Handbook for October 1977. The fact that a siding or yard had a TOPS location number did not mean that it was actually still receiving traffic, sometimes it just meant the siding was still connected, but disused. This list may give you some ideas. 48219 Whitlingham - APCM 48221 Norwich Wensum - BR 48223 Norwich Power Station - CEGB 48225 Norwich Wensum Depot - CCE 48230 Norwich Goods - Unspecified 48231 Norwich Thorpe - BR 48232 Norwich Thorpe - NCL 48233 Norwich Thorpe - Shell 48234 Norwich Thorpe - C&W 48235 Norwich Thorpe TMD 48236 Norwich Thorpe - Boulton & Paul 48237 Norwich Thorpe - Charrington 48302 Norwich Trowse Yard - BR 48304 Norwich Trowse - RT Roadstone 48305 Norwich Trowse - CS&TE 48306 Norwich Trowse - Boulton & Paul 48309 Norwich Trowse Lower Jn - BR 48311 Norwich Victoria CCD - NCB 48312 Norwich Victoria - Stevenson R & Sons 48313 Norwich Victoria - King A & Sons cheers

Yesterday, 30/7/2014, I walked the lenght of the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal from Firepool Lock at Taunton through to Bridgwater Docks. Just before reaching the start of the canal at Taunton I passed the former GWR Goods Offices . And then got an unusual view of the water tower located beside Taunton East Yard, many of us will be familiar with the view from the railway side. Here is the water tower on the right of the shot seen in July 1985. I was previously unaware that it was built on top of a former lime kiln. cheers

Thanks for making the trip down west with your masterpiece, it was much appreciated (and I did make myself known this time - rather than remain an impressed mystery observer) cheers

Hi Bill, it was good to see Creedyford at Barnstaple, I had hoped for something a bit special and was not disappointed. You have really captured the LSWR heritage very well, the backscene and the curves at each end work nicely. well done! cheers

The Plough, in Station road Taunton, is a small pub serving a variety of ciders ( including Orchard Pigs Maverick mentioned earlier) I usually call on the way back to the station after visiting Rail-Ex or the SWAG event cheers

Yes - this is absolutely superb, and not too strong either, cheers

The 0-6-0T 3F tank 47366 was allocated to Sutton Oak in my locoshed books of 1955 and 1959, that is St Helens isn't it? Does that help? cheers

Hi Anthony, and welcome to the forum. I expect this thread will be popular, old photos are always of interest, mystery locations especially so. I think 60077 is at Leeds City where the Thames Clyde Express (from London St Pancras to Glasgow) reversed and changed locos cheers

You have done rubbish very well, I like the shots of the stop blocks, cheers

Hi thanks for the confirmation of Chris Nutman. I thought it was Mark Herrington in the photo, but did not know many of the Bath Road traincrew so you are probably right. To be honest I first worked with Mark in 1999 when i went to Barton Hill as a roster clerk. I knew he had been an examiner at Stoke Gifford and Tytherington and must have spoken to him many times as I was in Bristol TOPS in the 1980s. Do you remember the cartoon drawing of the Stoke Gifford staff that used to be displayed in the shunters cabin there? Mark was one of the staff featured. cheers

Here are some more views of the stone trips from Stoke Gifford to Tytherington first a general view of the east end of Stoke Gifford The Stoke Gifford shunter sits in the sunshine on the upside ground frame waiting for the road for the 08.55 trip to Tytherington, 7/9/83. I had not previously paid much attention to these photos, closer inspection reveals that the 08.55 trip has a mix of wagon types the shunter is attatching 4 PGA hoppers to the front of a set of sealions possibly these have been delayed from the previous afternoons working from and to Woking, it was most unusual for sealions to be loaded on daytime trips otherwise. The PGAs are probably going up to Tytherington to be detached in the cripple siding for repair by Marcroft Engineering. At the head of the 08.55 trip to Tytherington the driver of 47088 Samson looks back. I think the shunter wearing hi-viz is Chris Nutman on the right is the carriage and wagon examiner Mark Herrington who I later worked with at Barton Hill where he was a driver for EWS, 7/9/83 There was the ability to cross two Tytherington trips at Yate as on the beginning of the Tytherington branch there was an inwards road and an outwards road. It was also possible for returning loaded trains to run wrong line down over the up main from Yate as far as Westerleigh Junction. 47032 has worked the 05.45 trip from Stoke Gifford to Tytherington with a set of MSVs and is seen running into Stoke Gifford down loop with the return 08.45 from Tytherington, 7/9/83 cheers

