Bulleid Pacifics - Past or Present

Did that not say something about the nature of the S&D, possibly supporting the "Slow" part of the line's unkind nickname?

 

Wash your mouth out with soap and water. Write out a thousand times: 'S&D = Swift and Delightful'. <BJ>

 

You could always go the Great Way Round

 

And here is the legendary Bentley:

 

I never disputed that the "D" might better have been rendered as "delightful"...

 

I want to put ‘Return to Evercreech Junction’ now Dave

 

And here it is again in April 2010 at Wansford with the same ex S&D 4F 44422 passing. Good to see that the Bentley is still with us thanks to Julian Birley. I think this one replaced the one seen in your picture.

 

Just absorb that picture from what I think is Midford. Private siding, 5 ton hand crane, Token keepers box, signage, well kept PW, in our modern world this might as well have been taken on Mars

 

The siding is Midford Goods and I think that makes it railway owned rather than a private siding. Either way, it's a scene you won't see on the modern railway.

 

It is a lovely view of a bygone era, isn't it. I wonder if the train was actually stopping there to pick up some or all of those wagons, and maybe drop some others off. It certainly has the appearence of a pick-up goods and the siding would have only been shunted by trains going in this the down direction (heading south from Bath). I am open to correction here but I do not think that is a private siding but the public siding for nearby Midford station. Given Midford's location built on a narrow ledge leading to the viaduct, there was no room for a siding any closer to the station than this. At one time there was a somewhat similar siding on the up side just south of the viaduct, near the well photographed bracket lower quadrant signal which protected access to the single line. As you say, a different world.

Peter

 

Funnily enough back in the Mid 80's I was on the road past Llyn Transfynned (Sorry about the spelling) and caught a glimpse of a Goods Shed with a row of 'Speedlink' Long Wheelbase vans.

The yard at Midford was a 'public' not private facility mostly built to serve the Fullers Earth works at Tucking Mill

 

I have a copy of the 1950 Working Timetable for the S&D which shows the 05.30 Bath - Templecombe freight stopping at Midford from 05.45 to 06.20, presumably to pick up any traffic from the yard, access was by a ground frame ( Midford A) released by the Bath Junction-Midford tablet. At one time there was a up siding so the GF was presumably Midford B. I assume that any wagons destined for Bath and beyond would be left at Wellow for an up freight to collect.
Although it was a public siding for some reason the rail entrance was protected by a gate.

 

Given its remote location, away from the station with probably limited staffing I wonder if this was a security measure?

 

News from Southern Locomotives Ltd. including the imminent return of Eddystone. <BJ>

Southern Locomotives Ltd | Latest News (southern-locomotives.co.uk)

 

Thx. I wonder if the "double feed screw" in the caption to the image of the reverser screw means a two start thread?

 

Correction, it's a three start screw. My bad. Two new ones have been sourced, one for Eddystone the other for Sidmouth.

 

I was just wondering that of all the extant original pacifics, are they all running with original type chains or has there been an improved, ie stronger and more durable, type designed, bearing in mind the advances in metallurgy over the last few decades.
Chris

 

I believe the original type chain is no longer manufactured and the replacements are a different offset, to those originals, and the teeth have to be re cut to suit the modern chains.

 

When we were restoring 34081, we were told that the original spec chain was no longer available so we had new gear wheels manufactured to enable use of a commercially available chain. Subsequent info received indicated that we could have obtained the original spec chain but as the cost of the new gears and chain was covered by sponsorship, we were not disadvantaged financially.

 

Check out the refurbished Wadebridge website http://www.34007wadebridge.uk/
We are always looking for pictures of her when she was in steam.