Wheeltapper

Someone said to me in an exchange of opinions over the interweb recently that no-one did any proper railway modelling anymore as the standard of the ready to run stuff you could buy was so high these days all you needed to make a cracking good model was a healthy bank balance. Interesting point of view but not one I personally go along with as there is so much more to the hobby than having good looking models . However when I put the wagon castings from Woodham Wagon Works on to ebay I must admit I did wonder if there would be much interest as not only were they from early and quite obscure prototypes but also they were more a scratchbuilding aid than a kit . Were there, I wondered, be people happy to source bits and pieces such as wheels and couplings , to assemble a model and paint it accurately or did they all just want to take it out the box and plonk it on the layout. I need not have worried . There has been lots of interest and views and some healthy competitive bidding . Conclusion : Railway Modelling is Alive and Well ! However one surprise did not come from the wagons but from listing some railway postcards I had lying around . These were some modern reproduction cards of old photographs of railway subjects which I thought might make 50p or so each if I was lucky. Predictably several which were pictures taken during the filming of the Titfield Thunderbolt Film in 1952 generated quite a lot of interest but the star was one of Weymouth Harbour Railway in the 1920's which went for nearly TWENTY TIMES my estimate . Even more of a surprise was the buyer - a very well known railway author . Is there a new book on Dorset Railways in preparation ? Time will Tell !

Well its taken me long enough . I have been buying on ebay for several years but never felt confident enough about my computer skills to try any selling. Anyway since I started the Cancer Charity Wagon Project I needed to find a good way of marketing and although selling through the forums I belong to has been good I could not reach as big a target audience as I would like . I felt that as people were being kind enough to give their wagons to the project I should make every effort to maximise their potential income . I have spent quite a lot of time this week getting the hang of the ebay system . Its not easy as the side effects of my treatment severely limit the use of my hands which makes keyboard work difficult to say the least and some of the pictures I have taken with my point and shoot look as though I had the shakes or was roaring drunk at the time I took the photo . Unfortunately the latter wasnt the case. Listing has been sucessfull which is great as I have managed to put some of the Finescale Wagon Kits on the auction site that were donated by the owner of the firm that used to make them . A great pity that Woodham Wagon Works is not still producing these as some of the prototypes are very unusual and causing a lot of interest as they are very early pregrouping wagons . The description for them as more Scratch Building Aids than kits is very apt and I think makes them even more appealing. I am very grateful to Eric for donating them and supporting the project and am so pleased that his wifes cancer experience seems to be coming to a successfull conclusion.Its always great to hear of some GOOD Cancer News.

I have been unable to do any modelling for 18 months which is the amount of time surprisingly I have been travelling to the hospital at Dudley upto four times a week for cancer treatment . However things are now starting to look brighter and I am thinking about which project to restart first . I had a lot sort of started a year and a half ago and although I have not been able to do any modelling I have done lots of reading and internet research. Currently the following projects have been researched and in most cases some work done on stock or buildings Portishead in 4mm - A possible exhibition layout - A substantial part of the station building completed Camerton - A small GWR BLT. All research done , smaller buildings completed Llanynys Terminus - An 0-16.5 freelance Narrow Gauge terminus . Everything built or aquired just needs assembling into a layout instead of all being stored in boxes. Tealham Moor - A Micro 009 Roundy Roundy inspired by the Avalon Brickworks Layout . Under construction and quite a lot done. Oakhill Brewery Railway - All Research completed A Black Country Tramway - inspired by the Kinver Light railway , research completed and some construction or adaptation of trams done. Will have to decide and this time stick to one project to completion rather than bits here and there although to be that organised is rather alien to me. .

The subject of engine sheds is both complicated and fascinating at Bristol and would benefit from some in depth research. Originally an Engine Shed was located at the Bath Road end of the Brunel Building. The structure for that must now be located inside the section used as the Brunel Exhibition Centre as it was right at the end of the platforms 12 and 15 . Those numbers being in use when I used the station a lot in the 1960's . The platform numbering changed to be as shown in the quoted post at a later date when the station was reduced in operational size. The Bristol and Exeter Company had engine sheds on two or maybe three different areas of the station at different times and their works on the later Bath Road Site. Bath Road Steam Shed was part of the 1930's rebuilding programme and was replaced in the 1960's by the Diesel Depot. So thats at least seven different engine sheds that have been at Temple Meads and then you still have St Phillips Marsh , Barrow Road and possibly the Avonside Company Locomotive Works at Avonside Wharf to add into the equation.

Lets just say that as far as that establishment is concerned that comes as absolutely no surprise at all !