The trips to Tytherington Quarry formed of MSVs were worked by various type 4 locos including locos from other regions as fill in turns perhaps a Midland or Eastern Region loco that worked south overnight on parcels or mail services. Totons 45101 stands on the up siding at Stoke Gifford and is waiting to work trip 82, 7B82 08.55 Stoke Gifford - Tytherington Quarry with empty MSVs, 10/7/85 cheers

At the beginning of the 1980s the main workload of Stoke Gifford Yard was dealing with stone traffic from ARCs Tytherington Quarry, which although the output was small compared to that coming from the Mendip Quarries, was still a considerable tonnage. There were usually 5 or 6 trains each weekday from Tytherington which were worked as local trips to Stoke Gifford, they have appeared in the pages of the May 1982 local trip booklet that I have already posted, but here is page 9 from the local trip booklet that shows the timings of all the trips:- The destinations for the limestone from Tytherington varied over the years but a number of stone terminals come to mind. There were usually two trains a day for Wolverton, these were formed of 36 PGA hoppers leased from Procor, these were worked by pairs of class 37s for which Bath Road had received its first small allocation of the class in the 1970s. If a pair of 37s was not available a class 47 would deputise and the load would be 30 PGAs. Several terminals were served by trains of MSV tipplers, for which I think two sets of wagons were provided and 'slip' working took place, that is the loaded set was worked out from Stoke Gifford and on arrival at the terminal the loco would berth the loaded set, and return with the empty set ready waiting from the previous days working. Appleford and Oxford Banbury Road terminals received sets of about 34 MSVs while the Theale terminal had trains of 41 MSVs, these were usually worked by type 4 locos of classes 45, 46, or 47. The terminal at Redditch was worked in reverse in as much that a London Midland allocated loco and crew worked down to Stoke Gifford each evening with an empty set, and, after taking a PNB, swapped over for a loaded set and worked back north. The sets used in the Redditch flow were 26 wagons of a mix of MSVs and the longer MTVs. There was also a flow to Southend which ran once a week formed of 26 HTVs 21t hoppers with the rebuilt bodies. Another flow started in the early 1980s of track ballast for the Southern Region, each evening a set of 10 sealion hoppers would arrive from Woking via Salisbury, sometimes if it was early it would recess in the up siding. These trains were normally worked by a single class 33 though rarely a pair of 33s turned up Eastleigh allocated 33025 works the empties from Woking up through Bristol Parkway Station 22/5/80, cheers

Ah yes the Gas. In the early 1980s I worked with both City and Rovers season ticket holders, as a result for a couple of seasons in the mid 80s watched both. I watched a lot of games at Eastville, there was a 14.xx Temple Meads - Severn Beach that called at Stapleton Road and I could just about get onto the terrace at 15.00. Ian (Ollie) Holloway was one of the players I remember. Ref the 03 in the scrap yard, I think it was used as a generator, was it mounted on a concrete plinth? cheers

