Category Archives: British Isles – Railways and Tramways

The Border Counties Railway – Part 1 – Hexham to Chollerton

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The featured image above was included in a Steam Days article in September 2021. Crossing the River Tyne on approach to Border Counties Junction is Gresley ‘K3’ class 2-6-0 No 61897, a St Margarets allocated locomotive that has worked through, and the stock is different too, ex-LNER and cascaded down from main line work. In due course the condition of the Border Counties Bridge and the predicted cost of repairs was a major factor in the abandonment of this ex-NBR route, with passenger trains ceasing to run on 13th October 1956, although the passage of goods trains continued through to 1 September 1958. [37]

At the end of August 2024, we visited Kielder Water Reservoir, passing through Bellingham on the way. We noticed a disused railway for which a good number of structures and embankments/cuttings remained in place.

This was the Border Counties Railway (BCR), a line connecting Hexham in Northumberland, with Riccarton Junction on the Waverley Route in Roxburghshire. [1]

The BCR was also known as the North Tyne Railway as it ran beside the River North Tyne for much of its length.

The line between Kielder and Falstone is now under the waters of the Kielder Water Reservoir.

“In 1844 the North British Railway (NBR) was authorised to build a line from Edinburgh to Berwick to join an English line there. The NBR line ran close to the coast avoiding most high ground and opened in 1846. In 1845 the Caledonian Railway was authorised to construct a line from both Glasgow and Edinburgh to Carlisle, crossing the Southern Uplands at Beattock Summit, 1,033 ft (315 m) above sea level.” [1][2][3][4]

In 1853, talk was of a significant coal seam around Plashetts and in 1854, Robert Nicholson was engaged to survey a railway route to serve this coalfield. “His line was to run from Hexham, … through Reedsmouth to Bellingham, and on to the coal deposits at Falstone. His work was remarkably quickly done, for a bill for the Border Counties Railway was submitted to Parliament for the 1854 session. … The scheme was authorised when the Border Counties Railway (North Tyne Section) Act 1854 (17 & 18 Vict. c. ccxii) was given royal assent on 31st July 1854. The capital was to be £250,000.” [1]

The line was built as a single line, but land was acquired for later doubling, and all the bridges except the Hexham bridge, were built for double-track The full length of the authorised line was initially not built before “a public train service started on 5th April 1858; there were four passenger trains each way Monday to Saturday, and two on Sunday. They ran from Hexham to Chollerford, with an intermediate station at Wall.” [1]

It was to be only a further 16 months before the remaining length of the line was authorised when the Border Counties Railway (Liddesdale Section and Deviations) Act 1859 (22 & 23 Vict. c. xliii) got royal assent on 11th August 1859. The authorised capital for the whole line was increased by £100,000. The North British Railway were authorised to make a working arrangement with the BCR.

“From Wark, the line approached Reedsmouth, and there was a temporary goods terminus at Countess Park there while the river bridge was completed. The passenger service terminated at Wark. There was a demonstration train from Newcastle to Countess Park run on 1st December 1859. Public opening was expected ‘within the week” but this proved to be inaccurate, and the opening throughout to Falstone was delayed until 2nd September 1861.”

By 1860 the BCR was seriously short of cash; “the authorised capital had never been fully raised and the hoped-for coal reserves at Plashetts were disappointing. There seemed little chance of raising more capital now. The North British Railway was expansive, and was happy to take over the local line, and the result was the North British and Border Counties Railways Amalgamation Act 1860 (23 & 24 Vict. c. cxcv), passed on 13th August 1860; … the act regularised the use by BCR trains of Hexham station of the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway. The BCR network was known now as the NBR (Border Counties Section).” [1]

The construction of the line throughout to Riccarton was completed by mid-April 1862, but the opening of the line to Riccarton did not take place until 24th June 1862 for goods, and 1st July 1862 for passengers. [1]

On 1st May 1865, “the Wansbeck Railway was opened, between Morpeth and Reedsmouth. The Wansbeck Railway had been promoted independently but was taken over by the North British Railway in 1863.” [1]

Wikipedia provides this sketch map © Afterbrunel and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 4.0). This image does not show the Wansbeck Railway from Morpeth which met the line at Reedsmouth. [1]

From Hexham to Riccarton Junction

Hexham Railway Station

Hexham sits on what was once the Newcastle to Carlisle Railway (NCR) and which is, in the 21st century, known as the Tyne Valley Line.

Hexham Station was opened on 9th March 1835 by the NCR which became part of the  North Eastern Railway (NER) in 1862.

The original station was probably designed by the architect Benjamin Green of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. It was altered and extended between 1835 and 1871 and again by 1901. It is now a Grade II listed structure and stands in a conservation area. The station was restored in 1998/1999. [5]

After the NCR had been absorbed by the NER, the station became a junction, with the opening of the first section of the BCR, between Hexham and Chollerford in April 1858. The first section of a second branch, the Hexham and Allendale Railway, was opened for goods in August 1867. Initially promoted to serve lead mines, that line opened for passengers in March 1869. [6][7]

Since the closure of the Hexham and Allendale Railway to passengers in 1930 (completely in 1950), as well as the BCR in 1956 (completely in 1958), the station has diminished in size and importance. Both lines met with the Tyne Valley Line to the West of the station. [6][7][8: p134]

The Disused Stations website covers Hexham Station in some detail. [9]

Hexham Railway Station at the turn of the 20th century. The station was on the Newcastle to Carlisle mainline within commuting distance of Newcastle. It was the junction station for two lines, the Border Counties Railway and the Allendale line. [11]
The immediate vicinity of Hexham Railway Station in the 21st century as it appears on Google Maps. [Google Maps, September 2024]
Hexham Overhead Signal Cabin as seen from the Southeast end of Hexham Station platforms, © Mike Quinn and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 2.0). The gantry signal cabin was built around 1896 and is Grade II listed. [12]
Hexham Railway Station in 2009, © Nigel Thompson and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 2.0). [10]
Hexham Railway Station looking Southeast from the A6079 in 2024. The footbridge can be seen beyond the platform canopies and even further, beyond the footbridge, the signal cabin mounted on its own steel structure over the running lines. [Google Streetview, March 2024]
Looking Northwest from the A6079 overbridge. The line to Carlisle heads away into the distance. [Google Streetview, March 2024]

A straight length of line brings the railway to the banks of the Tyne. The line curves round toward the West and follows the South bank of the Tyne as far as Border Counties Junction where trains for Riccarton Junction and Hawick left the Borders Railway and crossed the Tyne on an angled viaduct.

Border Counties Junction

An extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey from the turn of the 20th century which focusses on the Border Counties Junction and the viaduct across the River Tyne. [15]
The same area as it appears on the ESRI satellite imagery provided by the National Library of Scotland (NLS). [15]
The Border Counties Junction in 1939, the Newcastle & Carlisle main line runs ahead with the incoming Allendale (left) and Border Counties (right) lines. The BCR crosses the bridge in the right foreground. The Allendale route was by now goods only. Note the timber crossing for the bridleway alongside the main line. This photo appears to have been taken from a footbridge over the line. It also appears in R.R. Darsley & D.A. Lovett’s book about the line. [12][13: p11]
A track-level.view of Border Counties Junction from the East, under the footbridge adjacent to the signal box. [14]
The Border Counties Viaduct over the River Tyne seen from the South. As well as being carried by the Hexham Courant, the photograph appears in R.R. Darsley & D.A. Lovett’s book about the line. Class 3MT 2-6-0 No. 77011 is crossing the bridge with a train for Hexham. The bridge was demolished in 1959. As can be seen on the ESRI satellite image above, the cut-waters and iron base of the piers still remain, © A.J. Wickens. [14][13: p12]
The piers/cut-waters from the Border Counties Viaduct as they appeared in the 1980s. [14]
A postcard view of the Border Counties Viaduct from the West. [14]

Acomb Colliery

A short distance beyond the viaduct on the Border Counties Railway was a private colliery line which served Acomb Colliery.

“Mining at Acomb seemed to stop and start between the mid 19th century until 1909, when a larger complex opened until 1952.” [20]

There were various owners before the pit was taken on at nationalisation by the NCB. … Messrs. Stobart & Co. (1840s), J. Morrison & Co. (1860s), Messrs. Morrison (1880s), Tynedale Coal Co. Ltd. (1910s), Acomb Coal Co. Ltd. (1920s), National Coal Board (1947). [20]

For more information about the coal workings on the site, please consult the Durham Mining Museum. [21]

It is worth noting that the half-mile long line was worked by one engine, Black Hawthorn 0-4-0ST No. 1068 for over 30 years until closure of the mine in 1952. [13: p12]

An extract from the 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1920, published in 1922. The most southerly length of the Acomb Colliery Railway is shown on the OS map. The full length has been sketched onto the map extract. The line ran parallel to the Border Counties Railway which provided a loop line to allow transfer of coal (and other loads) to and from the private line. [27]
Approximately the same area as it appears on modern satellite imagery. Note the modern A69 which crosses the North Tyne just South of the location of the Southern terminus of the Acomb Colliery Railway. [Google Maps, September 2024]
The route of the Acomb Colliery Railway which is now a footpath from the village down to the River North Tyne. This photo was taken looking West in July 2020, © Mike Quinn and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence, (CC BY-SA 2.0). [16]
The route of the Acomb Colliery Railway which is now a footpath from the village down to the River North Tyne. This photo was also taken looking West in July 2020, © Mike Quinn and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence, (CC BY-SA 2.0). [17]
The route of the Acomb Colliery Railway which is now a footpath from the village down to the River North Tyne. This photo was taken looking East in July 2020, © Mike Quinn and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence, (CC BY-SA 2.0). [18]
Pit tub, former Acomb Colliery: this pit tub commemorates the former Acomb Colliery which operated until 1952. The site was taken over and restored by Northumberland County Council in 1980. This photo was taken in March 2023, © Oliver Dixon and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence, (CC BY-SA 2.0). [19]

Howford Brick and Tile Works

These works sat alongside the line, just a few hundred metres North of the Acomb Colliery Railway.

Howford Brick & Tile Works. [23]
The location of Howford Brick & Tile Works hosts Heidelberg Materials Ready mixed Concrete plant in the 21st century. The route of the old railway is shrouded in trees. [Google Maps, September 2024]

North Tyne Colliery

Some distance further North, North Tyne Colliery sat adjacent to the line.

North Tyne Colliery was served by a 500yd. loop off the Border Counties Railway, it also had a tramway linking it to the road network (A6079). Messrs Walton & Cooper worked a drift mine here from 1906 to 1922. This extract comes from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1921. [13: p13][23]
Approximately the same area as shown on the OS map extract above. The site of the colliery is now heavily wooded. [Google Maps, September 2024]

For further information about this colliery, please consult Durham Mining Museum. [22]

Wall Railway Station

Wall Railway Station was 1/3 mile from the village. It sat alongside the River North Tyne on its East bank a few hundred metres North of North Tyne Colliery.

Wall Railway Station alongside the River North Tyne. [23]
A similar area on modern satellite imagery. [Google Maps, September 2024]
Wall Station seen from the South, © John Mann Collection and used here with the kind permission of Nick Catford. [25]
Wall Railway Station: the old buildings as seen from the West (from Homer’s Lane), © Peter McDermott and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 2.0). [24]
Wall Railway Station seen from the A6079. [Google Streetview, June 2016]
The Old Signal Box at Wall Railway Station has been refurbished as self-catering accommodation. [26]

There is good coverage of Wall Railway Station on the Disused Stations website. [25]

Humshaugh Railway Station

North of Wall Railway Station there was little to interest us until the BCR reached Humshaugh Railway Station. Darsley & Lovett say that “the station was opened as Chollerford on 5th August 1858 and was the BCR’s first temporary terminus. Sidings once led to a lime depot, where a tramway, inclined at 1 in 5, led to Brunton kilns. Another tramway led to the quarry. They closed in 1895.” [13: p18]

Historic England say that the grade II listed kilns were located North of Brunton Bank near Chollerford were probably built in the early 19th century. [29] Nearby was Brunton Bank Quarry. There is no evidence of a tramway, in the immediate vicinity of the station, leading to these two sites on the Ordnance Survey of 1896.

Humshaugh Railway Station, as shown on the 25″ Ordnance Survey just before the turn of the 20th century. [28]
The railway station site as it appears on modern satellite imagery. [Google Maps, September 2024]
Looking North-northwest along the B6318 towards Chollerford. The parapets of the bridge carrying the road over the old railway can be seen in the photo. Little is visible either side of the road as the old line has been reclaimed by vegetation. [Google Streetview, August 2023]
Humshaugh Railway station seen from the B6318 in 1957.  The line was closed to passengers in 1956 but open for goods traffic until 1958. This was the occasion of a Special run for the Institute of Transport of a new Metropolitan-Cammell four-car DMU, © Walter Dendy, deceased and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence, (CC BY-SA 2.0). [31]
Humshaugh Railway station site in private hands, seen from the B6318 in 1997, © Ben Brooksbank and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 2.0). [30]

Only a short distance beyond Humshaugh Railway Station, the old railway passed under what became the A6079 and then passed a Limekiln at the bottom of a tramroad which served Cocklaw Quarry.

Another extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey completed before the turn of the 20th century. Shows both the location of the road bridge and the Limekiln. [28]
The same location on 21st century satellite imagery. The line of the BCR can easily be made out, as can the location of the limekiln at the junction of the tramroad and railway. [Google Streetview, September 2024]
An enlarged extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey which shows the loop provided by the NCR at the limekiln. [28]
This extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey at a small scale than the previous extracts shows the full length of the tramroads serving Cocklaw Quarry. This was a 3ft gauge tramroad with an incline. [28]

A short distance further North the line bridged a road and stream at the same location. …

An enlarged extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1895/6 which shows the next significant structure on the BCR. [32]
The same location in the 21st century. [Google Maps, September 2024]
The line bridged both road and stream by means of a stone-arched structure. This photo of the bridge is taken from the Southeast. [Google Streetview, July 2021]
Another extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey. Another bridge, this time spanning both the road which became the A6079 and a tributary to the River North Tyne. [34]
The same area on 21st century satellite imagery. [Google Maps, September 2024]
The viaduct which carried the BCR over what became the A6079. [Google Streetview, July 2023]
The view from the North on the A6079 of the same viaduct. [Google Streetview, July 2023]

Chollerton Railway Station

“The station was opened on 1st December 1859 by the North British Railway. It was on the west side of the A6079 at the junction with an unclassified road and immediately southwest of Chollerton village. A goods loop and a coal depot were to the south. A small goods shed was sited at the south end of the platform. Instead of extending the platform, the NBR built a new one to the north with a wooden waiting shelter. The original buildings remained in use and the siding was adjusted so that one of the two docks used the old platform. There was a three-ton crane in the goods yard. The station closed to passengers on 15th October 1956 and closed completely on 1st September 1958.” [33]

Shortly after crossing the viaduct above the line entered Chollerton Railway Station. The station sat opposite the village church, St. Giles. [35]
The same area on modern satellite imagery. [Google Maps, September 2024]
The northern end of Chollerton Railway Station looking North. [36]
A view of the site of Chollerton Railway Station from the East on the A6079. [Google Streetview, July 2023]

Chollerton Railway Station is the end of this first part of the journey along the Border Counties Railway.