Normally the day after the treatment at the cancer clinic the side effects start to hit me and then really kick in after 36 hours. However this time today has been quite good - not perfect but better than usual so perhaps if I keep everything crossed the next few days will be tolerable. I have never seen the Cancer Clinic so busy - all fifteen of the Units treatment booths were in use , both waiting rooms were full and in the large reception area newly arrived patients were crammed in as though it was rush hour on the Piccadilly Line. That is a worrying trend as most were newly diagnosed patients. Still today has been quite good and I have put it to good use by listing on ebay some of the N Gauge Wagons that have been given to my Charity Wagon Project the aim of which is to raise some funds for the Cancer Unit as a way of saying thanks for all their treatment and support . The idea is to use the money for the smaller things that can make a difference to both patients and staff . For example a team of volunteers bring around trollies of tea, coffee ,soft drinks and biscuits for the patients undergoing treatment ,waiting for treatment or to see the consultants . The volunteers never have enough mugs or cups for everyone so one of the first things I want to do is to get them a set of probably 100 plus mugs which will make quite a difference to both them and the patients.

As its not reckoned to be safe for me to drive any distance I have to go to the hospital for my appointments by ambulance or the hospital car service . This used to be staffed by volunteers but is now a commercial service and although the staff are great you wouldnt actually call it a service . They seem to operate to a completely different timezone to the hospital or the patients . Consequently the Clinic tells them I have an appointment at say 8.30am but by the time that is passed to the driver the appointment time has been changed to 10am so it fits in better with the ambulance service workload but the ambulance service dont bother to tell the clinic or the patient what they have done . They operate on a 4 hour window as well so if your appointment is for 10am they may pick you up anytime from 8am to 12 noon and its the same coming back with a 20 minute journey allowing for waiting time taking anything up to six hours. Everyone has given up complaining about the situation and now just accept if you use the service you will expect to be tied up all day and probably well into the evening as well . Personally I have left home at 0745 for a 20 minute trip to the hospital and a 15 minute appointment to see the consultant but not got home until 2200 that evening. Still it does save me paying the exorbitant hospital car park fees . I reckon if I was taking my own car my fees for parking would pay for a new ward on their own On the plus side all this waiting around does give plenty of time to sit and cogitate on the next layout plan so I often have a notebook in my pocket to put down ideas or sketch possible track layouts and the day does not get completely wasted as far as I am concerned.

I made a start on layouts of both Burnham and Edington Junction but changes of circumstances stopped both projects getting very far . I always liked the idea of Highbridge Works as a Depot layout but the one station I do want to do if I ever have the time , space and money is Wells (Priory Road) as the track plan would be great from the operating point of view especially if you had a GW Operator and a S & D Operator and programmed in plenty of S & D shunting moves that could potentially block the GW through route as happened in real life.

I think they did that at other shows as I certainly remember standing by Berrow for sometime awaiting the return of the operators to restart proceedings. There was a much more relaxed attitude to exhibiting back then , even to the extent that some layouts had a cardboard clockface they would put on the layout when the operators went for a break saying something like " Next Performance at .......or Next Train Departs at .............." with the clock hands showing the time. No-one seemed to even consider as a remote possibility then that if a layout was left unattended anyone would attempt to steal any of the stock. How things have changed.

Some of the shots taken around the level crossing have to be the most realistic bit of scenery I have seen for many a year . Outstanding Work - more photos please.

Three weeks has come around very quickly and its off to the Cancer Treatment Clinic today again for my next dose of injections - still at least this new treatment seems to be starting to work well and after 18 months of purgatory with the Chemo we are actually getting some good results. If only I could get more use of my hands back to normal I could get some modelling done as the time it is taking for the nerve damage caused by the chemotheraphy to repair itself seems to be taking for ever. I wonder which of the other patients it is that keeps leaving their copy of the Railway Modeller in the Clinic Waiting Room ?

Thats one that had slipped my mind . In addition I know there have been layouts of Burnham on Sea, Midford ,Writhlington , Midsomer Norton,. Chilcompton and Evercreech New but I dont think I have ever heard of ones of Templecombe , Highbridge , Bridgwater or Glastonbury and I know nothing of ones from south of Templecombe though I know there are some.

Over the years there have been many S & D actual or inspired layouts. Probably the most iconic was Mac Pyrkes Berrow Branch which I first encountered at a Model Railway Club 's exhibition at Central Hall Westminster and then which featured in Railway Modeller on a number of occasions. Going through some old Railway Modellers I came on a new one ( to me anyway) in the July 1999 RM called Broad Sidlinch - a large permanent S & D Layout which had some interesting scenic features . It goes without saying that there are several awe inspiring S & D layouts around today including some by contributors to this Forum but I would be interested to know what others stand out in peoples memories ?

