Western Region Non-Passenger trains Preview

WesternRegion non-passengertrains

LocalGoods

The Great Western, possibly the firstenterpriseto operate apetrol-poweredomnibus inBritain, had a fleet of108vehiclesby 1929 Following legislativechanges,the fleet wasdistributed among independently-owned regional companies.

The GWR took sharesin those bodiesand by 1933had withdrawn fromdirect participation in thebus market From inception, it had been practice for GWR omnibusesadditionally tocarry goods andparcelsbuttheservice’spopularity soonengendered capacity problems that necessitated creation ofaroadvehicle fleet solely for movement ofgoods.The company had always usedhorse-drawn wagons forcollection and

distributionfrom itsrail-served goods depotsbut thespeed andflexibilityof the motor lorry opened upsignificantcommercial opportunities.

GWR motorlorriesweresooncoveringareas withina20-mile radius ofgoodsdepots andlater workedfurther afield.Out ofthisdevelopeda cartage service where point-to-pointdeliveries werecompleted withoutrecourse tomovements by rail,and alorry fleet thathad comprised392in 1923 grew to2,324 by 1937.Statistical comparison among theBig Fourrevealsthat the GWR embraced mechanisation of itsroad goods fleetmostrapidly andby 1937accounted for 24%

Attimeswhentherewerenoexpresspassenger orheavyfreightservicesinevidenceonamajortrunk routetherailwaycould presentnearbucolicscenessuch asthis.Ona sunny19th May1956,0-6-0PTClass 94xxNo8458(built byYorkshire EngineCoMakersNo2441 inMay1950)isamblingalongon theUpslow nearTilehurstattheheadofapick-upgoodstrain.Despitethearrivalofall-steelopenwagonsin large numbers,allbuttwoarestilltimber-bodied.Thecargointhefirstofthesecannotbeidentified butthe fourth,a5-plankopen,carries acontainer.Theremainingsixareseven-plankersloadedwithcoal,andall haveseenplentyofservicejudgingbytheircondition.No8458haspassedwhatseemstobe another classmemberrunninglightengineontheDownslow. RCRRef7101-8100(136).

Chinaclay

Cornwallisa major producer ofchinaclay (kaolin) whichis mined at a number locations but principally in the St Austell district.

Transportation ofthis valuablesubstancewhich hasanumber of industrial applications wasa majorreason fortheestablishment ofthe CornwallMinerals Railwaywhich wasabsorbed by the GWR in 1896.Chinaclay wasshippedby

rail direct to UK consumers,andalso to the ports of Fowey andParfor export to foreign buyers, and fordelivery by coastal shipping services to UK users.

Originally a variety ofrailway wagons wereused for thistraffic but experienceled to construction at Swindonin1913 ofa fleet of500 purposedesignedunfitted vehicles (DiagramO13). The

ALLDOWNGOODSAND MINERALTRAINSMUST STOPDEADHERE

Gradientspresentedparticularproblemsfortheoperation ofnon-fittedtrains.Forsuccessfulascentit wasamatterofadequatepowerfortheloadwhileprovisionofa bankinglocomotivegaveaddedsafetyin preventingwagonsfromrunningawayshouldthetraindivide.

Fordescent,themeasuresweremorecomplex.Itwasausualrequirementtolimitthespeed ofunfitted trainsto20mphandbeforestartingthedowngrade,thetender brakewouldbefullyscreweddownand theguardwoulddolikewisewiththe Toad brake.Speedwasthen controlledbyapplicationofthe locomotivebrake asnecessary.

Thisprocedurewasnotpossiblewithatankengineas thehandbrakescreweddownconcurrentwith applicationofthelocomotivebrakecouldresultinexcessivelyhotbrakeshoes.

Thus,fortankengine-hauledtrainsandforalltrainsapproachingdowngradientssteeperthan1in60, therewasarequirementtohaltattheStopBoard,whichwherever possiblewaslocatedonalevelsection oftrack.Theguardwouldthenwalkforwardandpindownsomemanualwagonbrakesbehind the locomotive.Thetrainwouldthendrawforwardslowlyontothegradientandtheguardwouldcontinueto pindownthebrakesofpassingwagons.Oncethedriverjudged thatasufficientnumberofwagonbrakes hadbeenappliedtoprovideadequateresistanceagainsttheweightofthetrain, hewouldsignalbytwo sharpwhistleblaststhathehadsufficientcontrolandthat theguardcouldreturntohisToad.Duringthis processbothlocomotiveandToadbrakeswouldremainoffsoastoprovideareserve ofbrakepowerto keepspeedincheckonthedescent. Atthefootofthegradientthetrainwouldstoptoallowtheguard to unpinthewagonhandbrakes.Theseproceduresunderlinedtheindividualskillsrequired ofpersonnel involved,andoftheimportanceofcloseworkingco-operationbetweenlocomotivecrewandguard.

