Interesting and inspiring photos from Flickr....

[keefer]

My apologies Nearholmer.

As you say the shade varies a lot, I purposely tried to find another colour pic of a loco back in the day.

From Robert Carroll's image, it would seem the cab was Sherwood Green (like the body band on a cl.47) but in other period pics it's a paler, flatter grey-green. I don't know what the actual colour spec. was but would suggest Sherwood.

Edited June 10, 2022 by keefer

[Nearholmer]

13 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

Where rigid vehicles were used on ri ural rounds it was avery different

The curiosity about the example of the one our neighbour drove was that his was to all intents and purposes a rural round, long travel distances. About ten hilly miles from the depot to the outskirts of the country town where I grew up, then many hilly miles round the straggly and spread out town, the back again. Something like a Thames Trader would have been far better for the job.

[cctransuk]

32 minutes ago, keefer said:

The livery was a 2-tone green, with the cab a paler green than the body (not sure if it's the same two colours as on green cl.47s)

By Robert Carroll on Flickr

(Edited to include a better pic)

 

Having seen the 'Teddy Bears' brand new at Swindon, I can confirm that the two shades of green matched those on a Brush Type 4.

 

The yellow used on the buffer beams was not the standard warning panel shade, but a far more 'acid' yellow which was particularly striking. The same shade was used on the maroon 'Westerns' and 'Warships'.

 

CJI.

Edited June 10, 2022 by cctransuk

[Fat Controller]

2 hours ago, Artless Bodger said:

If the wagon has an end door (especially if leading) and top flaps there isn't much to hold it together once the load has punched the end door out.

Added to which, the bottom of the sides and ends were probably rusted through. 

[br2975]

18 hours ago, montyburns56 said:

Cymmer Afan Valley 1966 by Ray Viney

 

 

.

On hearing the crash, nearby residents rushed to the scene.

.

All three of the crew were unharmed, and the locals helped clear up the mess.....................all coal had disappeared within hours.

.

A f w days later a resident local to the crash appeared at Cymmer (Afan) 'box and informed the bobby that a man was stripping the loco.

.

The police were summoned, and the culprit was caught 'red handed' - only to explain that he was a fitter, from Landore Depot, readying the loco for recovery.

.

The loco was recovered and repaired quite quickly at Swindon.

[The Stationmaster]

Coal had a habit of disappearing very rapidly if it fell out of wagons in some parts of South Wales (and probably elsewhere).  And on the Aberdare branch there was a regular problem of the bottom doors of hopper wagons opening and depositing the load in the four foot - whence it rapidly disappeared.  However the frequency of that sort of thing dropped considerably when Q Trains and various BTP patrol measures were introduced and a few 'hopper door openers' had their day in court.

 

The Cymmer Afan derailment was very much typical of the train pushing the loco variety - a common event in South Wales although the precise detail of the starting point of the problem did vary a bit.  But basically once you had a train of coal getting away on you the loco was battling against gravity and stood a not very good chance of winning.  But at least that one was a fairly tidy job with a limited amount of damage - some were far worse than that.

[The Stationmaster]

2 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

The curiosity about the example of the one our neighbour drove was that his was to all intents and purposes a rural round, long travel distances. About ten hilly miles from the depot to the outskirts of the country town where I grew up, then many hilly miles round the straggly and spread out town, the back again. Something like a Thames Trader would have been far better for the job.

Maybe - but potentially more expensive as the body was fixed to the chassis and couldn't be doing two things at once.  Which is why some operators of rigid chassis vehicles were using demountable van bodies years ago (but never BR as far as I know).

[ClikC]

20 hours ago, keefer said:

Although it looks more like a headshunt than just a trap point, the effect is the same. There must be a demolished buffer-stop in there somewhere!

 

Looks far too short to be a headshunt to me, possibly a sand drag? Although I don't know the area, so maybe i'm wrong.

[montyburns56]

The Usual Suspects...

 

Torbay Explorer Worcester Shrub Hill station 11/06/76.

 

 

[br2975]

9 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

Coal had a habit of disappearing very rapidly if it fell out of wagons in some parts of South Wales (and probably elsewhere).  And on the Aberdare branch there was a regular problem of the bottom doors of hopper wagons opening and depositing the load in the four foot - whence it rapidly disappeared.  However the frequency of that sort of thing dropped considerably when Q Trains and various BTP patrol measures were introduced and a few 'hopper door openers' had their day in court.

 

.

I remember a certain BTP counterpart, Dennis Giggs (grandfather of a well known footballer), riding a DMU 'Q' Train in the valleys, when he was hit, and hospitalised, by a rock thrown at the train.

.

[Artless Bodger]

21 hours ago, Fat Controller said:

Added to which, the bottom of the sides and ends were probably rusted through. 

Yes. We had some cupboard door minerals as internal coal wagons at APM (you could see them from the train to Maidstone West). Years after changing to oil firing there were still a few in east mill still standing near the ballast pit reservoir. We used them to store empty biocide drums; open the doors and heft the drum in when it promptly fell through onto the track. Climbing into one was not advisable.

[Fat Controller]

19 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

Maybe - but potentially more expensive as the body was fixed to the chassis and couldn't be doing two things at once.  Which is why some operators of rigid chassis vehicles were using demountable van bodies years ago (but never BR as far as I know).