I think the steam shed was replaced in about 1962 give or take a couple of years . It had occupied virtually exactly the same site and area the new diesel shed was built on and had a very similar track layout . AFAIK that Steam shed was built in the mid 1930's when Temple Meads was massively modernised and expanded, before that there had been a Round House with 4 turntables on the site which originally was part of the Bristol and Exeter Railway Company's Locomotive Works ( the B & E version of Swindon) which built broad gauge engines . Surprised you have not seen any pictures of the shed as there are hundreds that have been published , most books on railways in Bristol or about the GWR seem to have a fair few as one of the station platforms being longer than the others provided an ideal vantage point for spotters or photographers to watch the comings and goings in the shed yard by being right next to it.

I hate to think how many decades ago it was that I was last around there but from memory the TM avoiding line that also gave access to the Marsh Shed ran along the back of Bath Road Shed at right angles to it and there was a turntable there as well . I dont know if or when that line was removed in which case from your description of the" bridge position" it could have been the Bath Road Bridge over the St Phillips Marsh line we are talking about or its remotely possible it may have been something that dated back much further when the steam shed was built on the site of the Bristol & Exeter Railway Company Locomotive Works and Running Shed in about 1935. It is however your rendition of the clock that screams Bath Road to me . How we hated that clock when it was first put up as it represented the fact that horrible new diesel depot had replaced the steam shed we grew up with.

I didnt know there was a tunnel at Bath Road or are you meaning the one on the Bristol Harbour line that went under St Mary Redcliffe Church ?

Got the memory into gear at last and the stations in question are on the former Leominster to Bromyard line at FENCOTE and ROWDEN MILL . Both excellent examples of preserved William Clarke Stations.

When the proposed Clutton Station rebuilding preservation scheme had its own web site there was a set of pictures of what I think was a Clarke Building that had been done up privately , track laid and some rolling stock obtained . I think it was Forest of Dean area but I am not sure and that web site seems to have been taken down . Unfortunately I cannot remember the name of the station and Newent is the only one that comes to mind but I am not sure if it was that one and if I am getting stations mixed up. Hope the New Pit stuff came through ok.

Let me have an email address by PM and I will send you a scan of the New Pit Drawings as I have promised someone else a copy as well. Have you come across a colour scheme for the Camerton station building as built? All I have is red brick and yellow and stone quoins but nothing as to colours used for doors , window frames and canopy.

I have remembered that many years ago when seeking material about the Camerton Pits I asked the then Bath Industrial Museum if they had anything and was told that although not on display they had a scale model of New Pit.. They provided me with a set of copies of drawings and sketches of the buildings at New Pit that had been prepared for the construction of the model. I have found those today so if any help let me know and I will get them scanned . I presume Bath at Work is the same organisation and it may be worth asking them if they have anything on Old Pit. If you remember - the Reverend Skinner was Vicar of Camerton and his arch enemy was a collier by the name of Gould. By a strange coincidence 150 years later in the late 1960's the then Vicar of Camerton started to organise what was to become an annual Traction Engine Rally in aid of the parish church. A couple of his fellow organisers who owned a Sentinel Steam Wagon also lived in the village. Their name ?.........................................Gould !.

As I understand it the reason for the rope shunting was that there was insufficient length of headshunt . That particulat problem being rectified when the line was extended through to Limpley Stoke. Never really understood why the original siding was not made longer in the first place rather than resort to the rope shunting as space was not an issue and cost would not have been that exorbitant. Have you come up with any photos of the bottom siding being used for wagon repairs . I have only seen a reference to the fact materials were offloaded on the road and manhandkled down the bank by the bridge. . I have it in my mind it was Marcrofts who did any repair work there but I cannot remember where I got that little gem from. I havent seen Colliers Way , must keep an eye out for that one but while checking my books for info I found my copy of Fred Flowers Book "Somerset Coal Mining Life " which I am now rereading as there is some fascinating stuff in it. I must also get my copy of the Reverend Skinners book out and start going through that again . The Camerton area has always been known for unusual characters residing in the parish but the Reverend was in a class of his own and seems to have regarded the colliers almost as some sort of zoological specimens from a different planet , he does however give you some idea of the poor conditions and poverty endured by the miners in his writing so I think his intentions were right.