Descentofgradientsbyunfittedtrains significantlyaffectedelapsedjourneytimes,as demonstratedon GlynNeathbank(5½milesat1in47) ontheValeofNeathline.Stopboardswereinplaceatthetopand bottomofthebank,andalsoatthehalf-waypointresultinginanallowanceof42 minutesforthe downwardpassageofatrain.Experimentswithatrainweighing850 tonsshowedthatthetimingcouldbe reducedby13minutesifpartiallyfitted,andby20minutesiffullyfitted.Overundulatingroutesandwitha

Atastandbeyond PinnockTunnel.Theboardstates:

IRONSTONE

Mineralstraffic insubstantial volumesderived fromtheironstone quarries ofOxfordshirewhich stretchedeastwards into theadjacentcounties of Warwick and Northants.Ironstone wasshipped outby privately-owned quarry railway systems, mainly standard gaugeexcept for somenarrow gauge linesas at Hook Norton.During BR days, ironstone waseither loaded into Tippler and hopper wagons at the quarries or attranshipment pointsadjacent to mainline routes.

It was thetask ofthe GWR to moveironstone to industrial consumersin the Midlandsand the North of England,and to South Wales.The northbound traffic wasworked Down theLondonBirminghammainlinebyway of Leamington Spa

andHatton, andmost photographic attention was focussed ontheclimbof Hattonbank.

Traditionally,sometrains for South Wales setout in the Up direction asfar asKing’s Sutton where they branchedofftothe westontotheBanbury andCheltenhamRailway, a rural route with lengthy singletracksections. Unfortunately,there areno images in the Collection of workings over thisratherobscureline byway of Bourton-on theWater, the flyovercrossingthe Oxford-Worcester mainlineatKingham, AndoversfordJunction (northern extremityof the Midland&South Westernjunction Railway),andLeckhampton. Trains then turned south over the Hatherley loop togainthe Cheltenham-Gloucester line, and finally down theoldSouth Walesmainlineto the west of theRiverSevern.

DickRileywasadeptatproducingpanoramicviewsthatembracedawealthofdetail asinthisportraitof Totnes station.Class28xxNo2843 hasarrivedon15th July1958withaClassHunfitted freightserviceon theDownthroughroad.Boilerpressureiswellupwithsteamfeatheringfromthesafety valvesoeither goodprogresswasmadeinrestoringthefirewhilecoasting downDaintonWestbank,orthetrainhas stoodtimeintheDownloopontheeasternbankoftheRiverDart.AtthefarendoftheDownplatform loopstandsalargeprairie, waitingtoreverseoutontothe Downmainroadandbuffer uptotheToad. Therailwayformedanintegralpartofthelocalcommunityin thosedays.A directlinkwithBrunelisthe pumpinghousebuiltfortheatmosphericsystemwhichnever reachedthatfarwest.Thiswaslater incorporatedintothecreamerycomplexintheleftbackgroundandthepumpinghousecanjustbe discernedasthetaller buildingbehindthelorry loadingbay. Thecreamery’sproductionwasdespatched dailytoLondonby6-wheeltankerwagons.Thesidingsontheleft containopenwagons,athreeplank carryingacontainerandasolitary milktanker.Thepresenceofthetwosuburbanbrakecoachescannot bereadilyexplainedastheAshburtonbranchservicesthatterminatedatTotnes wereformedofAuto coaches.

Behindthebankercanbeseenthegoodsshedwithevidenceofplenty ofcustomjudgingbythenumber ofwagonsintheimmediate vicinity.Behindtheshedcanbeglimpsedthe startoftheTotnesQuaybranch thatafewyearslaterwouldplayanimportant roleinthefledglingGreatWesternSocietypreservation movement.In April1962,theDownstationbuildingsuffered adisastrousfireandwasreplacedwith makeshiftbuildingsfromtheportacabinarchitecturaldesignschool.Threecattlewagonsstandinthe Downbay.Ontheadjacentsidingthereisashabby Toplight BrakeThird(Diagrams D45,D46,D68are possibilities)andthechimneyintheroofindicates thatthis1908-10vintagevehicleisekingoutitscareer indepartmentalservice.Onthesameline,a6-wheelmilktankerawaitstransfer acrosstothecreamery sidings.Thesevehicles wereinvariablygrimy,placingthematoddswiththemilkindustry’sendeavours topromotetheclean,healthyimageofitsproducts.Intheforegroundthere isatypicalwatercranewith itsattendantfire devil. RCRRef11801-12900(607).