References

  1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Counties_Railway, accessed on 30th August 2024.
  2. G.W.M. Sewell; The North British Railway in Northumberland; Merlin Books, Braunton, 1991
  3. David St. John Thomas; The North British Railway. Vol. 1; David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1969.
  4. Dr. T.  Bell;. Railways of the North Pennines: The Rise and Fall of the Railways Serving the North Pennine Orefield; The History Press, Stroud, 2015.
  5. https://www.hexham-courant.co.uk/news/23638422.celebrating-188th-anniversary-hexham-train-station, accessed on 31st August 2024.
  6. https://newcastlephotos.blogspot.com/2013/02/hexham-railway-station.html?m=1, accessed on 31st August 2024.
  7. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexham_railway_station, accessed on 31st August 2024.
  8. Geoffrey Body; Railways of the Eastern Region. Vol. 2: Northern Operating Area. Patrick Stephens, Wellingborough, 1988.
  9. http://disused-stations.org.uk/h/hexham, accessed on 31st August 2024.
  10. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324957581085, accessed on 1st September 2024.
  11. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=15.7&lat=54.97493&lon=-2.09430&layers=168&b=1&o=100, accessed on 5th September 2024.
  12. Swedebasher; The Borders Railway: an Operating Review; in Steam Days, 14th September 2021, via https://www.pressreader.com/uk/steam-days/20210914/281560883923116, accessed on 5th September 2024.
  13. R.R. Darsley & D.A. Lovett; Hexham to Hawick: The Border Counties Railway; The Middleton Press, Midhurst, West Sussex, 2011.
  14. https://www.hexham-courant.co.uk/news/16614029.celebrating-age-steam, accessed on 6th September 2024.
  15. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.0&lat=54.98194&lon=-2.12117&layers=168&b=1&o=100, accessed on 6th September 2024.
  16. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6554258, accessed on 6th September 2024.
  17. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6554261, accessed on 6th September 2024.
  18. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6554273, accessed on 6th September 2024.
  19. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/7435432, accessed on 6th September 2024.
  20. https://www.northeastheritagelibrary.co.uk/coalsarchive/hex01a/acomb-colliery, accessed on 6th September 2024.
  21. http://www.dmm.org.uk/colliery/a005.htm, accessed on 6th September 2024.
  22. http://www.dmm.org.uk/colliery/n031.htm, accessed on 6th September 2024.
  23. https://maps.nls.uk/view/132279821, accessed on 6th September 2024.
  24. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3099951, accessed on 6th September 2024.
  25. http://disused-stations.org.uk/w/wall/index.shtml, accessed on 6th September 2024.
  26. https://theoldsignalbox.co.uk, accessed on 6th September 2024.
  27. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=15.3&lat=54.98913&lon=-2.12172&layers=257&b=1&o=100, accessed on 7th September 2024.
  28. https://maps.nls.uk/view/132268229, accessed on 7th September 2024.
  29. https://www.gooseygoo.co.uk/site/brunton-bank-limekilns, cf. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1156634, accessed on 7th September 2024.
  30. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3695106, accessed on 7th September 2024.
  31. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5081121, accessed on 7th September 2024.
  32. https://maps.nls.uk/view/132268217, accessed on 7th September 2024.
  33. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chollerton_railway_station, accessed on 8th September 2024.
  34. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.5&lat=55.03813&lon=-2.10817&layers=168&b=1&o=100, accessed on 8th September 2024.
  35. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.5&lat=55.04086&lon=-2.10998&layers=168&b=1&o=100, accessed on 8th September 2024.
  36. https://shop.memorylane.co.uk/mirror/0300to0399-00399/overgrown-tracks-shrubs-flowers-platform-21635871.html, accessed on 8th September 2024.
  37. https://www.pressreader.com/uk/steam-days/20210914/281560883923116, accessed on 16th September 2024.

The Oxford and Aylesbury Tram Road – The Railway Magazine, November 1899.

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The featured image above is of the Aveling & Porter locomotive known as ‘Old Chainey’, one of two unusual steam locomotives which served the line in early days. [29]

One of the delightful things about reading early copies of The Railway Magazine is the perspective from which articles are written. In this particular case the existence of the Great Central Railway is a welcome novelty!

This article begins: “Quainton Road is a name which has of late become familiar to the railway public owing to its being the converging point of the lines of the Great Central Railway’s recently-opened extension to London with those of the Metropolitan. It is situated in Buckinghamshire, at a distance of 45 miles from London” [1: p456]

Goodman goes on to refer to the Great Central as being “destined to become a power in the land.” [1: p456]

With the benefit of hindsight, whatever could be said about the Great Central during its lifetime, we know that it has not survived as a main line!

“The Great Central Railway [GCR] in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension.” [2]

It survived as an independent company until, “on 1st January 1923, the company was grouped into the London and North Eastern Railway.” [2]

Ultimately, “the express services from London to destinations beyond Nottingham were withdrawn in 1960. The line was closed to passenger trains between Aylesbury and Rugby on 3 September 1966.  A diesel multiple-unit service ran between Rugby Central and Nottingham Arkwright Street until withdrawal on 3 May 1969.” [2]

But this article is not about the GCR. It is about  what Goodman describes as a “useful but little-known line … Called the Oxford and  Aylesbury Tram Road.” [1: p456] The name is somewhat of a misnomer, as the line depended on the Metropolitan service between Aylesbury and Quainton and only ever ran as far as Brill, with a population of 1,300. It was only 6.5 miles in length. It was known during its lifetime by a number of different names: the Brill Tramway; the Quainton Tramway; the Wotton Tramway; the Oxford & Aylesbury Tramroad; and the Metropolitan Railway Brill Branch.

The Oxford and Aylesbury Tram Road network at its fullest extent, © Iridescent and licensed for use here under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 3.0). [3]

“In 1883, the Duke of Buckingham planned to upgrade the route to main line standards and extend the line to Oxford, creating the shortest route between Aylesbury and Oxford. Despite the backing of the wealthy Ferdinand de Rothschild, investors were deterred by costly tunnelling. In 1888 a cheaper scheme was proposed in which the line would be built to a lower standard and avoid tunnelling. In anticipation, the line was named the Oxford & Aylesbury Tramroad.” [3]

The railway network in the area around Brill in 1872, ©  Iridescent and licensed for use here under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 3.0). [3]

The first locomotives on the line were particularly unusual. Built by Aveling and Porter of Rochester, they arrived on the line in 1872, at which time the line was known as the Wotton Tramway.

A previous article looked at these Aveling and Porter locomotives among other unusual locomotives. Goodman says that “the early locomotive stock of the tramway consisted of two four-wheeled engines, which would now-a-days present a more or less unique appearance by the side of more modern types of locomotion.” [1: p457]

“Old Chainey” is a chain and flywheel-driven loco built in 1872.  It was one of two locomotives on the line between Quainton Road and Brill. It was not very successful, especially if loads were heavy. It lasted in service on the Tramway until 1895 when it was sold for use at Nether Heyford Brickworks in Northamptonshire, where it continued working until the Second World War. [5]

It is now a static exhibit. It was placed, first at the London Transport Museum and then on long-term loan from the London Transport Museum to the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre. [6]

Goodman continues: “In general design [the locomotives] were not unlike the familiar traction engine, being built upon the same principle. Each engine had only one cylinder, which was situated above the boiler. Motion was accordingly imparted to a fly-wheel placed near the foot-plate, which, being connected with the running (not driving) wheels by a chain passing round their axles, caused the engine to move. The dimensions of the cylinders were 7 in. in diameter and 10 inches stroke. The wheels on the rails were 3 ft. in diameter. Both engines had long chimneys, fitted with caps to prevent the emission of sparks. For the accommodation of the enginemen, cabs – in reality little more than weather-boards – were provided, and at each side, about 18 in. above the rail-level, a footboard was fixed. …. The speed attained by them would hardly be termed ‘express’, the time occupied on the 6.5 miles from one terminus to the other averaging about 90 minutes!” [1: p457] That is just over 4 mph.

The line was upgraded in 1894, but the extension to Oxford was never built. “Instead, operation of the Brill Tramway was taken over by London’s Metropolitan Railway and Brill became one of its two north-western termini.” [3] The Aveling and Porter locomotives appear to have remained in service until 1895.

No. 807 was sold for industrial use. It appears in the adjacent image at Nether Heyford Brickworks on 11th April 1936, © G. Alliez. This image accompanies an article from ‘The Engineer’ reproduced by the Industrial Railway Society. [5]

The nickname “Old Chainey” appears to result from the noisy operation of these locos. The one on static display at Buckinghamshire Railway Centre is Aveling and Porter No. 807. It was the first of the two locomotives converted for use on the Tramway. They cost £398 each. [7: p13] It was delivered to the Tramway in January 1872. The second loco was delivered in September of the same year. [7: p18][8: p29]

Before the writing of Goodman’s article in 1899, probably as early as 1895, more advanced locomotives were introduced, allowing trains to run faster. Goodman comments that the Aveling and Porter locos were: “superseded by two smart little locomotives  of a more modern design. They [were] Huddersfield No.1 and Brill No. 2. and were built by Messrs. Manning, Wardle and Co., Boyne Engine Works, Leeds, the former in 1878 and the latter in 1804. Both [had] six wheels, all coupled, saddle tanks, and inside cylinders, with a total wheel-base of 10 ft. 9 in. and when in working order they each [weighed] about 10 tons. The wheels [were] 3 ft. in diameter, and the cylinders 12 in. in diameter, with a stroke of 17 in.” [1: p458]

Manning Wardle engine Brill No.1, Huddersfield at Quainton Road in the late 1890s with the Wotton Tramway’s passenger coach of the mid-1870s, an 1895 Oxford & Aylesbury Tramroad passenger coach, and a goods wagon loaded with milk churns. [3]
A rather poor photograph showing Brill No. 2, Brill. [1: p457]

The rural nature of the area meant that passenger traffic on the line was never particularly high. “The primary income source remained the carriage of goods to and from farms. Between 1899 and 1910 other lines were built in the area, providing more direct services to London and the north of England. The Brill Tramway went into financial decline.” [3]

In 1899, Goodman reported that “the traffic receipts of this little line have always been gratifying to the proprietors, and in 1894 the reconstruction of the tramway was sanctioned, and, as previously mentioned, it was decided to carry it through to Oxford. The old light rails have been replaced by flat-bottomed ones spiked directly on to transverse sleepers, but in some places bull-headed rails and chairs are utilised. The banks of earth which originally did duty for platforms have made way for small but serviceable stations, of which there are four, besides those at the two terminal points, viz Waddesden, Westcott, Wotton, and Wood Siding.” [1: p458]

An extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey of 1898 which shows Quainton Road Station. [18]
A similar area on modern satellite imagery. The curve of the old line can still be seen. [Google Maps, September 2024]
An enlarged view of the platform at Quainton Road and the branch leaving to the bottom-left, heading towards Brill. [18]
Another extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey which focusses on Waddesdon Station. [19]
A similar area on modern satellite imagery. The shape of Rag Hall can easily bring me out. The old line enters on the grey line from the top of this image and leaves bottom-left following the grey line. [Google Maps, September 2024]
Waddesdon Railway Station, © Public Domain.. [26]
Westcott village and Station. [20]
An enlarged extract from the 1898 25″Ordnance Survey showing the Westcott station site. [21]
A similar area around Westcott Station on modern satellite imagery. [Google Maps, September 2024]
The length of the Gas Works Siding. [22]
Westcott Gas Works and siding. [12]
Wotton Station at the turn of the 20th century. [17]
A similar area on modern satellite imagery. The route of the old line runs into this image along the grey line from the right and leaves top-left in the trees. The double line of trees entering from top-right marks the route of the old GCR line which was built in the early 20th century. That line bridge the older tramway.. [Google Maps, September 2024]
Wotton Railway Station seen from the East with the main line of the tramway on the right side of the image and curving away to the top-right. This image is sourced from Wikipedia and used under their ‘fair use’ criteria. [23]
Northwest of Wotton Station was Church Siding. A single track line left the Tram Road at this junction and ran some distance North through Wotton Underwood, past Yeat Farm to Kingswood. [16]
A similar area on modern satellite imagery. The curve of the old line can still be seen running across the lower half of this image. The Church Siding turns away to the North following the line of trees. [Google Maps, September 2024]
Wood Siding Station in the 1890s. [1: p458]
A second photograph of Wood Siding Station showing both passenger and goods facilities. [1: p458]
Another extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey showing Wood Siding Station in its original location. It sat on the line of the GWR’s line which opened in circa., 1910. [17]
A similar area on modern satellite imagery. The old line crosses this image, right to left. The later GWR line from Princess Risborough to Birmingham enters bottom-right and leaves centre-top. [Google Maps, September 2024]
When the GWR line from Princess Risborough to Birmingham was built in circa. 1910, Wood Siding Station was moved to sit on the bridge which carried the Brill Tramway over the GWR line. [14]
London Transport No. 23 at Wood Siding in 1935, © H.C. Casserley. [27]
4-4-0T Metropolitan A-Class locomotive No. 41 of 1869 at work on the Brill branch at Wood Siding. The parapet of the bridge carrying the line over the GWR line can be seen to the left of the loco.  Until the closure of the line in November 1935, the sight of antiquated locos pulling antiquated coaches was familiar. It was a spectacle that seemed to confirm the line’s quaint and archaic reputation. [28]
The abutments are all that remains of the wide bridge which carried Brill Tramway across the GWR line, © Hywel Williams and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 2.0). [13]
Brill Brick and Tile Works had their own siding. The siding serving the Works was only 150 yards long and crossed the adjacent highway on the level, presumably at an ungated crossing. [11]
A similar area on modern satellite imagery. The curve of the old line can still be seen. The Brick and Tile Works site has seen significant changes down the years.. [Google Maps, September 2024]
Brill Brick and Tile Works was only open for a short time. It was in operation by 1895 but was unable to  compete with the London Brick Company Works at Calvert, some 7-miles away, which opened in 1905. By 1919, the site was in use as a Hay Loader Works. [12]
Tramway Business Park, on the site of the Duke of Buckingham’s brickworks, © Hywel Williams and included here under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 2.0) [24]

Goodman also commented that “the train service was also smartened up although the speed of ten miles per hour [was] never exceeded. There [were] four trains each way daily (Sundays excepted), which [ran] at the following times: [departing Brill] 8.10, 10.30 am, 3.05, 5.05 pm, [arriving Quainton Road] 8.53, 11.10 am, 3.45, 5.50 pm; [departing] Quainton Road  9.30 am, 12.15, 4.15, 6.25 pm, [arriving Brill] 10.10 am, 12.55, 4.50, 7.00pm. … None of the trains [were] timed to stop at the intermediate stations except Wotton, unless required. Passengers and goods [were] conveyed by all trains, which [were] thus ‘mixed’, and their ‘make-up’ would certainly provoke a smile when seen for the first time.” [1: p458] The ‘consist’ was made up of a combined carriage and luggage van, one (or sometimes two) bogie coach(es) with an open interior, and an open ‘low-sided’ goods wagon which often was seen with one or two milk churns. All passengers were charged a standard 1d/mile and there was no first class accommodation. The line was worked on a single-engine in steam principal which meant no signals except on approaches to level-crossings. Goodman notes that the line was only separated from roads and adjacent property by a light wire fence.