If the power was barely adequate going uphill, the braking capacity was even more lacking, as there were no brakes on the trailer; I saw a Townsman on its side at the bottom of Thomas Street in Llanelli, where the driver hadn't been able to reduce speed for the reverse camber in the road.

Regarding the early 'swap bodies'; theses were popular with the big mail-order firms. some even using a drawbar trailer allow a second body to be used for the 'trunk' part of the journey. The down-side was that it was not unknown to pick up an empty body in error...

[montyburns56]

ADB975813 HST Derby Works 1986 by Gordon Edgar

 

 

 

 

[37114]

On 11/06/2022 at 10:33, Fat Controller said:

 

Regarding the early 'swap bodies'; theses were popular with the big mail-order firms. some even using a drawbar trailer allow a second body to be used for the 'trunk' part of the journey. The down-side was that it was not unknown to pick up an empty body in error...

Equally it still happens with Artic trailes. A classic happened to a friend of mine at Safeway many years ago (days before cab phones).  2 agency drivers were taking empty trailers from Bristol to meet 2 drivers with full trailers coming down from the North East. The first Bristol drivers arrived at the change over point then 10 mins later another driver pulled in. They swapped trailers and promptly set off back where they had come from. When the first Bristol driver arrived back at the depot he was surprised to see the driver he had changed trailers with pull into the yard 10 mins later. It then dawned on them that instead of swapping trailers with a North East driver they had swapped trailers with each other and had thus brought the same 2 empty trailers back...

[montyburns56]

Blackburn 1991 by Martyn Hilbert

 

 

[MartynJPearson]

Akin to the car sticker "If you can read this, I've lost my caravan", maybe something similar for the back of the HST power car.... :)

[newbryford]

On 10/06/2022 at 13:28, br2975 said:

.

On hearing the crash, nearby residents rushed to the scene.

.

All three of the crew were unharmed, and the locals helped clear up the mess.....................all coal had disappeared within hours.

.

A f w days later a resident local to the crash appeared at Cymmer (Afan) 'box and informed the bobby that a man was stripping the loco.

.

The police were summoned, and the culprit was caught 'red handed' - only to explain that he was a fitter, from Landore Depot, readying the loco for recovery.

.

The loco was recovered and repaired quite quickly at Swindon.

 

There was an incident at Low Moor Crossing in Clitheroe in the late 70s where a freight derailed and shed some of it's load across the tracks by the level crossing.

The local bobbies had no worries about folk turning up with bags to pick up potatoes that had spilled, but the vans carrying whisky were guarded until it could be removed "correctly".

(Tries to find pictures....)

Edited June 12, 2022 by newbryford

[rodent279]

On 08/06/2022 at 11:10, Fat Controller said:

I thought the 'Mechanical Horses', strictly speaking, were the three-wheeled Scammell Scarab, and its successor, the Townsman. The tractor units in the photos are Ford D series and Bedford TK ones. The other vehicle often to be found with these trailers was the Karrier Bantam They all used the same trailers as the three-wheelers, with the patented Scammell coupling and legs, which obviated the need for there being anyone on the ground to do the coupling.  

This sort of trailer remained on city- centre work into the 1980s, latterly with Volvo tractors and 'Lynx' branding.

Were those trailers braked?

[Fat Controller]

5 hours ago, rodent279 said:

Were those trailers braked?

I don't them being braked; it was the era when you'd see roundels on the rear of those vehicles that had air-brakes saying 'Danger- Air Brakes', presumably after 'tail-gaters' had discovered how rapidly they stopped.

 

[Fat Controller]

14 hours ago, newbryford said:

 

There was an incident at Low Moor Crossing in Clitheroe in the late 70s where a freight derailed and shed some of it's load across the tracks by the level crossing.

The local bobbies had no worries about folk turning up with bags to pick up potatoes that had spilled, but the vans carrying whisky were guarded until it could be removed "correctly".

(Tries to find pictures....)

I remember a 'Freightliner' trailer carrying Irish Whiskey, overturning between Pontardulais and Penllegaer it was reported that 'Police from several Forces were in attendance'. Some left with their exhausts very close to the ground..

[montyburns56]

BRE-Leyland Railbus, RDB977020 Paddington 1981 by Jamerail

 

 

Edited June 14, 2022 by montyburns56

[Cowley 47521]

52 minutes ago, montyburns56 said:

BRE-Leyland Railbus, RDB977020 Paddington 1991 by Jamerail

 

 

1981 I think Mr Burns…

[montyburns56]

Did everyone go to Steamtown when they were a kid (or adult)?

 

Steamtown Carnforth 1984 by Martyn Hilbert

 

 

[KeithMacdonald]

On 12/06/2022 at 23:25, newbryford said:

There was an incident at Low Moor Crossing in Clitheroe in the late 70s where a freight derailed and shed some of it's load across the tracks by the level crossing.

The local bobbies had no worries about folk turning up with bags to pick up potatoes that had spilled, but the vans carrying whisky were guarded until it could be removed "correctly".

(Tries to find pictures....)

 

OMG! "Whisky Galore" on the railway? Please please find pictures!!! 😀

[rodent279]

2 hours ago, montyburns56 said:

Did everyone go to Steamtown when they were a kid (or adult)?

 

Steamtown Carnforth 1984 by Martyn Hilbert

 

 

Many happy memories going there as a kid in the mid-70's. Haven't been back since.

And a fair old selection of what are now classic cars in the car park. At least two Maxis, several Escorts, a Polo and an early Sierra.

Edited June 14, 2022 by rodent279