I have always assumed the back of the station building to be a blank wall but I have no reasons to substantiate that thought . From memory the drawing in Gerry Beales book doesnt show anything and try as I might although I can remember having a look around the back of the building when I visited the site fifty years ago I cannot remember what was there. I guess the proximity of the steep bank to the building would deter anyone from taking a picture from there . In the absence of any other information and as the building was a standard type of design I think all you can do is look at other examples and make an educated guess using the windows in the front as a possible guide if you are going to put them in as its a fairly safe bet if fitted to the back they would be opposite the ones in the front wall. Surprising if you study the pictures long enough what does come to light . I had often wondered why there was no livestock pens or loading facility at the station as it is in an agricultural area .It took a while to realise that the stack of hurdles which are leant against the station or incline wall in several photos were there for that purpose and would have been used to channel the livestock across the platform and the cattle wagon or whatever would not have to be shunted again if it was stopped opposite the entrance to the platform from the station approach when the train pulled in. Incidentally do you intend to replicate the shunting movement with the wire rope ? I have got a copy of the Simon Castens and Roger Halse book , surprising how much photographic material there is for the canal considering when it closed. Richard PS I referred to the pub where the statue used to be as the Miners Arms - I should have said The Jolly Collier

John Cornwell's book" Collieries of Somerset & Bristol " has not got anything on Old Pit but does have some very interesting close up shots of the Wooden Headstock being changed for a Steel one in 1938 at New Pit. There is a wealth of constructional detail in the pictures for the Headstocks which will be of use to anyone doing a colliery model . There is one picture of the surface buildings at New Pit from an angle I have not seen elsewhere which is also usefull. SIAS Survey No 11 (Somerset Industrial Archaeological Society) - The Somerset Coalfield by Shane Gould has a photo of the Old Pit Powder House. The Frome to Bristol Middleton Press Book has one photo of the station with an auto trailer stood at the platform and you can see two sets of Headgear at Old Pit together with a building and large chimney. You can just see what looks like the wall of another building at the top of the station incline but its very indistinct. I have noticed on several pictures there is a round brick structure behind the left hand end of the station building . In one picture it has quite a substantial wooden construction on top looking as though it could be a well , probably for the station although in one picture it looks to be too big for that purpose and made me wonder if it was something to do with the pit. The track layout plan in the Middleton book is dated 1931. From what I have seen of pictures of the canals bridges they were all of a similar design so I suspect the Camerton one would be the same type. There is a good picture of the Monkton Coombe Bridge on what was later to become the site of Monkton Coombe Level Crossing in Ken Clews book The Somersetshire Coal Canal and Railways. Looking through the Clew book reminded me I have always wondered if any details of the Ashman Locomotive which was built by the Engineer at Clandown Colliery in 1826 and successfully trialed on the Radstock Tramway until the track proved to be inadequate for locomotive use have survived anywhere . The only other info I have seen is that it hauled 7 wagons and was later used as a winding engine after its railway use . Now that would make an interesting subject for a model if enough details of the engine could be found.

My map version showing Old Pit came from "The History of the Somerset Coalfield" by Warrington & Down . It was originally published by David & Charles but has long been out of print. I did hear however( but have not checked it out )that Radstock Museum were going to have it reprinted . Both the Museum and the Somerset Coal Canal Society may be worth asking if they have information about Old Pit.

I have a very detailed map of the Old and New Pits from 1883 showing the locations of all the buildings and what they were , together with the track layout of the 2ft 4 inch gauge tramways and the standard gauge line and sidings. There were two bridges over the canal at Old Pit , one for the public road and the other for the tramway where it crossed the canal from the screens on the south side to join what later became the track to New Pit in about 1910 .The canal narrows right down at the point where the tramway crosses which leads me to speculate it may have been a swing bridge for the tramway.A seperate section of tramway came out the south side of the screens and ran along the top of the batch. The pit buildings at Old Pit were well spread out as still on the south bank of the canal but on the opposite side of the public road were the Coke House and Coke Ovens , across the canal on the north bank the smithy and stables were behind the cottages but joined to them and there is a group of three buildings fronting the station incline but they are not marked as to use.The pithead is about where the miners statue stands. (I think that statue used to be outside the pub - the Miners Arms ?) and I am glad to see that area has been tidied up a bit as when I last visited about 15 years ago the statue had disapeared under bushes and vegetation. I was very fortunate to visit Camerton Station several times in the 1950's when all the track was still in situ as it was untouched by demolition contractors for 7 or 8 years after closure . Of course I never took a camera with me as for some unfathomable reason we used to think the railways would always be there and there was no reason to record them for posterity . Got that wrong didnt we. ? The reason that the canal course is not clear around New Pit is that in 1902 New Pit started to use the canal bed as a convenient area for dirt tipping rather than increase the height of the batch and distance from the pithead.