When the line was independent, its head offices were at Brill, as was the engine shed, which sat alongside the line on the approach to Brill Station. A further two or three sidings were dedicated to the handling of goods. The station sat about a mile from the centre of Brill.

This low resolution extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey from the turn of the 20th century shows Brill with its station. The small town is at the bottom of the extract. The Station is around a mile North at the top of the extract. [9]
An enlarged extract from the 25″ Ordnance Survey showing Brill Station. The engine shed is centre-top of the extract. Passenger facilities are. Lose to the end of the line to the Southwest of the engine shed and they sit in front of the goods facilities. [10]
A similar area on modern satellite imagery. The road from Brill enters this image bottom-left, it is called Tramhill. The route of the old line enters from the rightc. [Google Maps, September 2024]
Brill Station in the 1890s. [1: p460]
A view from Brill Station Platform with a tram running into the station and the engine shed to the left. [1: p459]
An unidentified London Transport train at Brill Railway Station in 1935. [25]

Goodman also notes that the construction of the line posed no significant difficulties. He comments that “the tram road [was] a party to the Railway Clearing House so far as goods and parcels traffic [was] concerned.” [1: p459]

In 1899, through booking of passengers was not in operation, “in fact, the neighbouring companies completely ignore[d] the existence of the tram road in their time tables, and some omit to show it on their maps.” [1: p460]

Goodman expressed confidence that “when the extension to Oxford [was] opened [the line would] necessarily assume a position of more importance.” [1: p460]  As we will see below, that confidence was misplaced.

In 1933, the Metropolitan Railway became the Metropolitan line of London Transport. The Brill Tramway became part of the London Underground, despite Quainton Road being 40 miles (64 km) from London. London Transport focussed on “electrification and improvement of passenger services in London and saw little possibility that passenger routes in Buckinghamshire could become viable. In 1935 the Brill Tramway closed.” [3]

“After closure, the line was largely forgotten. Because it had been built on private land without an Act of Parliament, few records of it prior to the Oxford extension schemes exist in official archives. At least some of the rails remained in place in 1940, as records exist of their removal during the building of RAF Westcott.[139] Other than the station buildings at Westcott and Quainton Road almost nothing survives of the tramway; much of the route can still be traced by a double line of hedges.[154] The former trackbed between Quainton Road and Waddesdon Road is now a public footpath known as the Tramway Walk.” [3]

References

  1. F Goodman; The Oxford and Aylesbury Tram Road; in The Railway Magazine, London, November 1899, p456-460.
  2. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Central_Railway, accessed on 13th September 2024.
  3. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brill_Tramway, accessed on 13th September 2024.
  4. https://rogerfarnworth.com/2020/01/02/unusual-small-locomotives-and-railcars-part-1.
  5. The Industrial Railway Record Volume No. 48, p34-38; https://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/48/AP%20Locos.htm, accessed on 1st January 2020.
  6. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brill_Tramway, accessed on 1st January 2020.
  7. Ian Melton, From Quainton to Brill: A history of the Wotton Tramway; in R. J., Greenaway (ed.). Underground, Hemel Hempstead: The London Underground Railway Society, 1984.
  8. Bill Simpson; The Brill Tramway; Oxford Publishing, Poole, 1985.
  9. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=14.9&lat=51.82535&lon=-1.05072&layers=168&b=1&o=100, accessed on 13th September 2024.
  10. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.3&lat=51.83247&lon=-1.04764&layers=168&b=1&o=100, accessed on 13th September 2024.
  11. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.1&lat=51.83240&lon=-1.03493&layers=168&b=1&o=100, accessed on 13th September 2024.
  12. https://astonrowant.wordpress.com/brill-railway, accessed on 13th September 2024.
  13. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/20203, accessed on 12th September 2024.
  14. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_Siding_railway_station, accessed on 12th September 2024.
  15. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.1&lat=51.83569&lon=-0.99960&layers=168&b=1&o=100, accessed on 13th September 2024.
  16. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.1&lat=51.83569&lon=-0.99960&layers=168&b=1&o=100, accessed on 13th September 2024.
  17. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.4&lat=51.83346&lon=-0.99245&layers=168&b=1&o=100, accessed on 13th September 2024.
  18. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.7&lat=51.86500&lon=-0.92835&layers=168&b=1&o=100, accessed on 13th September 2024.
  19. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.4&lat=51.85280&lon=-0.94702&layers=168&b=1&o=100, accessed on 13th September 2024.
  20. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.4&lat=51.84634&lon=-0.95742&layers=168&b=1&o=100
  21. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.8&lat=51.84506&lon=-0.95559&layers=168&b=1&o=100, accessed on 13th September 2024.
  22. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.0&lat=51.84381&lon=-0.95549&layers=168&b=1&o=100, accessed on 13th September 2024.
  23. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wotton_station_(Brill_Tramway)_1906.jpg, accessed on 13th September 2024.
  24. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brill_railway_station, accessed on 16th September 2024.
  25. https://files.ekmcdn.com/c8ed37/images/train-at-brill-railway-station-in-1935-london-transport-rpc-postcard-173348-p.jpg, accessed on 16th September 2024.
  26. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waddesdon_Road_railway_station, accessed on 16th September 2024.
  27. https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/collections/the-collection?query=Wood+siding&date%5Bmin%5D=&date%5Bmax%5D=&sort_bef_combine=search_api_relevance_DESC&f%5B0%5D=makers%3APamlin+Prints, accessed on 16th September 2024.
  28. https://www.railwayarchive.org.uk/getobject?rnum=L2625, accessed on 16th September 2024.
  29. https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Wotton_Tramway, accessed on 16th September 2024.

The Severn & Wye Joint Railway and its Locomotives – The Railway Magazine, November 1899.

3 Replies

Reading the November 1899 edition of The Railway Magazine, I came across an article about railways and tramways in the Forest of Dean … ‘The Severn &  Wye Joint Railway’ by E.A. Clark. [1]

The article from 1899 adds something to the series of posts already made about the Forest and it railways

Clark says that “it was in the year 1809 that the initiative of the Severn and Wye took place. It had long been felt that there was great commercial scope in the Forest of Dean, and in this year Parliament sanctioned the construction of a tram road through the district. The undertaking was incorporated by the name of the Lydney and Lydbrook Railway Company, ‘for the purpose of making a railway or tramway from the River Wye at Lydbrook to the River Severn at Lydney, with various branches to serve the collieries in the Forest of Dean’. The Company finding their undertaking not complete, owing to there not being proper accommodation at Lydney for the export of coal, etc., in the following year (1810) obtained power by an Act of Parliament for the construction of a canal (over one mile in length) and docks or basins at Lydney to communicate with the River Severn, and the name of the Com- pany was changed by the same Act to the Severn and Wye Railway and Canal Company.” [1: p434-435]

A Horse Drawn Vehicle sitting on the Tramway. The stone sleeper and rail construction is evident in this image. The vehicle looks to be a passenger carriage which has the correct wheel-spacing for the track gauge – probably not typical of the routine use of the Tramway! [1: p434]

Clark goes on to tell us that “the cost of construction of the tramway was nearly £90,000. The tramway was laid with tram plates and worked by horse power until the year 1865, when the first locomotive engines were used. From 1810 to 1868, the concern worked very satisfactorily and good dividends were paid. The Great Western Railway Company had constructed a railway on the broad gauge principle to the Forest at one or two points, and this rendered it necessary for the Severn and Wye in 1868 to lay down a broad gauge railway upon that part of their undertaking which lies between the South Wales Railway (Great Western Railway) at Lydney and Wimberry Slade near to the station now known as Speech House Road. Parliamentary authority was obtained to confirm this and to extend the line from Wimberry Junction to Cinderford, also to construct a very important branch, known as the ‘loop Line’ which runs from a point known as ‘Tufts’ between Lydney and Whitecroft on the main line, passing round the eastern side of the forest with sidings to the various collieries, and meeting the main line again at a point known as Drybrook Road, where there is now a passenger station. The loop line is 6 miles 55 chains.” [1: p435]

Clark continues: “The following year, a further Act empowered the Company to convert the tramway on the Lydbrook section to a railroad, with connection with the Great Western Railway at Stowefield, now known as Lydbrook Junction. In 1872, the tramway to Milkwall was substituted by a railway from the main line at Parkend with an ex-tension to Coleford. In 1875 the ‘Foresters’ (as the natives of the district are called) had their first experience of riding behind a locomotive engine. For it was in 1872 that an Act of Parliament was passed, which sanctioned the Severn and Wye Railway conveying passengers. … The year 1872 was a very important one to the Foresters, for in addition to the powers obtained as above described, the Severn Bridge Railway Company [was] incorporated for the purpose of making a railway from the Severn & Wye Railway and the Great Western Railway at Lydney across the River Severn to Sharpness Docks … and the Midland Railway.” [1: p435-437]

The Severn Bridge Railway

“The Severn Bridge was opened for passenger traffic on 17th October 1879. That year, the Severn  & Wye Railway & Canal Company amalgamated with the Severn Bridge Railway, and was incorporated under the name of the ‘Severn and Wye and Severn Bridge Railway Company’. This new departure was not a financial success, and the most important Act had yet to be passed, and that was in 1894, for vesting in the Great Western and Midland Railway Companies the whole undertaking of the Severn and Wye and Severn Bridge Railway Company (at a cost of over £447,000), and by the same Act the Midland Company were empowered to transfer to the joint Committee (fe. the Great Western and Midland Com-panies), their branch known as the ‘Gloucester and Berkeley New Docks Branch’ rom Sharp- ness to Berkeley Road, joining the Midland main line.” [1: p437]

One  of the large soans of the Severn Bridge during construction at Liverpool. [1: p439]
A postcard view of the Severn Bridge with Severn Bridge Station in the foreground. [1: p439]

There was much local opposition which meant compromise was necessary. Several conditions were therefore enjoined in the Act, one was the extension of the railway into Cinderford Cinderford, should be extended into the town.

At the time of the writing of the article (November 1899) there were over 40 collieries; two large tin-plate works; several iron ore mines; and numerous quarries. “Total traffic carried by Severn and Wye Railway Company:- 1875, 492,931 tons; 1890, 674,545 tons; 1898, 1,149,631 tons. Of course the great increase in the 1898 figures, as compared with the 1890 figures, [was] due to some extent owing to the traffic from Sharpness not being accounted for in the 1890 figures – the Berkeley Branch then belonged to the Midland Railway. … Passenger traffic [had] doubled during the last two years as compared with ten years [before].” [1: p438-439]

‘Little John’, its Class Mates and Later Locos

Clark provides two pictures of what he says was the first broad gauge locomotive belonging to the Severn & Wye Railway (‘Little John’). The pictures below show it as an 0-4-0WT locomotive. It is possible that, a few years earlier, the Company purchased a single loco on a trial basis. “This locomotive was [possibly] ‘Little Nell’, an 0−4−0 saddle tank, the first locomotive built at the Boyne Engine Works, Leeds, by Manning, Wardle & Company, and delivered to Sheepbridge on 5th February 1859.” [4]

Clark indicates that these photographs depict ‘Little John’, the first broad gauge locomotive owned by the Severn & Wye Railway Company. The loco shown was an 0-4-0WT loco. [1: p437]

Some notes on the Western Thunder website suggest that ‘Little John’ was one of three locomotives of the same design which were supplied to the Severn & Wye Railway (S&WR). The three locos were ‘Will Scarlet’, ‘Little John’ and ‘Alan-a-Dale’. The writer of those notes assumed that ‘Little John’ and its class-mates were 0-6-0WTs and mentions that the three locos were divided between the GWR and MR when the S&WR was taken into joint ownership in July 1894, ‘Will Scarlet’ (FJ 122) became GWR 1356, ‘Little John’ (FJ 140) became Midland 1123A, and ‘Alan-a-Dale’ (FJ 157) became Great Western 1355. [3]

It seems from the discussion on that website that six 0-6-0T locos were purchased by the S&WR, these were of various designs from different suppliers. Fletcher Jennings supplied locos as shown below.

Illustrations showing details of the six 0-6-0T locomotives supplied to the Severn & Wye Railway by Fletcher Jennings. These illustrations and the quoted text below appeared in the 30th April 1869 copy of ‘The Engineer’ [2]

The notes associated with the two images above say: “This somewhat remarkable engine – illustrated above … which is of the broad, or 7ft. gauge, has been specially constructed with a view to its being readily altered if occasion should require to suit the ordinary narrow gauge, and with as little expense as possible. To this end the axles are made, as will be seen by reference to the plan and section, with a third journal and wheel seat in positions proper for 4ft. 8.5 in. gauge, the coal-box, water tanks – except the one under footplate – fire-box, smoke-box, side foot-plates, and other parts are all made to suit the narrow gauge, so that when the alteration, which is anticipated, is required, little more is needed than to shorten the frame stays and buffer beams, remove certain brackets which support the fire-box and smoke-box, place the frames nearer together, shorten the axles, and remove one of each pair of wheels to its inner wheel seat. The cylinders are 14in. diameter, and the stroke is 20in.; the wheels 4ft. diameter, and extreme wheel centres 11ft. 3in.; tires, piston-rods, motion bars, crank pins, &c., are of steel. The fire-box is 3ft. 3in, long, 3ft. 3in. broad, and 4ft. 10in. deep. The boiler barrel, which is telescopic, is 3ft. 6in. mean diameter, and 8ft. Shin. long; the tubes are of brass . long, 2in. outside diameter, and 105 in number. … The total weight with a full supply of water and fuel is 28 tons 6 cwt., and this is distributed as follows:- Leading wheels, 9 tons; driving wheels, 9 tons 1 cwt.; trailing wheels, 10 tons 5 cwt. With partially filled tank and coal-box, the weight is equally distributed on the wheels.” [5]

Another source on ‘rmweb’ provides the following notes which were sourced from the RCTS publication, ‘Locomotives of the GWR – Part 3’. “Severn and Wye loco history is not simple. … They started to get steam engines in 1865, when there was thirty miles of 3’8” tramway. By 1867 they had five locos, and decided to go broad gauge, converting three engines. Two broad gauge engines were obtained, but in 1872 they decided to go to standard gauge, so the five broad gauge engines were converted to standard. The S&WR amalgamated with the Severn Bridge Railway in 1879. A receiver was appointed in 1883, and the railway was taken over jointly by the MR and GWR in 1894. … The first five engines were Fletcher Jennings 1864, with flangeless wheels for the tramroad. 1-4 were 0-4-0WT, 2-3 being the ones that were converted, 1 becoming a canal dredger.  5 was an 0-6-0ST which also went through two gauge conversions. All these had gone by the time of the receivership.

The RCTS publication, ‘The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway Part 3 Absorbed Engines 1854-1921‘, details the following locomotives as well:

  • Robin Hood, Fletcher Jennings 1868, MR 1121A – was broad gauge originally.
  • Will Scarlet, Fletcher Jennings 1873, GWR 1356.
  • Little  John, Fletcher Jennings 1874, MR. 1123A.
  • Alan-a-Dale, Fletcher Jennings1876 GWR 1355.
  • Friar Tuck, Avonside, 0-6-0T 1870  MR 1122A – was broad gauge.
  • Maid Marian, Avonside, 0-6-0T 1872 GWR 1357.
  • Ranger 0-6-0 (rebuilt ST), GWR 1358 – very complicated history.
  • Raven 0-6-0ST, Boulton, 1876 – sold on.
  • Wye 0-4-0T, Fletcher Jennings, 1876 GWR 1359.
  • Sharpness, Vulcan, 1880 MR. 1124A.
  • Severn Bridge, Vulcan, 1880 GWR 1354.
  • Sabrina, Vulcan, 1882 MR 1125A.
  • Forester, Vulcan, 1886 MR  1126A.
  • Gaveller, Vulcan, 1891 GWR 1353.
  • Four locos were hired from Boulton’s siding at different times.

