West Somerset Railway General Discussion

I am very sorry to hear it, and wish you the very best.


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As ever the Manors are an enigma. We have discussed previously on this site comparative power
outputs for them vs the 53xx 63xx & 73xx 2-6-0s. They were supposedly designed for use over
the Cambrian section where the 2-6-0s were too heavy. In practice eventually (1943 from
memory) both Classes were permitte.

Post 1948 there was only ever one Manor allocated to Taunton, No.7809 from July 1954 until
October 1954. Intriguingly (or at least to me ) No.7814 was allocated to Yatton for a few
months early in 1948 (transferred from Bristol Bath Road and then subsequently back again)

As a general note the Class were moved about a lot except where they had specific duties e.g.
7825 and 7826 were at Carmarthen from February 1953 for eight and ten years,a record
single allocation for any member of the Class. (To work to and from Aberystwyth). Similarly
in the early fifties some found some permanence at Cheltenham working over the M&SWJct
to Andover. Before the WW2 one of the earliest Manor rosters was from Cheltenham to
Banbury the erstwhile "Ports to Ports".

At various times. Manors were allocated to Bristol St Philips Marsh and Bath Road, Newton Abbott,
Plymouth, Truro ( some fairly long stays here) and Penzance. Any of these locos could have appeared
at Taunton. At the end of BR (W) steam those that were not on the Cambrian section found their way
to Tyseley, Gloucester and Reading.

So yes there were Manors visiting Taunton MPD I suspect.

However the 1955 WTT states that they were only permitted to work to Bishops Lydeard on the
Minehead branch and then limited to 25mph.

Wrt the Barnstaple branch the "engines restricted" section of the WTT lists "engine to work over"
All uncoloured and yellow types:
Blue types :
2-6-0 43xx, 53xx, 63xx, 73xx,
2-6-2T. ( Not beyond Wiveliscombe)
S. Region N. T9
S.Sspeed restricted to 25 mph. Not to be assisted by any other engine.
S. Region West Country (In emergency may work between Morebath Jct. and
Barnstaple Jct. Speed 20mph. .....not to be coupled to any other engine )"

There is a note :
"During emergency working over this Branch, see notice N0.464"

I imagine No.464 refers to workings if the Barnstaple S.Region route to Crediton is closed.
Does anybody know ?

As ever with the Manors I I am confused :/) . If they were originally designed to go where
the 43xx could not how come the 43xx were allowed to both Barnstaple and Minehead
whereas the Manors were not ?

Michael Rowe[/QUOTE]

Hi Mike I have seen a few manors on shed in TN throughout the mid/late 50s. Mostly to work as pilots on an express back to NA. I found many of them at Bala. I cannot recall one working to MD or for that matter BL.

 

For the record: "Monies" were "handed to the Plc". A start was made on the second parachute, certainly the metal
was rolled, I am not up to date.

The WSRA offered a year's free membership to all FOWSR Members.

Michael Rowe

 

Ken, I am very sorry to hear you are so unwell.

At the risk of being 'off subject". Interesting you remember Manors on the Ruabon Dolgellau section of the
former GWR. Whilst I managed journeys over the former Cambrian line from Shrewsbury to Machynlleth
by the time I planned a Barmouth (Abermaw) Ruabon trip in spring 1965 the route was closed !

I recently wrote an article for RPS Milepost on performance over now closed lines in the Principality.
The evolution of motive power was interesting. I located logs travelling Down (westwards), gradient
wise the easier journey behind a Dean Goods in 1932 with 9 on for 238 tons tare, Manor No. 7817 in
1957 7 for 216 and in 1963 two Manors with 325 tons gross on a Talyllyn Preservation AGM special.

In the harder Up direction (700 ft rise in 9.5 miles from Dolgellau ) where loads were limited to 252 tons tare
for 78xx and 53xx and 168 tons for the 22xx 0-6-0s. I only found logs for 22xx 0-6-0s, Dukedog and
53xx. One 22xx piloted by a 90xx 4-4-0 took 10/309 in 1957, two 22xx o-6-0s 10/334 in 1960 and
73xx 2-6-0 No.7310 8/266 ( overweight and running late ). The best performance of them all was by
the two 0-6-0s driven hard on the long climb so that they had time in hand for both locos to take
water at Corwen.

OSNock wrote appreciatively of the Ruabon Dolgellau section in "Four thousand miles on the Footplate"

Michael Rowe

 

low loader gone into bishops lyd, anyone have any ideas

 

Probably taking D7535 back to Buckfastleigh. D7612 left this morning. Keep watching the camera!

 

I am truly sorry to hear that. To quote Eric Clapton (from "Live in Hyde Park"), "I don't know what else to say, really." Words are .. just words.

Ironically, your post was the very last post on page 999 of this thread. A sad way to mark such a milestone.

Noel

 

sorry for late answer on low loader but thank you

 

What happened to allow Manors & Moguls to be used on The Cambrian? Engineering work or change of heart?

 

I did once read a novel which featured a King-hauled train on the Cambrian. However it was quickly revealed to be a magical train, which I suppose absolves it somewhat of the suspension of disbelief question - if it can race a cohort of immortal evil horsemen from Tywyn to the Chilterns then weight limits on Barmouth Bridge are somewhat besides the point

(Anyone who can identify the book from that deserves bonus points for their 1970s young adult fantasy literature knowledge)

 

The Chiltern element suggests one of the Susan Cooper “Over Sea, Under Stone” books.


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The following might be of interest
https://www.railadvent.co.uk/2019/0...sGoaIP7lVI0nQGhr49KrYd7uQoOVoIMhbnmHNe86cqgPE
Re the new owner of 9466...

 

In respect of locos used on lines that are of a lower weight limit than that authorised for the loco.
It should be remembered that the Railway Civil Engineer has the discretion to authorise normally disqualified locos subject to any limits that may be needed.
Speed is one consideration.
All up weight may need to be reduced.
Frequency of use, is it a one off or a weekly event?

This sort of consideration is still in use on NWR now as can be seen in the restrictions imposed on some steam charters on the network.

 

Thanks Mike as always a pleasure to read from your timings and also thank you for your words. ken

 

http://www.wsr.org.uk/cgi-bin/snap.cgi?h=Snapshot&p=2019/06/376

 

Spot on - the last one in the series, "Silver On The Tree".

 

Blimey, over 30 years since I read them!


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Have you asked on the LSWR Yahoo Group - sort of thing that someone there might know about. Alternatively, you could try the Bluebell Railway Archive (via the Museum Curator), which has a considerable collection of such working notices from right across the Southern.

Tom

 

So sorry to read @Faol 's sad news - one of those posts were it does not seem appropriate to click the like button. After 1000 pages and 20000 posts this is one that brings this sometimes chaotic thread back to earth with a bump. Best wishes for the no doubt difficult days ahead - I'm sure many of us here will be thinking about you at this time. For some reason at this notable point in the history of this thread I am reminded by Jo Cox's words to the effect that there is far more that unites us than divides us, and that goes for those who have an interest in the West Somerset Railway as much as it does for life in general. Lets hope that this is reflected in the next thousand pages.

Best Wishes Faol

Peter James

 

20000 posts. A chance to celebrate the WSR and wish it the very best for the coming months and years.