West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Thanks for info.

These forums where you ask questions are very good.

 

That's as maybe, but you need to be careful that you don't start to annoy people by asking questions for which you could easily find out the answers yourself. This latest one is a good example.

 

Is he the person who used to be "TrainspotterTony"?

 

Yup.

 

Adding please to the end of the request helps as well.

 

Yeah so I changed username, what about it?

 

Very sorry Sir, will remember my manners next time I ask a question.

 

I suspect some people might feel reluctant to respond to someone who appears to have an aggressive tone so knowing who a poster was might influence that decision.

 

Please don't be rude .

 

I will no longer be posting in this thread.

 

Not rude, I asked a question why it would matter that I changed username.

 

Do you not see that adding "what about it?" to the end of your question appears aggressive?

 

WSR then and now.

Norton Fitzwarren, although on the main line, was always, effectively, a station on the Minehead Branch. Alternative local transport killed it off in 1961, a decade before the rest of the branch.

There were two footbridges at NFW, the (west) station one now removed. That makes the same shot impossible, but it is hoped that the pair below are of interest.

Robin

1950

Looking west over the junction from the station footbridge.




2017

From a little further back with a Penzance - Cardiff service hurrying by.

 

Did the junction get extensively remodelled at some point between the 1930s and the date of that photo? That track plan seems to bear little resemblance to the 1930s map (http://maps.nls.uk/view/106023740#zoom=4&lat=11167&lon=13636&layers=BT); in particular, in the 1930s map, the Barnstaple branch was a branch off the Minehead branch; whereas in the photo above, both branch from the mainline; also it appears that the up and down relief lines were continued beyond the station in the view above, whereas they start to the east of the platforms in the 1930s map.

I was just curious about reconciling where the 1940 accident took place; since that was said to have happened at the west end of the station, I assume the layout in 1940 was closer to that in the photo than on the map, with the accident occurring in the middle distance where the down relief rejoins the mainline? What's the line that runs forward from the down relief?

It does show how beautifully flowing traditional P&C work was relative to today's railway.

Tom

 

Didn't know there used to be so much track at Norton. I tried to do this at the weekend as I was stood on bridge but couldn't find a picture to reference.

These Now and Then pictures you post are fantastic. Keep them coming please.

 

It was 1937 when the two junctions for the Minehead and Barnstaple branches were upgraded with the lines doubled on the two branches to the first stations to increase the capacity of the branches.

The line from the down relief is the down goods running line which I think went all the way to the Allerford level crossing

 

Thanks for that - it fits the chronology, i.e. redevelopment in 1937 and the Norton Fitzwarren accident in 1940. The line leading on from the down relief is I assume later in date, since had it existed in 1940, the train would have gone onto that line rather than being derailed where it was - the accident report describes the lead from the points being open ended, i.e. has no mention of the line continuing. (Interestingly, the accident report says "derailed on catch points protecting the Down Main" - did the GWR use different terminology, or is that an error in the report? I assume the accident report should have said "trap" points, not "catch" points, unless GWR terminology varies?)

Tom

 

The down goods running line is shown on a 1938 plan of the station, so was there before the 1940 disaster and there is only one trap point shown on the plan which you can see on the photo on the end of the overgrown siding next to the shunters signal.

 

Happy to be corrected, but I believe the NFW Down Goods Loop was added in 1943 as part of the pre D-Day improvements in the West Country. So not there in 1940.

Robin