The net result of these different notes is that the 0-4-0WT loco shown in Clark’s article in the Railway Magazine is unlikely to be ‘Little John’. ‘Little John’ was probably one of the later 0-6-0T locos and may well not have been a broad gauge engine at any time during its working life.

‘Forrester’, which Clark says was the first six-wheeled broad gauge locomotive of the S&WR. [1: p438] As the notes above suggest,  ‘Forrester’ was actually one of the later purchases by the S&WR. [6]
‘Robin Hood’ – Clark says that this was a six-coupled broad-gauge locomotive. [1: p438] The loco was built in 1868 as a broad-gauge locomotive. [6]

References

  1. E.A. Clark; The Severn & Wye Joint Railway; in The Railway Magazine, London November 1899, p434-441.
  2. https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/File:Im1869EnV27-p305.jpg, accessed on 10th September 2024.
  3. https://www.westernthunder.co.uk/threads/seeking-info-on-severn-wye-rly-fletcher-jennings-engines.5132, accessed on 10th September 2024.
  4. https://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/02/08/a-first-steam-locomotive-for-the-severn-and-wye-tramway
  5. https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/topic/131654-annies-virtual-pre-grouping-grouping-and-br-layouts-workbench/?do=findComment&com, accessed on 10th September 2024.
  6. The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway Part 3 Absorbed Engines 1854-1921;
    Railway Correspondence and Travel Society, 1976.

The Railway Magazine, November 1899 – Adverts

4 Replies

This is the earliest Railway Magazine that I have so far been able to view. A rather tatty copy with both front two and at least the back two pages missing.

The first thing to note is the four pages of advertising given over to removal and storage companies! …

First page of advertisements by Removal & Storage Companies [1: pIII]
Second page of advertisements by Removal & Storage Companies [1: pIV]
Third page of advertisements by Removal & Storage Companies [1: pV]
Fourth page of advertisements by Removal & Storage Companies [1: pVI]

The fifth page of advertising is headed by what appears to be a dubious cure for deafness. Perhaps a third of the page is given over to an advert for an Organette with the remainder of the page devoted to The Railway Magazine’s publisher’s needs/offers: cases for binding The Railway Magazine; a request for return to the publisher of early editions of The Railway Magazine; the second edition of G.A. Sekon’s ‘Evolution of the Steam Locomotive‘.

The fifth page of advertisements in my possession. [1: pVII]

Advertisements for J.H. Moore’s Deafness Aerial Medication were relatively common in periodicals in the late 19th century. The offer of three months free treatment was also frequently made. Here is a second example, this time from 1894. ….

1894 Advert for J H Moore’s Treatment – Deafness Aerial Medication. [2]

Searches online produce a series of references to these advertisements but no indication as to the veracity of the claims made in them!

The 4 Guinea Organette on the market for just 35 shillings was a relatively common place advertisement. Draper’s factory in Blackburn was claimed to be the largest such works in the world. The Journal The Music Box carries the story of the company. [3]

The next page of adverts focussed mainly on publications. ….

The sixth page of advertisement in my possession. [1: pVII]

The journals which appear on this page are a mixture of British and American publications. A couple of the adverts are for publications sold by F. Moore of Finsbury, London. As we have noted in an earlier article, ‘F. Moore’ was not the name of a real artist, but rather the name adopted by the Locomotive Publishing Company, which employed the services of the rather reclusive Edwin Thomas Rudd to do the actual painting. [4]

That sixth page of adverts is followed by a page of notices of in-house publications by the publishers of The Railway Magazine. A sister journal was the ‘Railway Herald’. It was a weekly journal published between 1887-1903 which “reported on the activities of the General Railway Workers’ Union, the Railway Clerks’ Association and the United Pointsmen and Signalmen’s Society (and criticised the rival Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants). The newspaper included branch and district news for unions and welfare societies; general reports on the railway industry, including technical developments and descriptions of working conditions; information about railway-related accidents (fatal and non-fatal) and criminal offences; ‘The women’s corner’ (including recipes and household tips); correspondence and advertisements (including for clothing and patent medicines).” [5]

The seventh of these images includes Railway Herald publications and a book by Rev R.W. Scott. [1: pIX]

Alongside its weekly publication, the Railway Herald also produced a series of illustrated albums of Locomotives and Stations.

The next page consists of two adverts for train services. The first for GWR winter services to Cornwall and Devon, the second for the new timetable for express services between Manchester and Liverpool provided by the Cheshire Lines Committee. …

The eighth of these images. [1: pX]

The contents page for the journal follows with a number of interesting articles which may well feature on this blog in due course. This page includes an advertisement by W.S. Laycock of Victoria Works, Sheffield.

The ninth of these images includes an advert by W.S. Laycock Engineering Ltd. [1: pIX]

W.S. Laycock Engineering Ltd., was based in Sheffield. The company is covered in some detail by Grace’s Guide. [6]

The final page of adverts at the front of this edition of The Railway Magazine contains a full-page advert by the Linotype Company of Fleet Street, London.

“The Linotype Company was set up in 1889 by a group of British businessmen in order to buy Linotype and other patents from American interests. These men included the publisher Sir Joseph Lawrence, founder of the Railway Magazine, later Sheriff of London and an MP; Lord Kelvin, the famous scientist, and other well-known men of the time. In 1889, Lawrence and Stilson Hutchins, a representative of the American manufacturer, brought three experimental machines to England. These caused great interest amongst the printing and newspaper industries. In 1895 Lawrence became chairman of the Linotype Company and remained so until his death in 1919.” [7]

“Funding for the project did not come from British banks, but from the American Mergenthaler Company, which granted the Linotype’s licence in return for shares. (By 1909 Mergenthaler controlled the British company and by 1921 both the chairman and the managing director were American.) The British company’s head office was at 188-9 Fleet St, London until 1947 when it moved to John Street, London, WC1.” [7]

The UK company started life at “Hulme Street, Oxford Road, Manchester, where a factory for assembling machines and making some of the simpler parts was built. Manchester had an abundance of skilled labour and also had good rail and canal networks for transporting raw materials, such as iron and coal, and for distribution of the completed machinery. As the company became more successful, the Hulme Street factory became overcrowded. In 1896 the Linotype Company took land at Broadheath, Altrincham for a new factory, which was formally opened by Lady Kelvin on Friday 14 July 1899. The Altrincham plant was sited next to the Bridgewater Canal which brought coal for the furnaces directly from the Worsley mines to the works.” [7]

The works in Altrincham were accompanied by a large housing development for the company’s staff which included social amenities. Morning can be found out by clicking here. [7]

References

  1. The Railway Magazine, November 1899, London, 1899.
  2. https://www.periodpaper.com/products/1894-ad-j-h-moore-treatment-deafness-aerial-medication-original-advertising-076453-mun1-262, accessed on 7th September 2024.
  3. Roger Booty; The Largest Organette Works in the World; in The Music Box Volume 21 No. 7, Autumn 2004, via https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:437e688b-85d0-43f2-ada3-88eebf5144b2, accessed on 7th September 2024.
  4. https://culhamticketoffice.co.uk/bits/hidden-pages/fmoore.html, accessed on 7th September 2024.
  5. https://warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/archives_online/digital/unionjournals/railway_herald, accessed on 7th September 2024.
  6. https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/W._S._Laycock, accessed on 7th September 2024.
  7. https://exploringtraffordsheritage.omeka.net/exhibits/show/the-linotype-works–broadheath/the-early-day, accessed on 7th September 2024.

Much Wenlock Talk – 17th September 2024

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The file below is the talk given on 17th September 2024 at the Much Wenlock Civic Society.

Much Wenlock Railway Talk – ShortenedDownloa

References

  1. The featured image at the head of this post comes from: https://www.everand.com/article/594958258/There-s-Something-Special-About-Much-Wenlock, accessed on 1st September 2024.
  2. Wherever possible permission has been sought for the use of images in this talk. If an omission has been made, please accept my apologies. If you would like an image with your copyright removed from this post please contact the author on rogerfarnworth@aol.com.

Railways in West Wales Part 2C – The Whitland & Cardigan Railway – Rolling Stock, Locomotives and Llanglydwen to Whitland

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Before resuming our journey along the Whitland & Cardigan Railway, just a few comments about Locomotives and Rolling Stock. …

Locomotives

In early days the line operated with three locomotives. These were all constructed by the same company, Fox, Walker & Co. of Bristol.

“The company was founded by Francis William Fox and Edwin Walker who opened an engineering works at Atlas Locomotive Works in Bristol in 1864.

They built four and six-coupled saddle tank engines for industrial use. They also built stationary engines and pioneered steam tramcars, the first being tested in Bristol in 1877.

Much of their output was exported.

By 1878 the company had made over 400 small tank engines.

In 1878 they produced six narrow gauge 2-4-2 trench engines for the Royal Engineers at Chatham using Henry Handyside’s steep gradient apparatus. They also produced nine 0-6-0 saddle tank engines for the Somerset and Dorset Railway.

They were taken over by Thomas Peckett in 1880, becoming Peckett and Sons, Atlas Engine Works, Bristol.” [1]

These locomotives were:

No. 1, John Owen, (Works No. 170 of 1872).

No. 2, (Works No. 271 of 1875) – sold by GWR to Bute Works Supply Co., and East Kent Light Railway in 1911. Working until the early 1930s, last known in steam on 22 September 1934, scrapped by September 1935. [10][11][6: p91]

No. 3, (Works No. 340 of 1877) – rebuilt by GWR in 1896; rebuilt again and renumbered 1331 in 1926. Withdrawn in 1950. [11] A story about the building of a model of this locomotive in 00 Gauge can be found here. [12]

https://x.com/JonSLatona/status/1555748042376110080?t=MGZm0QpCXQztdDO4aIYn0A&s=19

Two images of the rebuilt GWR No. 1331 which appeared on ‘X’. [13]

Nos. 1 and 2 were 0-6-0ST locos of a similar design. No. 3 was a larger 0-6-0ST locomotive. All three were rebuilt by the GWR. No.1 was rebuilt in 1894. [6: p91]

“Soon after the GWR began operating the railway in 1886, a valuation of W&CR stock was made.No.1 was valued at £450, No. 2 at £600 and No. 3 at £850.” [6: p97]

M.R. Connop Price tells us that:

“Small Great Western tank locomotive types soon put in an appearance and the Whitland and Cardigan engines were moved away. Amongst the designs in evidence at the turn of the century were ’19XX’ 0-6-0 saddle tanks and Armstrong 0-4-2 tanks of ‘517’ class. Pannier tanks were frequently seen as well, but during World War I one of the 0-6-0 saddle tanks, either No. 1939 or No. 1999, was stationed at Cardigan. On the freight side a ‘Dean Goods’ 0-6-0 regularly arrived at Crymmych with the monthly cattle train. This was probably the only working to bring a tender engine onto the branch with any frequency, but tender engines were never common. About 1950 a ‘Dean Goods’ was seen standing on the Cardigan line at Cardigan Junction, in the company of a composite coach and a Siphon ‘G’ van: this is the last known instance of the class on the W&C route. Larger tender locomotives were prohibited by virtue of the line having a yellow colour weight restriction.

For many years ‘2021’ class pannier tanks were active on the line, and between the wars the more powerful ’45XX’ 2-6-2 tank locomotives appeared. These held sway on the Cardigan branch until the complete closure in 1963, although latterly they were supported by more modern pannier tanks in the ’16XX’ series. Amongst the engines seen on the railway in the post-war period were 0-6-0PTs Nos. 2011, 1637, 1648, 1666 and 2-6-2Ts Nos. 4550, 4557, 4569, 5550, 5571. In the final weeks of operation Nos. 4557 and 4569 were the most common performers on the railway.” [6: p99]

Carriages

Connop Price tells us that, “The Whitland & Taf Vale Railway owned six four-wheeled carriages, all constructed by the Gloucester Wagon Co. The first four were completed in June 1875, and comprised two composite coaches each having a first and two second class compartments, and a luggage compartment. The other two were brake thirds – that is to say comprising three third class compartments and a compartment for the guard. … Two more coaches were supplied by the Gloucester Wagon Co. in September 1875, and these vehicles comprised three third class compartments and a luggage compartment.” [6: p99]

After the GWR takeover of the line, standard GWR coach types began to appear.

Wagons

The Company’s wagons were all constructed by the Bristol Wagon Co. In October 1872, “in anticipation of the opening of the line, the W&TVR ordered a 4-wheel goods brake van and six 4-wheel open goods wagons. … In May 1874, as traffic developed, it was decided to order four more 4-wheel open wagons. … A 4-wheel covered van [was] … Ordered by the company in October 1974, for use on the Crymmych freight service.” [6: p101]

Records of the Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Co. Ltd show that a number of  private owner wagons were in use on the line. Connop Price mentions: a five-plank wagon obtained by William Thomas, Coal, Lime & Manure merchant in March 1903; a seven-plank wagon delivered to the Cardigan Mercantile Co. Ltd. in March 1904. A near identical seven-plank wagon was supplied to G.D. Owen, Coal and Lime Merchant of Cardigan in April 1904. Another seven-plank wagon was supplied to S.J. Phillips of Crymmych Arms, Coal and Lime Merchant in September 1908. [6: p101-103]

Connop Price continues: “One other vehicle had a claim to be an item of Cardigan line rolling stock, although at a later date. This was the water tank wagon provided by the GWR in the 1920s or early 1930s to convey water to Cardigan where the supply was sometimes too low to fill the tank. … It was a standard 4-wheel tank wagon, painted white with the initials GW painted in black on the side. The underframe was also black.” [6: p103]

This unusual short goods at Cardigan contains a tank wagon between two coal wagons. There are stories of water supply problems at Cardigan. Although the station sits on the bank of the  River Teifi, being tidal water was only available at low tide as salt water damaged the locomotives. A tank wagon was used to bring water down to Cardigan presumably  from Glogue. This image was shared on the Login Railway Station Facebook Page on 12th March 2018. [9]
An enlarged extract from the image above. The tank wagon referred to in the text above is between the two mineral wagons. Connop Price indicated [6: p103] that no photograph of this tank wagon had been identified by  the date of the 2nd Edition of his book (August 1990). This image may therefore be the only one of the tank wagon! [9]

Llanglydwen to Whitland

We restart our journey to Whitland at Llanglydwen Railway Station. …

Llanglydwen Railway Station as it appeared on the First Edition of the 6″ Ordnance Survey. [18]
A similar area on the ESRI satellite imagery from the National Library of Scotland (NLS). [18]
Taken in 1961, this photograph looks across the level crossing at the North end of Llanglydwen Railway Station. It appeared in the Western Telegraph on 7th December 2014 and was shared on the Login Railway Station Facebook Page on 1st November 2015. [33]
A view of Llanglydwen Railway Station from the West, possibly in the 1920s. This photograph was brought by Vickie Ashley to an open day at the Login Railway Station in July 2015 and shared on the Login Railway Station Facebook Page on 16th July 2015. [14]
4575 Class Small Prairie, possibly 5550, at Llanglydwen in May 1962 with a train from Login. This image was shared on the Login Railway Station Facebook Page. [31]
Llanglydwen Station seen from the North with the crossing gates still in place. This image was shared on the Login Railway Station Facebook Page on 2nd September 2020. [16]
Llanglydwen Railway Station building viewed from the Northwest in 2003, © Ben Brooks bank and included here under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 2.0). [15]

Wikipedia tells that “the original station only had a wooden shed as a station building. A new station was built in 1886. This had a two-storey station building, incorporating the station master’s house, the booking office and a waiting room. The down platform had a timber waiting shelter. Behind this platform was the goods yard, which had one siding. Access to this was enabled by the signal box, which also controlled the level crossing and was at the south end of the up platform. There was also a busy coal yard near the station. The station closed to passengers on 10th September 1962 but remained open for goods until 27th May 1963. The coal depot closed on 2nd February 1963.” [17]

This extract from the 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1887 shows the old railway left Llanglydwen following the Southeast bank of the Afon Taf.  [23]
The same area on railmaponline.com. [3]
Continuing on the Southeast bank of the Afon Taf. [24]
And the same length again on railmaponline.com’s satellite imagery. [3]
Continuing alongside the Afon Taf, the old railway ran past the Dol-Wilym bridge which appears close to the top of this extract from the 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1887. [25]
The same area as shown on the railmaponline.com satellite imagery. An area of forest close to the Dol-Wilym Bridge. [3]

The first significant location South of Llanglydwen is the Dol-Wilym bridge over the Afon Taf. This appears at the top of the OS Map extract above and is shown below.