Now we arrive at Stoke Gifford and yet again I am indebted to Colin Maggs book 'Rail Centres - Bristol' for info. The yards at Stoke Gifford opened in 1903 at the same time as the Badminton route and were to mainly serve Avonmouth traffic. They closed in October 1971, which I believe coincided with the opening of the Patchway Chord which enabled trains from the South Wales direction to run direct to Avonmouth without the need for reversal at Stoke Gifford. Much of the site of the up yard was used for Bristol Parkway Station and its associated car park. That however was not the end of the story as far as freight traffic at Stoke Gifford was concerned. In the early 1970s the former Midland Railway Yate branch was reopened as far as ARCs Tytherington Quarry and Stoke Gifford Down Yard was used for stabling the wagons used on these services. In addition the civil engineers used Stoke Gifford for stabling trains in connection with the High Speed Route project to upgrade the main line ready for HST services which were introduced in the late 1970s. By 1980 the roads in use at Stoke Gifford for freight traffic were:- on the Upside, an Up Loop, Up Reception and Up siding. on the Downside, a Down Loop, Down Reception and seven down sidings. Here is a view of the Down Yard, Bristol Parkway Station and car park. The seven roads of the down yard contain mostly wagons in stone traffic use from Tytherington Quarry, the PGAs on the left are probably waiting for maintenance by Marcroft Engineering staff. There are a few stray 16t minerals and a grampus wagon of spoil. On the right two roads contain MSV stone sets, 7/9/83 Another view looking across the yard. On the up siding are a few PGA hoppers. The gap of the former no.3 and 4 roads can be seen, when Severn Tunnel Junction Yard closed and Speedlink marshalling was dispersed elsewhere these two roads were reinstated to cope with the additional work. 47072 appears to be on the Up Loop with a Severn Tunnel Junction - Acton feight, 7/9/83 cheers

Finally the last two freight trains that I managed to photograph that morning, both class 47 hauled. On the Down Filton Main is an unidentified cement train 47236 heads south through Stapleton Road at 10.05, 30/9/81 Lastly the long-lived clayliner service is seen with empties returning west. 47318 works 6V53 Longport - St Blazey through Stapleton Road at 10.41, A short distance north of Stapleton Road on the west side of the line just before reaching Narroways Junction were two scrap yards belonging to Birds and Pugsleys, they had been dispatching scrap by rail in 16t minerals to a steelworks in Llanelli the Lawrence Hill class 03 would make the short trip up to shunt the sidings, but rail traffic had ceased by 1980. At least one of the scrap merchants is still in business there in 2014 though. The next location heading north will be Stoke Gifford Yard, cheers

Back to Stapleton Road early on a September morning in 1981. Seven minutes later at 08.59 on that dull morning the next freight working passed, discharged caustic soda tanks from British Cellophane at Bridgwater 47125 heads up the bank through Stapleton Road with 6C01 Bridgwater - Baglan Bay, 30/9/81 Next a minute later at 09.00 it is the 6B39 Speedlink service again, the usual power for this working was type 4 of class 45/46/47, the class 31 was unusual It was rare for a 31 to appear on 6B39 and even more unusual it is Imminghams 31323 at the front. The train is not as heavy as first appearances might indicate, most of the wagons will be empty for loading clay in the west country, 30/9/81 edit To indicate the importance of the Speedlink feeder services in the west country here is an extract from a document entitled List of Trains Run in Connection with Speedlink Services From 17 May 1982 It lists the incoming and forward connections that the west country feeder services make at Severn Tunnel Junction cheers

I think 2 tanks a week was the regular amount but a search of the web shows a photo of a train at Barnstaple with 3 of them, and a PCA cement tank, so I don't think you will need any more! I have amended my previous post to put the Yatton photo on it, and the direct link to the photo in Flickr is below it. I am hoping to make my first visit to the Barnstaple show this year, if I get there I will certainly stop by and say hello, cheers

