West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Was Zelig inspired by Robin

 

Robin and Robin no less Can't believe my eyes lol but what is Chris grasping to keep it so still!!!!
Darn it, laughing so much I missed the history and value of the item

 

On the off-chance the 'Heritage Committee' ever meet, I wonder if a policy could be implemented as simple as:

"Signs & notices located within the WSR boundaries will follow traditional GWR practice & style".
A reference to curatorially incorrect hi-viz & reflective materials would not go amiss, either.

Perhaps implied is that signs outside the WSR boundaries & therefore outside the HC's remit would follow contemporary standards.

 

West Somerset Railway - Then and Now #82

Williton Signal Box 1969 / 2017

A slightly unconventional pair of pictures.

Signalman Harry Horn being congratulated on his retirement in 1969 in front of the GWR cast iron notice that used to be fixed to the Box there to dissuade folk from using the road crossing. The footbridge was demolished days afterwards and the plate removed and lost or destroyed.

For many years since re-opening in 1976, the cast iron plate only existed as a 'clean' area of brickwork which had been protected from the elements and some paint marks where the brickwork had been caught when the sign had been repainted. However in the mid-eighties I purchased an identical sign redundant from Parsons Street Station in Bristol and it went into store at Williton Booking Office and latterly, Bishops Lydeard Museum.

When Williton footbridge was replaced by the erection of the bridge from Trowbridge in 2011 the cast iron sign could be replaced and duly was.

But, dearly beloved, when you are next at Williton, look at the sign. In Bristol, it was mounted on a length of redundant rail and so has 4 holes at the centre, top and bottom which the original would not have had.

Heritage signage at its best.

1969


2017


2017

 

Thank you for getting that sign

 

Thanks are due to the 23 donors...

Robin

 

You are too modest. Without your efforts it is unlikly it would have happened. One of the 23!

 

You may well have a point. However official statistics for the time indicate that 1.5 million of those deemed vulnerable were evacuated in the first wave in 1939 in just 2 days.
When you consider that approx. 2 million people of means "self evacuated" either abroad or to remote areas of the UK it puts the number into perspective. It's worth remembering that there was no compulsion to evacuate despite the huge social pressure placed on parents to evacuate their children. By the end of the war the total number of people evacuated in all three evacuations (1939, 1940 and 1944) was 3.5 million. The vast majority by rail.

 

Hear hear!

 

FYI a forum member has contacted me and was kind enough to allow me to buy his sign. Result! It was the right one too, so I am now able to give it to the foundry for replicas to be made for Broadway's 2 barrow crossings.
Another success for the Nat pres forum

Thank you Robin also for your offer to help, which was much appreciated.

 

Maybe a few extra for the WSR to replace the NwR signs that Robin is so fond of.

I’d better get my coat

 

This is what a genuine GWR 'BEWARE of TRAINS' sign looks like:



It is quite large. Notice that the 'OF' is in a smaller letter size. It has beading round the outside, and the corners are different from the Midland ones for example.
There is a lot of fakery on Ebay, but none are of the GWR type.

 

I suspect that may be unduly confident!

PH

 

I'm thinking: 'You won't get much cider in that!'

Robin

 

West Somerset Railway - Then and Now #83

Williton 1914 / 2017

Here's another 'people' shot. A group of Somerset Light Infantry heading for the Continent in 1914, gathered with well-wishing friends for a 'going-away' photo at the up end of the up platform. How terrible that we know what is waiting for them but how relaxed they look.

And in the 'Now' shot there is not a trace of them. Human smoke.

'In Flanders fields where poppies grow......'

1914


2017

 

All those young men / boys felt it was their duty . A different time , a different place . They shall not grow old as we grow old .

 

They also felt it would be a quick, easy victory and that they would be marching through the Tiergarten in a few months' time...

 

Note: There are several different styles of GWR signs & lettering. Reference to Great Western Way or any modellers sign catalogue has examples from different periods.

 

Catching up with this thread a bit late. While the station building seems still to have its original chimney, the signal box has a modern metal flue. Any chance of that being added to the heritage list for sorting out in the fullness of time?