An enlarged extract from the 6″ Ordnance Survey 1st Edition. [20]
The same area as covered by the extract from the 6″ Ordnance Survey. Little of note can be seen in this satellite image as the area is thickly wooded. [20]
Looking Northeast along the route of the old railway towards Llanglydwen at the location featured in the enlarged OS map extract above. The line followed the Afon Taf closely. Pont Dolwilym is to the left and to the right is the path to Gwal y Filiast an ancient stone-tabled burial chamber, © Chris Whitehouse and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 2.0). [21]
Pont Dolwilym in February 2010 prior to its rebuilding, It appears to have been reinforced with sleepers probably taken from the disused railway line close by. The bridge was rebuilt in 2024, © Natasha Ceridwen de Chroustchoff and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 2.0) [22]
The nearly complete new Dolwilym Bridge. The bridge will allow vehicles to cross the river as the old bridge did. Work still remains to lift the road to bridge deck level. This image was shared by Julie Sweet on the Re-open the Footpath from Llanglydwen to Login along the Cardi Bach Railway Facebook Group on the 28th July 2024, © Julie Sweet. [20]

Connop Price says that between Llanglydwen and Login “the gradients continued to change often as the track followed the lie of the land; the steepest grade on this section was 1 in 40. About half a mile north of Login was the tightest curve on the railway: it was short but built to a mere 8 chains radius.” [4: p68]

Further to the South the old railway curves around to the West before beginning to switch back to the South. The 6″ Ordnance Survey of 1887. The Dol-Wilym woods sit on the far side of the Taf. [26]
Heavily camouflaged by the forest this railmaponlone.com extract does the same area. [3]
Further South still and the OS map shows the mileage from London – 266 miles. [27]
The same area as shown on the railmaponline.com. Rather than being in the middle of the woodland, it now proves the eastern border of the area of trees. [3]
Still on the East side of the Afon Taf,  the old railway continues to head for Login. [28]
Again, the same length of line as shown on railmaponlone.com’s satellite imagery. [3]
Now on the run down to Login Railway Station the old railway heads due South. [29]
The same length of line on the railmaponline.com satellite imagery. [3]
Login Railway Station appears at the bottom of this next extract from the 1887 6″ Ordnance Survey. [30]
The open area at the bottom of this extract from the railmaponline.com satellite imagery is the station site. [3]
Login Railway Station as it appeared on the First Edition of the 6″ Ordnance Survey. [19]
The same area on the ESRI satellite imagery from the NLS. [19]

At Login, “a short platform was dignified by the large station building serving the tiny hamlet perched on the hillside just across the river. The goods loop was protected by a ground frame at each end, that at the south end being just a single lever unlocked by the Cardigan Junction – Llanglydwen electric tablet. The ground frame at the north end, however, also controlled the level crossing, and it was housed in a wooden hut of typical Great Western design.” [4: p68]

The view North from the Login Railway Station site, looking across the road towards Llanglydwen. [32]
Looking North along the platform at Login Railway Station. This image was shared on the Login Railway Station Facebook Page on 20th March 2023. [34]
Looking North through Login Railway Station after closure of the line and during lifting of the track. This image was shared on the Railways of Wales Facebook Group by John F. Wake on 21st May 2022, © Unknown. [36]
View south towards Llanfalteg and Whitland from the former level crossing on 3rd September 2022. The single-platform station was well preserved when this image was taken, © Nigel Thompson and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence, (CC BY-SA 2.0). [35]

South of Login the valley of the Taf begins to widen out and the hillsides become less steep. However, gradients continued to change. On the East of the Taf, the railway ran through Penclippen level crossing and past its wooden crossing keeper’s hut. 

The Whitland & Cardigan Railway continued South to Llanfalteg (3 miles 48 chains from Whitland). “In the early years of the line … this place had some importance. Until the reconstruction of the mid-1880s the layout consisted of a loop, with a siding parallel to it to serve the goods shed, and a further siding for the locomotive shed and for coal traffic. In its heyday, the locomotive shed had a forge for day-to-day repairs, but it was not big enough to be able to undertake major overhauls. After the Great Western took over the W&CR the shed at Whitland assumed most of the responsibilities of Llanfallteg shed, and gradually the latter fell into disuse. For a while it was occupied by Mr J. Williams’ carpenter’s shop, but this ceased and decay set in until eventually the shed fell down in about 1939.” [4: p68]

Llanfallteg Railway Station as it appeared on the First Edition of the 6″ Ordnance Survey. [37]
The same location on the ESRI satellite imagery provided by the National Library of Scotland (NLS). [37]

“At closure in 1962, the station building and the wooden ground frame box were intact, and a dilapidated iron goods shed still stood by the level crossing. The layout, however, was reduced: the loop had been replaced by a siding, and although the siding to the goods shed remained the rest of the trackwork had long gone. A length of rusting cable in the undergrowth provided the only evidence of the practice at Llanfallteg of cable-shunting. The site was cramped and inconvenient, and for many years the most effective way of moving wagons in and out of the sidings was by a cable linking them to a locomotive on a parallel track.”

0-6-0PT at Lanfallteg Railway Station in May 1959, (c) Unknown. [38]
A similar view of Llanfallteg Railway Station in 1961, from the Rokeby Album IV ref 5a. [47]
Looking North from the location of the level-crossing in Llanfallteg. {Google Streetview, November 2021]
Looking South from the location of the level-crossing. Residential properties have been built over the line of the old railway and the station site. [Google Streetview, November 2021]

South of Llanfallteg a run of just over a mile brought the single track line to its junction with the main line known latterly as Cardigan Junction. There were no significant features on this length of the line. It remained on the Northeast bank of the Afon Taf.

Taf Vale Junction as shown on the 6″ Ordnance Survey. The name of this junction was changed to ‘Cardigan Junction’ later in the life of the old branch line. [39]
The same location on the NLS ESRI satellite imagery. [39]

“At Cardigan Junction the signal box, opening in 1873 and closed in 1964, was whitewashed, pebble-dashed and austerely domestic in appearance, being built entirely in stone or brick. The window overlooking the tracks was a modest rectangle with two uprights in the window frame. The name-board ‘Cardigan Junction’ was located directly under it. The door was on the east side of the box, with another window, and the pitched roof was surmounted by a single chimney. A gaslight was situated outside.” [4: p68]

Cardigan Junction (formerly Taf Vale Junction) where the Cardigan Branch left the main line.
This photograph was taken on Saturday 25th May 1963, significant because the goods only rail service on the branch was withdrawn on the following Monday (27th May 1963). This picture was shared on the Login Railway Station Facebook Page on 20th June 2024. It looks Southeast. [8]

The last 2 miles 21 chains of the route was along the main line from Cardigan Junction (originally Taf Vale Junction) to Whitland.

Close to Taf Vale Junction (Cardigan Junction) the main line crossed rivers twice. This is the location of the first of the bridges (Sarn-las Bridge) which crossed the Afon Daulan, a tributary of the Afon Taf. [40]
The same location on the ESRI satellite imagery. [40]
The second bridge crossed the Afon Taf (Tre-wern Bridge). [41]
The same location in the 21st century. [41]
The line then crossed what was a minor road. [42]
The crossing and it’s keeper’s cottage remain in the 2st century. [42]
The crossing seen from the South in the 21st century. [Google Streetview, November 2021]
What is now the A40 then bridged the mainline. [43]
The same location on the NLS ESRI satellite imagery. [43]
Looking East from the A40 roadbridge towards Whitland Railway Station. [Google Streetview, March 2022]

There were no further significant features on the line before it entered Whitland Station.

Whitland Railway Station as it appeared on the 6″ Ordnance Survey from the turn of the 20th century. [44]
A similar area as shown on the map extract above as it appears in 2024. [Google Maps, September 2024]

“After the opening of the Pembroke and Tenby and Whitland and Taf Vale Railways the station at Whitland had four platform faces. Two of these served the main line, one served a loop round the down island platform and the other a bay behind the up platform, access to which was from the west. The main station buildings were on the up side and nearby, close to the bay platform, there was a goods shed and a few sidings. All these changed little until British Railways’ days when the station was extensively modernised. In addition, in the 1960s the down loop was disconnected and became a bay for Pembroke Dock trains. On the down side, too, there was a small goods vard originally constructed for the use of the Pembroke and Tenby Railway, and for the exchange of traffic between that company and the GWR before the Great Western took over the working of the P&T in 1896. A short distance west of Whitland station the locomotive shed stood until the mid-1960s. Passenger trains from Cardigan ran into either the bay or the up main platform at Whitland, but trains departing for Cardigan customarily shared the outer face of the down island platform with P&T line trains.” [4: p61]

Whitland Railway Station in 1971 (c) Roger Griffith (Public Domain). [45]
Whitland Railway Station in 1979, (c) John Mann Collection and used with the kind permission of Nick Catford. [46]
Whitlad Station seen from Station Road, the B4328 in 2021. This view looks West along the modern railway line. [Google Streetview, November 2021]

References

  1. https://preservedbritishsteamlocomotives.com/fox-walker-company, accessed on 25th July 2025.
  2. M.R. Connop Price; Before the Railways: The Early Steamers of Cardiganshire; in the RCHS  Journal, Vol. 40 Part 8 No. 244 July 2022, p471-477.
  3. https://railmaponline.com/UKIEMap.php, accessed in July/August 2024.
  4. https://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/07/15/railways-in-west-wales-part-2a-the-whitland-cardigan-railway-cardigan-to-boncath.
  5. https://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/07/25/railways-in-west-wales-part-2b-the-whitland-cardigan-railway-boncath-to-llanglydwen
  6. M.R. Connop Price; The Whitland and Cardigan Railway (2nd Edition); The Oakwood Press, Headington, Oxford, 1991.
  7. C.J. Gammell; Slow Train to Cardigan; in British Railways Illustrated Volume 4 No. 5, February 1995, p228-235.
  8. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/wkGZo8ow7QjquYvi, accessed on 25th July 2024.
  9. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/7G6PpWSruh98EJQv, accessed on 25th July 2024.
  10. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Kent_Light_Railway, accessed on 26th July 2024.
  11. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Peckett_and_Sons_railway_locomotives, accessed on 26th July 2024.
  12. https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/topic/72460-gwr-1331-ex-whitland-cardigan-0-6-0st-project, accessed on 26th July 2024.
  13. https://x.com/JonSLatona/status/1555748042376110080?t=MGZm0QpCXQztdDO4aIYn0A&s=19, accessed on 26th July 2024.
  14. https://www.facebook.com/share/DtzcxUKZy6rBUUu3, accessed on 26th July 2024.
  15. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3756804, accessed on 26th July 2024.
  16. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/PbPSgvwUcgQw56dX, accessed on 26th July 2024.
  17. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llanglydwen_railway_station, accessed on 26th July 2024.
  18. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=15.5&lat=51.90951&lon=-4.64625&layers=257&b=1&o=100, accessed on 24th July 2024.
  19. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.6&lat=51.87913&lon=-4.66484&layers=257&b=1&o=100, accessed on 26th July 2024.
  20. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/YThEDvmbTYJhb57u, accessed on 8th August 2024.
  21. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4721738, accessed on 27th July 2024.
  22. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1703219, accessed on 28th July 2024.
  23. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.0&lat=51.90756&lon=-4.64998&layers=257&b=1&o=100, accessed on 30th July 2024.
  24. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.0&lat=51.90419&lon=-4.65760&layers=257&b=1&o=100, accessed on 30th July 2024.
  25. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.0&lat=51.90071&lon=-4.66139&layers=257&b=1&o=100, accessed on 30th July 2024.
  26. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.0&lat=51.89728&lon=-4.66253&layers=257&b=1&o=100, accessed on 30th July 2024.
  27. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.0&lat=51.89362&lon=-4.66594&layers=257&b=1&o=100, accessed on 30th July 2024.
  28. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.0&lat=51.88936&lon=-4.66134&layers=257&b=1&o=100, accessed on 30th July 2024.
  29. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.0&lat=51.88511&lon=-4.66114&layers=257&b=1&o=100, accessed on 30th July 2024.
  30. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.0&lat=51.88100&lon=-4.66301&layers=257&b=1&o=100, accessed on 30th July 2024.
  31. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/GHTPSQBAfQ4YCMNL, accessed on 9th August 2024.
  32. https://www.facebook.com/share/7Rns5L1LJ8iCKFFf, accessed on 9th August 2024.
  33. https://www.facebook.com/share/jRJQhnqenneHQXX3, accessed on 9th August 2024.
  34. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/z1CyZqboS8yjc6zv, accessed on 9th August 2024.
  35. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/7309799, accessed on 9th August 2024.
  36. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/6gDMXW2YBFgNqmj9, accessed on 9th August.
  37. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=15.0&lat=51.84779&lon=-4.67887&layers=6&b=1&o=100, accessed on 9th September 2024.
  38. http://www.llanfallteg.org/information/photographs, accessed on 9th September 2024.
  39. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.0&lat=51.83427&lon=-4.66215&layers=6&b=1&o=100, accessed on 9th September 2024.
  40. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.0&lat=51.83245&lon=-4.65458&layers=6&b=1&o=100, accessed on 9th September 2024.
  41. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.0&lat=51.82813&lon=-4.64390&layers=6&b=1&o=100, accessed on 9th September 2024.
  42. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.0&lat=51.82198&lon=-4.63287&layers=6&b=1&o=100, accessed on 9th September 2024.
  43. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.0&lat=51.81995&lon=-4.62494&layers=6&b=1&o=100, accessed on 9th September 2024.
  44. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.0&lat=51.81879&lon=-4.61463&layers=6&b=1&o=100, accessed on 9th September 2024.
  45. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Whitland_railway_station,_Wales_in_1971.jpg, accessed on 9th September 2024.
  46. http://disused-stations.org.uk/w/whitland/index.shtml, accessed on 9th September 2024.
  47. https://coflein.gov.uk/en/site/410170, accessed on 9th September 2024.

