DickRiley: WestfromPaddington
CompiledbyKevinRobertsonfromimagesattheTransportTreasury
Top:(13)Almosttimeforarest.Oneoftheearly series’Castles’,No.4074 CaldicotCastle, reversingbackpastRoyalOakonitswaytoOld OakCommon,29August1959.Theengineisin thesamelaterconditionasNo.7022seen previouslyandfromthissidethemechanical lubricatornecessarywiththehighdegree superheatmaybeseenontheframingaheadof theelbowsteampipe.No.4074hadarrivedat Paddingtonattheheadof‘028’,the8.20a.m.from SwanseaHighStreet.Itisseenherecoupledtoa laterHawksworthflatsidedtender.Atthetime Dickphotographedtheengine,ithadbeen allocatedtoLandore(Swansea)forjusttwoweeks havingbeentransferredfromOOC.Oftenan instructiontotransferamemberof‘whatever’ classwastheequivalentofmannafromheaven, asitalloweda‘lameduck’tobedispensedhere. ClearlythiswasnotthecasewithNo.4074asshe wasstillrunningmainlineservicesfromhernew home.Noticetoothespeedometerfittingonthe rearoffsidedrivingwheel. RCR14194
Bottom:(14)The‘01’wesawearlierisnow explained,asNo.70025 WesternStar comespast Dick’svantagepointatRanelaghBridgewiththe 1.55pmPaddingtontoPembrokeDock.This shouldbetrainNo.‘725’sowherethe‘01’came fromisanyone’sguess.CardiffCantonshed generallytooktotheBritanniaclassbetterthan theotherWRshedsinvolvedwiththeclass,such asOldOakCommon,Laira(Plymouth)and NewtonAbbot.Perhapsthereasonsomelikedthe designmayhavebeenastheywereinbrandnew conditionwhentheyweresentwest.No.70025 hasbeenmodifiedwithhand-holesinthesmoke deflectorstoreplacetheoriginalhand-railswhich mayhaveobstructedthedriver’sforwardvision; thelatterconsideredacontributoryfactorinthe accidentinvolvingsisterengineNo.70026at Miltonin1955.Alltheclass,indeedallthe Standardtypes,sufferedonedisadvantage workingontheWesternRegionandwheresignals wereplacedforoptimumvisibilityfromtheusual right-handdrivewesternengines.Threeseparate designsforthefirstthreevehiclesaswell: Hawksworth,CollettandthenBRMk1.29August 1959. RCR14195
(20)Modernisationwasnotjustforpassengerworkingsasscenessuchasthis-slightlyunusualanyway-wouldsoonbeconsignedtohistory.Whatwe seeisa14xx0-4-2TNo.1420attheheadofashortparcelsworkingleavingPaddingtonon20June1959,destinationReadingperhaps?The14xxseries certainlybetterknownonauto-fittedbranchlineworkingsattheheadofapairoftrailers.No.1420hadbeentransferredtoSouthallinSeptember1958from Oxford.Thefollowingmonth(July1959)itwouldmoveonagain,thistimetoExeter(83C).Suchparcelsdutieswouldsoonbetakenoverbymoderndiesel parcelscarsbuiltbytheGloucesterRC&WCo.No1420wassubsequentlysavedfromscrapandresidesontheSouthDevonRailway. RCR13672
(31)PassingunderthesamebridgewesawinthelastimageandwiththeWestLondoncarriagesidingsjustbehindthephotographer,weseeNo.7003 ElmleyCastle onanunidentifieddowntrainagainwithavarietyofLMRandWRstock.No.7003wasapost-warbuiltengineandinconsequencealso destinedtohavearelativelyshortlife-just18years.Atthetimeofthephotograph,13August1960,itwasbasedatGloucesterandsomaywellbeworking backtothatdestination.AlthoughtheWesternRegionlinesoutofLondonwereneverquiteasbusyasthoseontheSouthernitmustbesaidtoseenothing passingonanyoftheotherlineswasslightlyunusual. RCR15282
(46)NeglectedpanniertanksNos.9707and9498inOldOakCommonshedneartheendofsteamon5September1964.WesternRegionmanagementwere keentopromotetheirmodernrailwayandsteamwasverymuchyesterday’sregime.Indeeditgottothestagethatstaffwereinstructedtoinform passengersofa‘locomotivefailureandnotadieselfailure’shouldthenewtractionbreakdown.Thiswasalsooneofthelasttimes,perhapsthelasttime, No.9707wouldbreathefireasshewaswithdrawnjusttwodayslater.Alongside,No.9498wouldlastafurtherthreeweeks. RCR17709
BirminghamLinetrains
(50)No.5022comingofftheconnectiontotheBirminghamlineatNorthActonanddroppingdownthegradetojointheReadingrouteforthelastfewmiles toPaddington.Thetrainisthe6.45a.m.WolverhamptontoPaddington,No.5022 WigmoreCastle aStaffordRoadbasedenginewhichmaywellbedealtwith atRanelaghBridgeafterarrival.TheformationisprobablyallinchocolateandcreamandincludesthreeGWRvehiclesasthesecond,thirdandeighth vehiclesofthetrain.Theengineisabouttopassastopsignallocatedontherighthandsideoftherunninglines-againforeaseofviewbythedriver.The smallverticalboxatthetoprearoftheposttakesinformationonwhetherthelampwas‘inorout’(onoroff)tothecontrollingsignalbox.4May1957.
RCR10577
(72)The‘Great WesternRegion’ perhaps?No.7032 DenbighCastle exhibitingeverything GreatWesternexcept perhapstheactual liveryoftheengine andstock.Thetrain istheSaturday 11.05a.m.Paddington toPenzancedeep intoSonningcutting; afavouredlocation forphotographyby Dickandcountless others.Thefirst vehicleisaToplight withatleastone otherGWcoach behind.Behindthe bridgewehavea signalcompletewith backboardandan ATCramp,thistime fortheUpfastinthe ‘fourfoot’.No.7032 wasnewfrom SwindoninJune1950 andspentitsworking lifeatOldOak Common.Itwas modifiedwithhigher degreesuperheatin 1960,becomingwhat mightevenbe describedasa‘Super Castle’suchwasthe differencethe changesmade.This thoughwasfour yearsinthefuture whenphotographed on7July1956.Inits finalmodifiedform theenginewas condemnedin September1964aged just14yearsand subsequently scrappedatMessrs. BirdsatRisca. RCR7446.
(89)ExpresspassengerontheWesternRegionwitha9F…...Forashorttimearound1959-61,theBRStandard2-10-0typeswereusedonpassenger servicesontheWR–orseenonpassengerservicespassingacrossWRmetalsfromthesouth.Thehaulagepowerandfreerunningcharacteristicsof
theseengineswereidealbuttheireffectonthetrackatspeedwasperhapsnotideal.HereNo.92242isseenpassingTilehurstinthedowndirection.Sofar asWRoriginatingtrainswereconcerned,theclasswereusedforabriefperiodonexpresspassengerservicesbetweenCardiffandPaddington–andviceversa,butitshouldbementionedthatonatleastoneoccasion(andpossiblemore),aninter-regionaltrainfromBournemouthtothenorthhada9Fatits head.1August1959. RCR14017
