Karhedron

You are right about that. A toad brake van was often used after the withdrawal of passenger services on the branch.

Just came across this nice shot. Definitely showing top-filling in progress rather than just washing out. Once more, there are slim pipes over the tanks that look like they might be retractable. I am not completely sure but I think it is the United Dairies creamery at Ecton on the Leek and Manifold line. http://www.bpodmore.co.uk/images/milk_tank1.jpg

This is always a favourite picture I reach for when the subject of trailing vehicles on a branchline train crops up. This is the 3.20 p.m. mixed train from Marlow to Bourne End in 1954. Sadly it doesn't show the entire train so there may well be a brake van at the rear. But is is certainly a lovely shot with plenty of possibilities that shows "interesting" workings survived well into the BR era. http://www.mdrs.org.uk/localrailways/nas_1411spadeoak.jpg

Don't worry Bruce. It is one thing to work in movements, it is quite another to remember the minutia of how tanks were filled at individual facilities. Having said that, if you do recall any interesting details, there are plenty of us who would love to hear them.

Thanks for the suggestion, I will try looking that up. The one at White City was Wood Lane, another United Dairies establishment. Quite surprising the two were built so close together.

Thanks for the suggestion. That is where I found the photo in the OP. Sadly most of the photos are either post-demolition or facing the wrong direction.

Following the closure of the S&D in 1966, milk traffic from Bailey Gate continued for three more years but was worked southward to the ex-LSWR mainline at Broadstone. I don't know if that is too late to be of interest to you. Some dairy produce was collected from the diary at Corfe and made its way all the way to Kent to serve the Medway ports but I think this was churn traffic rather than tankers.

Please can anyone suggest some good photos of the United Dairies bottling plant at Mitre Bridge Junction? It was located just north of the signal box on the curve between Mitre Bridge Junction and West London Junction. Any photos from around 1930 to 1970 would be great. They don't have to be from the ground, any aerial photos would do. I have only managed to find a few very distant, blurry shots. The best one I have found is this one taken from Willesden MPD. You can see the United Dairies lettering on the chimney but someone has inconveniently parked a loco in front of it, blocking the shot.

Compared to the recent Farish coaches, theses sets represent great value for money.

With all the Covid-related disruption at the moment, I guess that is understandable.

I never met him in person but we exchanged emails on several occasions and his in-depth knowledge was matched by the generosity with which he shared it. He was happy to help with my research on a couple occasions. He will be greatly missed. Condolences to his friends and family at this difficult time.

I remember the 119s on the North Downs line.

Sainsburys was thin on the ground this evening. For some reason they had pretty much sold out of every kind of fresh chicken. I call fowl play!

Milk would get my vote. The traffic lasted up until 1980 and railside dairies came in various shapes and sizes. The smart art deco example at Moreton in the Marsh is always a favourite of mine and loosely inspired the kit-bashed dairy on my layout.

44170 very probably had a sunshade when new but these tended to be removed over time. I think the Blue livery with plain white lettering is the post-war version so may well be correct for the un-shaded version of the tank. You would need a photo to be certain though. I would say there is nothing in the photo of the model that looks anachronistic.

The lettering matches that on this preserved SR example. The numbering and lettering on the chassis looks correct as 44170 was an example built by the LMS in 1931 for Express Dairies.

Fascinating shot, thanks for sharing. I have seen bubble cars tripping milk tanks before between Saltash and Plymouth but not around Torrington. No date unfortunately but I guess mid-60s based on the GSYP class 122. I was not aware of Torrington dispatching single tanks like this, the norm in the books seems to be substantial rakes of 6 or even 8 tanks at a time. The following shot shows a similar unit at Torrington (sans milk tank unfortunately). https://rcts.zenfolio.com/diesel/br/other/hA873F8AD

Pretty much everything in the film is new or nearly so which helps. I don't doubt that a lot of time and elbow grease was spent on it though.

I am fairly sure the navy blue livery with white lettering was a post-war livery. The ED livery from the 1930s was slightly more ornate with lined out lettering as seen here in this 1931 example. https://www.rail-online.co.uk/p937014290/hCE88B46E#hce88b46e

There is a nice promotional video of Express Dairy from 1954 featuring the then brand new bottling plant at Morden. Around the 7:50 mark you can see the resident shunter moving a short train of tanks into the plant. 2 are silver and the other 2 navy blue. Both look newly painted based on their condition. http://www.yorkshirefilmarchive.com/film/daily-round-story-milk-production-and-distribution I do have a shot of a milk train at Carlisle in 1965 featuring a navy blue Express Diary tank with white lettering. Unfortunately it is copyrighted so I can't post it. If the blue livery was still being applied after nationalisation, I don't find it hard to believe examples surviving until the mid-60s as milk tanks were not repainted that often.

Good thinking. That wheeled appliance could be some sort of pump. Hard to tell at the distance. I have seen it (or something similar) in another shot of Dolcoath but again it is not clear enough to make out. It does suggest its presence was not a coincidence though.

I am not 100% certain but I think it is a GWR diagram O58. 2 batches were built in 1947 and 1951. They had 2 separate tanks internally to allow different grades of milk to be carried. Each inner tank had its own filler, hence the 2 ladders for access.

I suppose it must have done. While a few places like Torrington had a shed with facilities at the road-rail loading point, many were just plain sidings like Dolcoath. Some rail-served creameries could load multiple tanks at once. St Erth was mentioned as having 2 loading points while photos of Green Grove appear to show 4 sets of filling pipes. Even so I do not doubt that loading was a time-consuming job and probably doubly so for the sites served by lorry. To be fair, I don't know of anywhere that dispatched 10 tanks in one go. The largest amount I know of from a single location was Torrington which would dispatch 8 tankers in a single batch during the winter.

There is another great shot of Dolcoath from the 1950s, this time from the roadside. https://www.transporttreasury.com/p422157391/h31bae057#h31bae057 Interesting details include the taps and hoses down below the track. I would guess these were for rinsing out the tanks. Also there is some sort of wheeled appliance in the background, near the loco. Anyone care to hazard a guess what it might be? A portable steam lance for sterilizing perhaps?

No, the manholes were used only for cleaning and maintenance. Using them for milk would risk contamination as you rightly deduced. It would also cause frothing which could also lead to the milk spoiling. Milk was pumped in using a small inlet on the top of the milk tank. Inside, the plumbing was arranged such that the milk ran down the sides of the tank to avoid frothing. Milk was pumped into the inlet using pipes or hose that made a fairly tight seal. At least one facility I have seen used funnels to ensure no spillages. The position and number of inlets varied depending on the diagram of the tank. Most had one or two located next to the manhole cover. You can see one in the image below. The only silly question is the one you don't ask. Milk had to go via a dairy to be pasteurised, chilled and tested to ensure it was free of tuberculin. However there were several places where dairies were not rail-connected and milk was driven by lorry and then pumped into milk tanks at a siding. Penzance, Dolcoath, Saltash, Torrington, Crediton, Wellington and Marshfield all used this arrangement and there may have been others that have slipped my memory. Here is a nice shot of Dolcoath in the 1970s. http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/uploads/7/6/8/3/7683812/_5483164_orig.jpg