The Railway Magazine, August 1905 – Advertising …

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The August 1905 edition of the Railway Magazine was the 98th issue. In preparation for its 100th edition, it carried this advert. …

A reminder to Railway Magazine Readers that the 200th edition will not have an unlimited print run. [1: p176]

The Railway Magazine had been established for over 8 years. … The above image can be read easily with the exception of the central portion which, in my copy, is damaged. As far as I can tell that portion reads:

“As a memento of this success of the RAILWAY MAGAZINE, we propose to make the 100th Number (October, 1905), a special issue, containing, in addition to the usual articles, several contributions by the leading experts in various phases of railway working, locomotive development, etc. A feature of these special articles will be the reference to improvements in train services, locomotive working and railway management that have taken place during the past 8 years. The RAILWAY MAGAZINE is entitled to the credit of suggesting many of these improvements. With the 100th Number of the RAILWAY MAGAZINE will be issued a Large Presentation Plate, specially drawn, showing the evolution of the steam locomotive from 1803 to the present time, by means of typical engines of various periods.” [1: p176]

The practice of modern railway magazine special supplements and celebratory issues clearly goes back right to the very earliest months of publication of railway magazines.

The August 1905 edition of the Railway Magazine contains a number of third party adverts which are interesting. ….

In addition to a good number of railway company adverts for particular train services and holiday destinations which are themselves worth looking at, are a number from companies which supplied the railway industry, provided services for railway passengers, or catered for the wider public. …

A. Hotel Cecil

Hotel Cecil, London. [1: pI]

The Hotel Cecil advertised itself as the only first class hotel in London with a garage on the premises. Tariffs included: a single room at 5 shillings, a double at 9 shillings, and a suite at 25 shillings. Food was equally inexpensive to modern eyes, breakfast, lunch and dinner could be purchased for a total of 11 shillings. A single person could stay full board for 16 shillings! (80 pence!)

A loaf of bread cost 5d in London in February 1905, [2] around 2p in today’s money. If we accept that supermarket prices for a 800g loaf are about £1.35 in 2024 we can make a simplistic comparison with modern day costs for full board in London. £1.35 would have bought close to 70 loaves in 1905. That factor of 70 would suggest that a comparable price for full board would be £56!

Five-star accommodation in 2024 at the Shangri-La at The Shard, London costs upwards from £602 which could include breakfast!

B. A Motoring Atlas

The British Motor Tourists ABC, published in the same premises as The Railway Magazine. [1: pIII]

The British Motor Tourists ABC, could be purchased as a paperback (limp) for 5 shillings – the same price as a single room at the Hotel Cecil! If you were using it as a chauffeur, then a special edition could be purchased far cheaper – just 1s 3d.

This ‘Indispensible’ volume included ‘Hints to Motor Tourists’, by S.F. Edge – 57 pages of clear Main Road Maps, Alphabetical List of Towns and Villages in Great Britain and Ireland. with Best Hotels, Garages, Spirit Stores, Charging Stations and Repairing Depots, Hints on Tyres. Customs Tariff and Regulations, Steamer Freights, Railway Regulations, re Petrol and Carriage of Motor Cars, Motor Car Act, Motor Signs, Racing Fixtures, Lighting-up Table, Yacht and Golfing Clubs, Automobile Clubs, Fishing and Hunting Centres.

C. Postcards

These Post Cards represented locomotives of the latest designs, they could be obtained at all railway bookstalls and through any newsagent, price 6d. per set/packet, or direct from the Railway Magazine office, post free, 7d. per packet. [1: pVI]

D. Railway Inspection Cars

Oldsmobile advertised two inspection cars. The first was a self-drive vehicle with space for 4 people. Weight: 800lbs. The second was a larger vehicle which could carry 6 to 8 people or carry tools and material. [1: pX]

Inspection Car, No. 1 was already in use by over 100 Railroads in the United States and other countries. for Bridge and Track Inspectors, Road-masters, and other officials. The Company claimed that it was economical to run and had a range of 100 miles.

Production was limited to only 127 units, the Olds Rail Road Inspection Car was built by the Olds Motor Works from 1903 to 1905 and sold exclusively by the Railway Appliance Company of New York and Chicago. [3]

Inspection Car No. 2 was a larger vehicle with a 7 hp engine. It weighed in at 1200lbs, was designed for standard-gauge track but could be reduced to a minimum of 3ft 6 in gauge. A top speed of 30 mph was possible. Its range was comparable to Inspection Car No. 1 at 100 miles. [3]

There were a number of converted road vehicles in use over time as inspection vehicles in the USA. More can be discovered here. [4]

Ford produced one which included its own turntable. A 1925 Ford Model T Railway Inspection Car was on display on a short 30m section of track outside the Collections Centre at the British Motor Museum at Gaydon on 16th July 2024.

A Ford Model T Rail Inspection Car with inbuilt turntable. [5]

E. A Mug or Two of Cocoa

Dr. Tibbles’ Vi-Cocoa was a popular energy restorative in the Victorian era. At its height it was one of the highest-selling cocoa-based drinks in Britain. [6]

Dr. Tibbles’ advert in the Railway Magazine. [1: pXI]

Adverts for Dr Tibbles Vi-Cocoa, which was a mixture of malt, hops, kola and cocoa, first appeared in 1893. He registered the company at that time and later re-registered as Dr Tibbles’ Vi- Cocoa (1898) Ltd in 1898. Tibbles retired soon afterwards.

“Land was purchased in North Watford to expand Vi-Cocoa production in 1899. A fire devastated the factory in 1903 but the site was rebuilt and became an important local employer making cocoa and chocolates.” [7]

The business was renamed the Watford Manufacturing Company in 1907.

“The Watford Manufacturing Company produced munitions during the First World War. Following the War, the company expected an increase in business and invested in the construction of a huge, new factory. However the business did not materialize. The new factory became a white elephant, was left unfinished and bankrupted the company in 1922.” [8]

In 1918, Lord Leverhulme became the largest shareholder. In 1922 the Company entered into liquidation and Lord Leverhulme purchased the Company. Virtually straight-away, Leverhulme sold up to Planters Products Ltd, a Lever Brothers subsidiary. Vi-Cocoa production continued, the factory was employing 400 people in 1929, and was one of the largest employers in the area. [6]

In 1930, the factory was sold and Unilever absorbed by Unilever, the new incarnation of Lever Brothers. Vi-Cocoa was still being advertised in 1945.

Dr. Tibble’s Vi-Cocoa “achieved remarkable success through a combination of innovative marketing techniques, including health claims, scientific endorsements, extensive print advertising, free samples, and targeted marketing. These strategies not only propelled Vi Cocoa to commercial success but also influenced broader trends in advertising and consumer culture in late Victorian Britain.” [9]

F. Thomas Firth & Sons Ltd.

Firths’ Steel of Sheffield. [1: pXII]

Wikipedia tells us that, “In 1902, Sheffield steelmakers John Brown & Company exchanged shares and came to a working agreement with neighbouring company Thomas Firth & Sons, the companies continuing under their own management until they finally merged in 1930.” [10] At the merger they formally became Firth Brown Steels.

G. W.S. Laycock Ltd.

W.S. Laycock Ltd. [1: pXIII]

W. S. Laycock of Levygreave Road and Victoria Works, Gell Street, Sheffield were Railway Carriage Fittings and Appliance Manufacturers in 1901. First established by Laycock in Victoria Street, Sheffield in 1884. In 1893, the Company “introduced a system for train heating using steam from the locomotive with storage reservoirs in each compartment.” [11]

By 1900, the Company was incorporated  as a limited company. Grace’s Guide tells us that the company “supplied equipment to every railway company in the world, the main specialities being carriage blinds, buckeye automatic couplers, vestibule gangway connections, and steam-heating equipment for complete trains.” [11]

In 1902, the Company opened new works at Millhouses, adjoining the Midland Railway. The Company produced munitions during WW1 and in time became Laycock Engineering Co. and later still Laycock Engineering. The company was still exhibiting at the Motor Show in the late 1980s.

H. Giant Motor Spirit

Motor Spirit is Petrol or Gasoline. Meade-King, Robinson & Co., of Liverpool place the advert below in the Railway Magazine. For more information about early Petrol-powered rail vehicles, click here. [12]

Meade-King Robinson [13] is still in business in 2024. “It is a privately owned chemical distribution company with over 140 years experience in the supply of a wide range of oils and chemicals.” [14]

An early advert for Petrol! [1: pXIV]

I. Brown, Bayley’s Steel Works, Ltd.

Wikipedia tells that “Brown Bayley Steels was a steel-making company established in Sheffield, England in 1871, as Brown, Bayley & Dixon. They occupied a site on Leeds Road which was later occupied by the Don Valley sports stadium.” [15]

[1: pXV]

Brown, Bayley’s Steel Works had three main sites: Leeds Road, East Works, and Brighton Bar Shop.

Wikipedia tells us that “the Leeds Road site included: a spring shop, a hammer shop, a ring rolling shop with Telpher Crane, a machine shop for railway axles & tyres, an axle & railway tyre drop test plant, a heat treatment department, creep laboratories, a tyre blank press, a blacksmiths shop, a loco Shed, a drawing office, and a generator converter house creating direct current for cranes.” [15]

East Works: had “a sheet rolling mill, a sheet pickling plant, sheet polishing and guillotine shops and Steckel mills (slitting machines).” [15]

Bright Bar Shop: undertook “bar drawing, had centreless turning machines, centreless Lidkoping grinding machines, a 5 ton hammer, a 500 ton press and a railway tyre rolling mill.” [15]

NB: “A Steckel mill is also known as a reversible finishing mill, it is similar to a reversing rolling mill except two coilers are used to feed the material through the mill. One coiler is on the entrance side and the other on the exit side. The coilers pull the material through the mill, therefore the process is more similar to drawing than rolling. The material is fed back and forth through the mill until the desired thickness is reached, much like a reversing rolling mill.” [16]

NB: “The Lidkoping centerless grinder is designed and manufactured to meet practically any challenge in precision grinding. More details of the most modern form of this equipment can be found here. [17]

J. A Few Small Ads

The last page of adverts at the front of the magazine includes these four small adverts. [1: pXVI]

Goddard’s Plate Powder was developed by Joseph Goddard in the early 19th century and 180 years later Goddard’s is still a going concern. [18]

Real Devonshire Washing Serge was sold by G. Bale & Co. of Topsham, Devon. I guess they anticipated sales to railway companies subsequent to their advert. I have not been able to find out anything about the company.

Whelpton’s Purifying Pills “were supplied by G. Whelpton and Son, London. They were advertised as being able to arouse the stomach to action, promoting the flow of gastric juice, and giving tone to the whole system. Headache flies away. Biliousness, Kidney Disorders, and Skin Complaints disappear, while cheerful spirits and clear complexions follow in due course!” [19: p1325]

“The pills had an average weight of 21 grains. Chemical and microscopical examination showed the presence of aloes (apparently Socotrine), powdered colocynth, ginger, and gentian. The last-named ingredient being less positively indicated than the others. No evidence of the presence of mercury or calomel was obtained.” [19: p1326]

I could not find any convincing evidence either that they were effective, or that they caused any real harm.

The Railway Officers and Servants Association was, until 1974, a Friendly Society, it was removed from the Charity register in November 1974.

References

  1. The Railway Magazine, London, August 1905.
  2. https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1905/mar/08/comparative-prices-of-bread-in-london, accessed on 10th August 2024.
  3. https://www.curveddasholdsmobileclub.com/railroad-inspection-car.asp, accessed on 10th August 2024.
  4. http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrains/photos/inspection/gallery.htm, accessed on 10th August 2024.
  5. https://stratfordobserver.co.uk/news/classic-fords-motor-to-gaydon, accessed on 10th August 2024.
  6. https://letslookagain.com/2018/04/dr-tibbles-vi-cocoa, accessed on 10th August 2024.
  7. https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/19169433.watfords-history-50-objects-cocoa-drink-victorian-times, accessed on 10th August 2024.
  8. https://cosgb.blogspot.com/2012/09/watford-manufacturing-company-limited.html?m=1, accessed on 10th August 2024.
  9. https://binreminded.medium.com/dr-william-tibbles-vi-cocoa-marketing-techniques-and-success-cbb247451a42, accessed on 10th August 2024.
  10. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firth_Brown_Steels, accessed on 10th August 2024.
  11. https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/W._S._Laycock, accessed on 10th August 2024.
  12. https://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/08/08/petrol-railmotors-the-railway-magazine-september-1922.
  13. http://www.meadekingrobinson.co.uk, accessed on 11th August 2024.
  14. https://www.chemical.org.uk/members-directory/meade-king-robinson-co-ltd, accessed on 11th August 2024.
  15. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Bayley_Steels, accessed on 11th August 2024.
  16. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steckel_mill, accessed on 11th August 2024.
  17. https://www.uvalidkoping.com/machine/cl-630, accessed on 11th August 2024.
  18. https://goddards.com/pages/all-collections, accessed on 11th August 2024.
  19. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2334043/pdf/&ved=2ahUKEwjb2uL3xe2HAxUia0EAHSOgMuoQFnoECBEQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3yNnhqTzcJKP7y2ejnXRMH, accessed on 11th August 2024.

Water Troughs, Major Works, Campbeltown & Machrihanish Light Railway, Welsh Highland Railway and other snippets from The Railway Magazine, January 1934

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Water Pick-Up Troughs

Some superb diagrams showing the operation of water troughs were included on page 4 of the January 1934 edition of The Railway Magazine.

The effective operation of water troughs. [1: p4]

The Railway Magazine commented: “Long non-stop runs necessitate either the use of large tenders, such as are used in America … or the provision of track water troughs from which the tender can be replenished while the train is travelling. As long ago as 1859, … locomotive engineer, John Ramsbottom, … designed the type then and ever since used, with but minor modifications, such as the substitution of metal for wood in their structure.” [1: p5]

Figure 1 shows a typical cross-section. The length was been 0.25 and 0.5 miles and had to be on a completely level  length of track.

Figure 2 “shows diagrammatically the arrangements made for rapidly refilling a trough after a locomotive has taken water from it. The familiar ball-valve control is used to regulate the flow from a tank alongside the track to the trough. When the water in the trough reaches the correct level, the ball valve, in a small tank at rail level, rises and cuts off the supply. Steam heating has to be used to prevent freezing in frosty weather where traffic is infrequent and the troughs are in exposed positions.” [1: p5]

Figure 5: Section through a LNER eight-wheel tender which shows the arrangement of the water pick-up gear. [1: p6]

I love some of the diagrams in these early editions of The Railway Magazine. The one above is no exception, Figure 5 illustrates a typical form of water pick-up apparatus on a LNER eight-wheel tender. “The inclined delivery shoot will be seen to have a hinged foot-like scoop, curved to face the direction of travel and capable of being held clear of, or depressed into the troughs – which are centrally placed between the rails – by means of the system of rods, cranks and levers shown, these being under the control of the fireman. Warning boards are erected to enable him to be prepared to lower the scoop as the trough is approached, speed seldom being appreciably reduced over the troughs. The scoop is usually lowered before the trough is reached, a slight gradient being arranged in the track, by which the scoop drops below the water level, and is similarly raised at the far end of the trough, should the crew not have lifted it out earlier. To aid in raising the scoop when the tender gauge shows the tank in it to be full, steam or compressed air is often used.” [1: p5]

A speed through the toughs of 25 mph was sufficient to ensure the take-up of water, although higher speeds were more effective. But express speeds tended to waste water and could result in damage to the permanent way. Maintenance costs with the amount of flooding which occurred were high.