Yes the last letter of the TOPS code is the brake type, TTA would be air braked, TTB is air braked and through vacuum piped. A number of the early build wagons of the air braked fleet had through vacuum pipes so they could be marshalled in vacuum braked trains, Some of the Cov-ABs were type VBB, and some of the big ferry vans were type ILB for example, this meant they could be included in a train of clayfits or clayhoods. When marshalling through piped vehicles in a fully fitted train without brake van a maximum of 3 piped vehicles could be coupled together with a minimum of 3 fitted vehicles (with brakes in working order) on the rear, this was to be able to arrest the rear portion in the event of a breakaway. I think the TTBs for Ciba-Geigy were usually two a week. In my Flickr stream there is a photo of them passing Yatton at the head of a vacuum braked Severn Tunnel Junction - Exeter Riverside service 45021 passes Yatton on a Severn Tunnel Junction - Exeter Riverside vacuum braked freight, the TTBs are next to the loco, 18/6/80, edit this is the link to the photo in the '1980s W.R. North Somerset' album:- https://www.flickr.com/photos/rivercider/14005491392/in/photolist-nkBNDw-hjqbC3-hjqbBS-hjqbGb-hjqbBG-cyCnb9-cyCnbJ-cyCnaJ cheers

Nice work with the Ciba-Geigy tanks. I think the ones that worked to the West Country from Duxford were TTBs so they could run through piped in the fitted portion of a vacuum braked train, cheers

Brian has already mentioned the fertiliser traffic from ICI Severnside. In October 1978 the plant there was still sending much traffic by rail, 30 or 40 vanfits on some days. The vans by then were always standard BR built vans TOPS code VVV. Vanwides (code VWV) were not loaded there, and would be rejected by ICI if one accidentally turned up. edit - I do not ever recall ICI loading airbraked VAA/VBA/VCA/VDA as the rail network for loading fertiliser was set up for short wheelbase vans. The Port of Bristol Authority (PBA) however received occasional imports of bagged coffee beans which were loaded to rail (I don't remember the destination) these were sent away in airbraked vans which the PBA insisted be cleaned out by BR before being sent into the docks for loading, the cleaning took place at Severn Beach sidings and may explain the Cov-ABs in the platform. Liquified ammonia trains also ran to and from the ICI works and needed to run-round near the station, but these tanks were never stabled there in my experience, though the brake vans of these trains sometimes were, and were subject to use by tramps or vagrants and the mess that entailed. In the early 1980s I do remember when the PBA were loading imported bagged sugar in open-ABs the empties were sometimes held at Severn Beach for cleaning out and awaiting the docking of the ship, but were subject to vandalism, with all the side doors being dropped for example. As a rule after that no wagons were stabled down there. cheers

Here are two more of mine. On my Flickr site I have got most of them in an album entitled 'The Fifty 50s'. From one of my summer saturday visits to south Devon The Lion Roars 50027 Lion makes a spirited, if smoky, departure from Paignton with the 16.13 (SO) service to Oxford, 31/7/82 And one from my local footbridge in Weston-super-Mare. There were a couple of passenger services that were sometimes used for test runs for locos off repair at Bath Road, the 08.20 Bristol - Taunton was one of them. 50019 Ramilies leads 45002 under the Exeter Road footbridge in Weston at the head of the 08.20 Bristol Temple Meads - Taunton service, 28/4/80. cheers

I would agree that there are too many league matches played, all the decent sides will then have a significant number of european competition matches to play. I wonder how many people regularly play football at grass roots level below the bottom of the pyramid? There are a lot of other sports for young people to take up, maybe in England the potential pool of talent is spread more thinly over football, rugby, cricket, hockey etc. Would there be as many other popular sports played in Uruguay for instance? cheers

I don't follow the Premier League closely but is it the case that in every position there are very few English qualified players getting regular game time, (I think that only about a third of the minutes played were by English players last season? ) From those players we can deduct those whose international career is behind them, and some of those who were in relegated teams and not quite up to standard, and also the inevitable injuries. This surely leaves Roy, or whoever is brave enough to follow him, not much choice, and a difficult task on the football world stage. I think in world ranking terms we are a kind of Championship standard team, and expectations will have to be lowered for some considerable time, (hoping to be proved wrong though) cheers