The LMS made use of a tender which had an observer’s compartment to study what happened at water troughs and, as a result, designed a simple device which significantly reduced the spilling of water. “Briefly, the passage of the scoop through the trough causes the water in it to pile up and overflow at each side, and to neutralise this a pair of slightly converging deflector vanes are fixed 1 ft. 4 in. in advance of the scoop, which force the water towards the centre of the trough and make it pile up there instead of at the sides (Figures 3 and 4). Some 400 gallons are saved every time these deflector vanes are used, and the quantity of water required is reduced by about 20 per cent.” [1: p5]

Figure 6: Water Pick-up Troughs on the East Coast Main Line (LNER) [1: p7]

Figure 6 is a map showing the distribution of water troughs along the main LNER. route to Scotland, and Figure 7, those on the LMS, both on the LNWR (West Coast) and the Midland routes.

Figure 7:The Water Troughs on the two LMS routes to Scotland. [1: p7]

The water troughs on these long distance routes obviated the need for larger tenders and the need for time-wasting water stops. 3,500 to 5,000-gallon tenders were more than adequate.  It also appears to have been true that the use of water troughs generally meant that water purity was higher which minimised boiler maintenance and also reduced the need for water-softening plants. [1: p5]

The GWR Capital Programme

The Railway Magazine noted, “A special programme of extensions and improvements, involving a cost of over £8,000,000, was put in hand by the GWR under the Development (Loan Guarantees and Grants) Act, 1929, in anticipation of its future requirements, for the purpose of assisting in the relief of unemployment. … The Railway Gazette, issued on [8th December 1933] a profusely illustrated Special Supplement dealing comprehensively with these works. A notable feature of this supplement is the wealth of drawings, including a double-page map of the G.W.R. system, with inset detail plans of the new works.” [1: p74]

Earlier in the January 1934 edition, The Railway Magazine carried an advert over two pages from The Railway Gazette for the supplement to their magazine (which, when bought separately, cost the princely sum of 1s).

The first page of the advert about the GWR Capital works programme and the Railway Gazette supplement. [1: pXIV]
The second page of the advert about the GWR Capital works programme and the Railway Gazette supplement. [1: pXV]

The Campbeltown & Machrihanish Light Railway

The Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway was one of only four 2 ft 3 in (686 mm) narrow gauge railways in the UK. The other three were/are in Wales: the Corris Railway, the short-lived Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway and the Talyllyn Railway. [3]

In its January edition, the Railway Magazine reported that “an Order dated [7th November 1933], by the Minister of Transport, appeared in The London Gazette of 7th November, declaring that the Campbeltown & Machrihanish Light Railway Company shall be wound up.” [1: p74] The line, which was closed about eighteen months earlier was 6 miles 29 chains in length and of 2ft 3in gauge. The rolling-stock comprised three locomotives, six passenger and and two goods vehicles. “The company was incorporated on 8th May 1905, and the line opened on [17th August 1906] of the following year. This isolated railway, in the Mull of Kintyre, suffered particularly severely from road motor competition,” [1: p74] and, a few years previously, an attempt was made to meet road competition with its own bus service, but that failed.

‘Atlantic’ was the last locomotive built for the Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway. It was an Andrew Barclay 0-6-2T, built in 1907. Seen here in charge of a train of four coaches leaving Campbeltown for Machrihanish. [2]

A canal was first constructed to bring coal from pits close to Machrihanish to Campbeltown. It was in use from 1794. There were no locks as the canal traversed relatively flat terrain. It was three miles in length, running from Mill Dam in the West to Campbeltown. Only two barges plied its length which carried around 40 cartloads of coal each day to Campbeltown. However, “the extent to which the canal was used or cared for seems doubtful. … It had fallen into disuse and been virtually abandoned by 1856 and when, about 1875 the colliery changed hands, the new owners … found it choked with weeds and difficult to clear. … In the Company’s prospectus of 1875 it was stated that a railway was to be built.” [4: p7-8]

The new railway was a little over 4 miles in length at first, running between the pits and a coal depot on Argyle Street, Campbeltown. In 1881 the length was extended to 4.7 miles. “There were a number of level crossings, all originally gated but subsequently left open, protected only by cross trenches to keep cattle and sheep off the line.” [4: p8]

At first, only a single loco worked the line, an Andrew Barclay 0-4-0T engine named ‘Pioneer’. After the line was extended to a new colliery business “became so brisk that in 1885 a second locomotive was bought from Barclays, an [0-4-0ST initially, later altered to an 0-4-2ST] named ‘Chevalier’.” [4: p9]

In 1901 and 1902, two high-speed turbine steamers brought “increasing numbers of day trippers to Campbeltown where … many of them were conveyed to Machrihanish … by horse-drawn carriages.” [4: p11]

The railway saw significant changes as a result. Both to carry passengers and to enhance the delivery of coal to boats at the New Quay in Campbeltown, the line was extended East to New Quay and West to the Golf links at Machrihanish. A new company, the ‘Argyll Railway Company’, was formed to manage the line.

The new railway was to be close to 6.4 miles in length and was opened to passenger traffic in 1906. By “August 1913 there were seven trains each way daily. … The war naturally led to a curtailment of services, … until the early months of 1917 saw the line’s minimum service of one daily train in each direction. … After the war … the tourist trade soon picked up again and before long the summer months saw eight regular trains a day in each direction. … Although the 20s saw increasing competition from buses, the time tables continued to show eight trains daily in each direction right up until the withdrawal of services in 1931.” [4: p23]

Commenting on the closure of the line, A.D. Farr says: “When the railway finally closed the prime reason was the loss of revenue following the closure of the colliery in 1929, but a major factor was also the bus competition. To meet this second-hand buses had been bought by the railway, but the experiment was to no avail and they were soon sold to the competing road transport concern.” [4: p23]

The line owned a total of five locomotives at different times: ‘Pioneer’, a Barclay 0-4-0T; ‘Chevalier’, a Barclay 0-4-0ST which may have been converted to an 0-4-2ST; ‘Princess’, a Kerr-Stuart 0-4-2T; ‘Argyll’, a Barclay 0-6-2T; and ‘Atlantic’, another Barclay 0-6-2T. [4: p41]

Six passenger coaches were employed on the line, all built by R.Y  Pickering & Co., of Wishaw, Lanarkshire. All were bogie ‘cars’ and “were externally very attractive models of the tramways type, 43 ft 6 in long and with two 4-wheel bogies, 30 ft centre to centre carrying 1ft 11in diameter wheels. At each end was a covered platform, guarded by a wrought-iron balcony and ‘telescopic gates’, and with steps on either side to within a foot or so of the ground.” [4: p43]

The coal company owned a series of wagons which carried the ‘C.C.C’ lettering. But it seems as though the railway company owned only a heavy goods brake van and one other wagon, although little is known about that vehicle. [4: p45]

The Welsh Highland Railway

The Railway Magazine reported that the “Joint Committee representing the local authorities with investments in the Welsh Highland Railway has decided to ask the debenture-holders to close down the line. Carnarvonshire County Council has £15,000 in the venture, Portmadoc Urban District Council £5,000, and the Gwyrfai, Glaslyn and Deudraeth Rural District Councils £3,000 each. At a recent meeting of the Portmadoc Council, Mr. Oswald Thomas said it was important that if the railway were closed, the rails should not be taken up, particularly between Portmadoc and Croesor Bridge, as it was hoped before long to see quarries in the district working again. Captain Richard Jones said it might be arranged for the Portmadoc Council to take over that part of the railway.” [1: p74]

West Monkseaton Railway Station Waiting Shelter

The Railway Magazine picked a rather modest platform building at West Monkseaton for praise.

West Monkseaton Railway Station, LNER – a new waiting shelter – January 1934. [1: p75]

“Here is precise repetition used rhythmically; the units are a nine-light window and a half-glazed door; the rhythm is 2-door-2-door-2-door-2. The designer is to be congratulated in that he has been careful to keep the horizontal glazing bars of doors in line with those of the windows; the horizontal effect of the windows; therefore unbroken. The portions of the window panes are The proportion good, being about 5 to 3. The key-note of the design is the restful cornice band running round the structure; unpretentiously it ties in the whole composition; its horizontality is repeated by the edges of the weather-boarding under the windows, and is balanced by the white base upon which the building stands; this cornice band also sets off, and is set off, by Mr. Eric Gill’s standard LNER lettering. Thought has evidently been expended upon the design of this shelter, and it gives us pleasure to illustrate such a satisfactory and pleasing little piece of station architecture, especially when we consider what the perpetuation of railway custom might have produced.” [1: p75]

Check Rails and Ramps

By 1934, it was common practice “to provide safety devices at viaducts and other important bridges to reduce to a minimum the risk of vehicles, which may have become derailed, falling over the edge. Special guard rails, fixed either inside or outside the running rails and usually at a slightly higher level, are laid across the viaduct, with some splayed arrangement at both ends to direct derailed vehicles from the edge toward the rails. An ingenious elaboration of this is shown in the accompanying illustration. It consists of converging rails with a steel ramp between them rising to rail level. Any derailed wheels would run up this and should automatically become re-railed at the top.” [1: p74]

The steel-ramp approach to a short viaduct at Midfield. [1: p74]

References

  1. The Railway Magazine; Westminster, London, January 1934
  2. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353145047017?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=VG76xMQ6St6&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=afQhrar7TGK&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY, accessed on 6th August 2024.
  3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campbeltown_and_Machrihanish_Light_Railway, accessed on 7th August 2024.
  4. A.D. Farr; The Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway; (First Reprint) Oakwood Press, Headington, Oxford, 1987.

Petrol Railmotors – The Railway Magazine, September 1922

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The Railway Magazine of September 1922 carried two short articles about new petrol Railmotors. …

North Eastern Railway (NER) – Petrol Rail Motor Bus

The first short article was about an experimental vehicle used by the NER.

On certain portions of the NER network, the company realised that “there was room for a service conducted on lines as nearly as possible identical with those of motor buses on the roads. With the view of ascertaining, without much initial expenditure, whether the scheme is likely to prove financially successful, they have converted one of their ‘Leyland’ road motor ‘buses, formerly running on the road services in the vicinity of Durham, so as to make it suitable for running on the railway.” [1: p234]

The war resulted in a significant increase in railway working expenses which made it impossible to provide a train unit on some of the country branches, where the number of people travelling was small, “sufficiently cheap to cover its working expenses out of the small revenue available,” [1: p234]

NER Rail Motor [1: p235]

The NER needed to devise a cheaper form of rail transport. As a first step, it decided to convert one of its own fleet of petrol-powered road buses. The company’s intention was to undertake a trial at low cost before developing a design specifically tailored to rail use.

The experimental unit entered service on 19th July 1922. If “the results  of the working of this vehicle are encouraging, the company intend[ed] to build vehicles [capable of] carrying up to 40 passengers, and maintaining an average speed of approximately 30 m.p.h.” [1: p236]

The railmotor operated between Copmanthorpe, York, Strensall and Earswick, and was “manned by a motorman and a conductor exactly in the same way as if it were running on the highway. Single journey tickets [were] issued on board, so that passengers [did not have] the trouble of going to the booking office. It [had] accommodation for 26 passengers. It [ could]  be driven from both ends, and run in either direction, and the motive power consist[ed] of a 35-h.p. Leyland engine of the standard type, supplied by the builders for their ordinary commercial road vehicles.” [1: p236]

The donor vehicle was one of three Leyland Motor Co. buses that the NER purchased on 21st July 1921. “With a long bonnet and a overhanging roof at the front, it was a typical design for that time. The conversion was completed at York Carriage Works. Initially No. 110 in the Road Vehicle fleet, it was renumbered as No. 130Y shortly after conversion because No. 110 was already occupied in the Coaching Stock list.” [2]

An “additional radiator and an additional driving position were located at the rear of the vehicle. Central passenger doors were fitted to both sides of the saloon. …. Folding steps were also added to allow access from rail level. These were later replaced with fixed steps, and eventually removed altogether. An electric headlamp was also fitted.” [2]

The LNER website continues: “the initial York duty involved a service to Haxby, Strensall, Earswick, and Copmanthorpe. NER Petrol Autocar No. 2105 took over this duty on 9th July 1923, and No. 130 was transferred to Selby. At Selby, No. 130 operated daily return trips to Straddlethorpe, York, Goole, Catleford, Goole, Market Weighton, Cawood, and Hemingborough. This resulted in a full timetable that started at 6:52am and finished at 7:44pm. No. 130 took part in the Stockton & Darlington Centenary celebrations, but continued these Selby duties until November 1926.” [2]

Railmotor No. 110, later No. 130. The fold-down steps can be seen clearly in this image. [2]

On 11th November 1926 the railmotor/railbus “caught fire whilst being filled up with petrol at Selby shed. The entire bus was reportedly gutted within 15 minutes. Reports also suggest that someone used a naked paraffin lamp to check the level of the petrol tank. Only the chassis remained, and it was eventually decided not to rebuild or replace the bus. No. 130 was officially withdrawn from stock on 9th April 1927.” [2]

It seems as though the initial experiment was successful enough to allow the NER to authorise the building of a further experimental petrol railmotor (No. 2105) in September 1922. A Daimler engine was purchased in October and “the remainder of the vehicle was built at York Carriage Works and was completed in July 1923. By this time, Grouping had occurred, and the autocar was given the LNER number 2105Y. It was later renumbered as No. 22105 in August 1926.” [3]

Railmotor No. 2105 (later renumbered 22105) [3]

It seated 40 in third class accommodation, seats were in pairs either side of a central gangway. “The distinctive wheel arrangement had a two axle bogie at the engine end, and a single fixed axle at the other end. The single fixed axle was powered from the motor via a clutch, three-speed gearbox, and propeller shaft with two universal joints. 40mph was reportedly possible. Radiators were fitted to both ends.” [3]

This Railmotor took over the service provided by No. 130 and continued to operate local services in and around York until 1930. By 1930, it had been renumbered 22105.Closure of a series of local stations that year led to it being reassigned to the Hull area. It is “known to have been given an extensive timetable in the Hull area from 1st May to 17th July 1932 when it worked a 14 hour timetable including Beverley, Thorne North, Brough, Willerby & Kirk Ella, and Hull. Reports suggest it was unreliable during this period and was often replaced by a Sentinel steam railcar.” [3]

Over the next two years, No. 22105 did not work any revenue-earning services. It was withdrawn from service on 19th May 1934.

What is perhaps surprising is that these two experimental vehicles were not the first ones used on the NER network. The NER had experimented with petrol railmotors just after the turn of the 20th century. Two examples are worthy of note.

A. Petrol-electric Railmotors/Autocars

The NER were reviewing their operation of suburban passenger services on Tyneside. Alongside the introduction of electric trains on an urban network of lines which would later develop into the Tyne and Wear Metro, the NER ordered two experimental railcars/railmotors to work other, non-electrified, parts of the network.

“Both railcars were built at the York Carriage Works, together with the original Tyneside electric stock, in 1902-3 and numbered 3170 and 3171. They were 53.5 feet long and weighed around 35 tons. They had clerestory roofs, bow ends, large windows and matchboard sides. There were four compartments inside, the engine room with the principal driving position, a vestibule, the passenger saloon and a driving compartment. There was no guard’s compartment. The passenger saloon had 52 seats. These were reversible and upholstered in standard NER pattern. With curtains at the windows, radiators between the seats and electric lighting, the passenger accommodation was described as ‘cosy’ and seems to have been very popular with the travelling public.” [4]

These two railmotors were referred to as ‘autocars’ after the steam push/pull autotrain services already operated by the NER.

The Embassy & Bolton Abbey Railway comments: “These NER railcars were the first in the world to use petrol-electric technology. At that time, diesel engines were less advanced and not as reliable as their petrol counterparts. The concept of using internal combustion engines to power electric traction motors would later be developed into the diesel electric technology used to power many of BR’s ‘diesel’ locos.” [4]

One of the two NER petrol-electric railmotors. [5]

Initially the railmotors/autocars saw service “between West Hartlepool and Hartlepool stations (in direct competition with electric tramcars) and Scarborough to Filey (as a replacement of a steam service). Later, the autocars were transferred to the Selby – Cawood branchline to work the passenger services there. In 1923, no.3170 was fitted with a larger engine and new generator giving it sufficient power to pull a conventional carriage, thus increasing passenger capacity. It worked in the Harrogate area for a while before rejoining its twin on the Cawood branch. No. 3171 was withdrawn in 1930 and No. 3170 in 1931.” [5]

These vehicles had a petrol engine and a generator in their engine rooms, producing electricity for two Westinghouse 55HP traction motors which were mounted on the bogie underneath. A series of different petrol engines were used during the life of these vehicles. “In 1923, no. 3170 was given a third engine, a 225HP 6 cylinder ex-WD engine rumoured to come from a First World War tank. This new engine gave 3170 more torque and enough power to haul an autocoach as a trailer, though it seems not to have affected the maximum speed.” [5]

The LNER showed an interest in these vehicles and went on to test Armstrong diesel-electric railcars in the 1930s, but by then Sentinel steam railcars had been introduced. “These were not as reliable or popular, they had more seats and fitted better into the contemporary infrastructure.” [4]

No. 3171 was dismantled when withdrawn. When No. 3170 was withdrawn on the 4th April 1931 it was transported to Kirkbymoorside near Pickering, where the body became a holiday home. “Fitted with a tin roof and veranda it was well protected from the weather and survived there until September 2003 when it was sold to carriage restorer Stephen Middleton who moved it to the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway.” [5]

B. A Petrol Directors’ Vehicle

NER Directors’ Inspection Car [8: p358]
Side elevation and Plan of NER Inspection Car [8: p460]
End elevation of NER Inspection Car. [8: p460]

The Engineer reported in early 1908 that “The North-Eastern Railway Company [had] recently built at its York carriage works and introduced into service a petrol rail motor inspection car designed for the use of its executive officers. The car [was] 17 ft in length by 7 ft in width, with a wheel base of 10 ft. It [was] arranged with a driver’s compartment at each end, and with an open saloon 10 ft. long in the middle. The saloon [was] entered through either of the driver’s compartments, and there [was] a permanent seating accommodation for six passengers, whilst two extra seats [were] provided on camp stools.” [8: p358]

It seems reasonable to ask why, with the  experience gleaned in the very early years of the 20th century, the NER felt the need in 1922 to commission further experimental vehicles. Was it because the technology had developed significantly? Had the early experiments been less than satisfactory?

Weston, Cleveland & Portishead Light Railway

The second short piece in The Railway Magazine of September 1922 related to a Railmotor constructed by the Drewry Car Company Limited (Works No. 1252), to the instructions of Colonel H.F. Stephens, who, along with other roles, was Engineer and General Manager of the Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Light Railway.

The railmotor was powered by a 4-cylinder Baguley 35 hp petrol engine with a 3-speed gearbox and its oil consumption, on easy gradients, [was] 16 miles to the gallon. It had a maximum speed of 25 mph. It was 19ft long and driven by a chain drive from either end. It had 2ft diameter wheels. [1: p239][6]

A Drewry Railmotor at the Weston, Cleveland & Portishead Light Railway. [1: p239]

The vehicle had full visibility all round. Glazed throughout above waist height. Side widows were openable. The panels below the windows were of steel. Acetylene lighting was provided for travel after-dark. The unit carried a maximum of “42 passengers – 30 sitting and 12 standing. The car [was] provided with rails round the roof to enable light luggage and market produce to be carried outside, thus giving the passengers more accommodation.” [1: p239]

Colonel Stephens “was a pioneer of petrol traction. The WC&PR was the first of his railways to introduce railcars. … Due to low running costs [the Drewry Railmotor] was relatively profitable. … Originally the petrol tank was fitted inside the railcar together with spare cans of petrol. As smoking was then common, it was later realised that this was a hazard and a cylindrical horizontal petrol tank was fitted at one end above the buffer beam.” [6]

“A light four-wheel wagon built by Cranes was bought in 1925 for the railcar to carry extra luggage or milk churns.” [6]

The Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Light Railway’s first Drewry railcar at the Ashcombe Road terminus in Weston-super-Mare. It was built for the WC&P in 1921 and operated until the line closed in 1940, © Public Domain. [7]

References

  1. The Railway Magazine, Westminster, London, September 1922.
  2. https://www.lner.info/locos/IC/ner_petrol_bus.php, accessed on 8th August 2024.
  3. https://www.lner.info/locos/IC/ner_petrol_autocar.php, accessed on 8th August 2024.
  4. https://www.embsayboltonabbeyrailway.org.uk/oldsite/nerautocar.html, accessed on 8th August 2024.
  5. https://electricautocar.co.uk, accessed on 8th August 2024.
  6. https://www.wcpr.org.uk/Railcars.html, accessed on 8th August 2024.
  7. https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ashcombe_Road_-_WCPLR_small_railcar.jpg, accessed on 8th August 2024.
  8. The Engineer; 3rd April 1908, p358 and 1st May 1908, p460.

Advertising in the November 1929 Railway Magazine

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This article features advertising from the November 1929 edition of The Railway Magazine. It will probably be of interest to compare the various adverts here with those in The Railway Magazine of November 1938. An article about the 1938 magazine can be found here. [2]

The Southern Railway

The Southern Railway had a single page advertisement in the magazine which featured the Golden Arrow Pullman Service between London and Paris.

London to Paris in 6 hrs 30 mins! [1: pIII]

Wikipedia tells us that, “The Flèche d’Or was introduced in 1926 as an all-first-class Pullman service between Paris and Calais. On 15th May 1929, the Southern Railway introduced the equivalent between London Victoria and Dover while simultaneously launching a new first class only ship, the ‘Canterbury’, for the ferry crossing. The train usually consisted of 10 British Pullman cars, hauled by one of the Southern Railway’s Lord Nelson class locomotives, and took 98 minutes to travel between London and Dover. Because of the impact of air travel and ‘market forces’ on the underlying economy of the service, ordinary first- and third-class carriages were added in 1931. Similarly the first-class-only ferry, ‘Canterbury’, was modified to allow other classes of passenger.” [3]

It is not surprising that the train service ceased at the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939. “It resumed after the war on 15th April 1946, initially running with the pre-war Pullmans and the Trianon Bar car, a converted twelve-wheeled Pullman. The Southern Railway flagship, the ‘Invicta’ replaced the ‘Canterbury’ from 10th October 1946. As of 1949, the all-Pullman train was scheduled to depart from London Victoria at 10:30, with the connecting train from Calais reaching Paris (Gare du Nord) at 17:30, and from Paris at 12:15, with the connecting train from Dover arriving in London at 19:30. This worked out to a scheduled journey time of 6 hours eastbound and 6 hours, 15 minutes, westbound.” [3]

Four Full-page Adverts from the LMS

The LMS had four full-page adverts in the November 1929 magazine:

The first advert was for a series of ‘Carriage Window’ books. …

The first page pointed to a series of ‘carriage window’ books which helped travellers to comprehend what they were seeing beyond the windows on their journeys. [1: p IV]

These ‘Carriage Window’ books were usually entitled ‘The Track of the …’. They covered a number of different main line routes.

The frontispiece from the edition of ‘Track of the Irish Mail’ issued in 1947. [4]

In the article about The Railway Magazine of November 1938 we noted that the LNER was supplying scripts and slides for talks about their network. In 1929, the LMS was offering a similar range of lectures. …

Lecture notes and slides, illustrating holiday places and places of general interest on the LMS, supplied free! There is also a suggestion that a lecturer may be available too! [1: p V]

The LMS also advertised the dining experience on their express services. …

The dining experience on LMS is celebrated in this advert. I wonder whether their customers saw the advertised service or had similar disappointments as people in later generations? The food on offer probably simplified preparation work. [1: p VI]
The use of containers on the LMS was clearly established by 1929. Mobile cranes in goods depots at railheads facilitated transfer from railway wagons to trucks and lorries.  [1: p VII]

Four LNER Full-page Adverts

The first advert is for two books, a picture and a model celebrating ‘The Flying Scotsman’ and other LNER locomotives.

Two books, a ‘panel’ and a paperweight, all available direct from the LNER! [1: pVIII]
Pullman services provided by the LNER. The ‘Queen of Scots’, the ‘West Riding Pullman’, the ‘ Harrogate Sunday Pullman’. [1: pIX]
Ferry routes to Flushing (every day), to Hook of Holland (every night) to Antwerp and to Esbjerg (both nightly except Sundays). [1: pX]
LNER slides and lectures, available free of charge! It seems from this advert, and that from 1938, that this practice was normal during the interwar period. Some interesting subjects! [1: pXI]

Two GWR Adverts

The first GWR adverts seems to be endeavouring to extend the summer season in the West Country. …

The GWR encourages out-of-season travel to the West Country, and the purchase of travel books direct from the GWR. [1: pXII]

Their second advert focussed on their container service. …

Advertising the GWR container services, the photograph used shows a contemporary mobile crane and a GWR road-lorry. [1: pXIII]

Other Adverts

A regular feature is a full-page advert from the Railway Publishing Co. Ltd. [1: pXIV]
Adverts from ‘The Railway Club’ and Bassett-Lowke sit alongside an offering from the Press Bureau of London’s Underground of two new lectures, the first about London’s landmarks, the second about the building of the underground railways. [1: pXV]
The advert from St. Martin’s Engraving Co. Ltd. appears also in the November 1938 magazine. Fouled for Books is still a going concern in 2024. Edward Exley & Co. was founded in Bradford in about 1920 and the company is still in existence in 1924, undertaking repairs of Exley products from the past. [5] F. Moore was not the name of a real artist, but rather the name adopted by the Locomotive Publishing Company, which employed the services of the rather reclusive Edwin Thomas Rudd to do the actual painting. [6][1: pXVI]
The Central Argentine Railway [1: pXVII]

The Central Argentine Railway was one of four broad gauge (5ft 6in/1676mm) British companies that built  and operated railway networks in Argentina. Established in the 19th century, to serve the provinces of Santa Fe and Córdoba, in the east-central region of the country, it eventually also served Buenos Aires, Tucumán, and Santiago del Estero. It effectively ceased to exist after nationalisation.

“British railway companies operating in Argentina, including the CA, were nationalized in 1948 by the Juan Perón administration. The CA took over the northern section of the Ferrocarril Rosario y Puerto Belgrano and then became part of the state-owned Ferrocarril General Bartolomé Mitre.” [7]

This final advert from the front pages of the November 1929 magazine promoted a publication by The Railway Engineer, the revised 6th edition of “Locomotive Management – from Cleaning to Driving” by Jas T. Hodgson and John Williams. [1: pXVIII]

‘Locomotive Management – from Cleaning to Driving’ was a standard text which went through regular revisions to keep it up-to-date.

Some LMS “Business” Posters

The LMS. sent specimen copies of an “admirable set of new posters recently issued by them depicting the various goods traffic facilities offered on their system. There [were] four posters altogether, all drawn by Mr. Norman Wilkinson, and these differ from the usual run of such things inasmuch as they are in black and white, with good bold red and black lettering beneath each picture.” [1: p412] Two were reproduced in the magazine.

Two of the LMS posters were reproduced in monochrome in The Railway Magazine. [1: p410]

One poster dealt with “‘Modern Equipment for Modern Loads’, and illustrate[d] the fact that the LMS. have modern cranes and specially constructed rolling-stock for dealing with loads of exceptional size and weight; another is mainly concerned with ‘Mobility’, and stresses the fact that containers reduce[d] packing costs and eliminate[d] risks of damage – besides expediting transportation of merchandise between truck and lorry. A third poster – a specially fine bit of work, this illustrate[d] the LMS. method of ‘rapid transport of goods from ship to dock’ – that is, by means of electric trucks – the contention being that modern LMS. steamers and handling appliances ensure[d] safe and expeditious transportation of goods between Great Britain and the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland. The last of the series also deals with ‘Speedy Handling’ by means of mechanically-propelled trucks, which ‘transfer goods expeditiously and safely in LMS. goods depots’.” [1: p412]

New GWR posters

“Two posters which have been issued by Mr. E. Ford, Chief Goods Manager, GWR. … They may be regarded as good examples of the modern tendency to recognise that there is almost as much scope for advertising goods traffic facilities as for those provided by the passenger department. The first emphasise[d] the fact that express freight trains provide[d] for rapid transit, usually on the basis of collection one evening and delivery early next morning, while it is quite appropriate that a first-class express engine should be shown at the head of the train, in that the latest express engines [were] quite frequently employed for running these trains, especially those on ‘registered’ service, with which the poster [was] particularly concerned. The poster itself [was] in colour, with lettering in black, white and amber on a blue ground. Pictorial portions [were] in full colour, while the arrow [was] in green, with amber shading, to emphasise ‘The Sign of the Green Arrow’.” [1: p 413]

The two GWR posters were reproduced in monochrome in the Railway Magazine. [1: p411]

“The second poster also use[d] the symbol of an arrow to indicate, in this case, speed and sureness. The train itself [was] utilised as the arrow, while the target [was] an outline map of the British Isles in green, the name of the principal centres served by the GWR. was indicated as arrow destinations. The poster in other respects [was] on a green ground, utilising also blue, red and amber to an effective degree.” [1: p413]

These two posters go some way towards addressing the veracity of different views about the commencement of the ‘Green Arrow’ service referred to in my article about the November 1938 edition of the magazine. These posters demonstrate that the GWR, at least, was offering a Green Arrow service by November 1929 and suggest that the service reached into Scotland and so into the territories of the LMS and LNER.

References

  1. The Railway Magazine, Westminster, November 1929.
  2. https://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/07/20/advertising-in-the-railway-magazine-of-november-1938.
  3. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Arrow_(train), accessed on 29th July 2024.
  4. http://www.britishtransporttreasures.com/product/the-track-of-the-irish-mail-euston-to-holyhead-l-m-s-route-book-no-1-anon-1947-ebook, accessed on 29th July 2024.
  5. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Exley_Limited, accessed on 30th July 2024.
  6. https://culhamticketoffice.co.uk/bits/hidden-pages/fmoore.html, accessed on 30th July 2024.
  7. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Argentine_Railway, accessed on 30th July 2024.