S&D Railway Trust

I always carefully choose between 'PLC', 'WSRA', etc, for precisely that reason. Even that step is nor perfect, though, as e.g. not all PLC share-holders, ID-card-holders etc will agree with decisions of the board.

Noel

 

I did find it eventually, although it took some searching as it was not indexed in its own right :-( It appears on page 103 as 'Note A' to Table D1. Sorry about the poor quality of the scan, but it was the best that I could do without damaging the spine of my Appendix.

Note the comment in the first paragraph about trains stopping near the signal box.

There is a reference to the signalman being required to 'gauge' the pouches, but nothing about gauging the actual lineside apparatus.

 

I suggest you start looking at the S&DRT website and blog. You will see that they do have plans which will probably leave Washford as an empty site. If it's an eyesore on the line it is entirely the fault of WSR board who issued eviction procedures.

 

I think some people have thought I am being bad about the sdtrust but I am not . I am sad that the station looks closed down now I’m not meaning it’s their fault as we know it is not their fault. I used to like going in the signal box and station it’s sad to see it run down and closed. I never meant it was their fault. I wouldn’t be surprised if the wsr close it to save moneys

 

Well why not edit your original post then? Because from how it’s worded, you do sound to be blaming those that have worked their bits off to make Washford an interesting place to visit for the past 40 odd years, rather than those at the PLC who have made the most almighty bloody cock up.

 

I bet my copy of the Western Section Sectional Appendix (not 'South Western Section' as I wrongly referred to it before) is a good deal more disreputable than yours! Think mine was liberated from a bonfire at Bournemouth Central shed in 1967, so probably less amenable to a scan than yours...

The Western Region's Bristol Traffic Division Sectional Appendix contains the same material as Note A in the Southern's appendix, making reference to "Automatic Exchange Apparatus - between Bath Junction, Midford and Templecombe Junction".

That first paragraph in Note A exactly contemplates the circumstances of a meet that I imagine we both had in mind. No mention of the 7F's ability to effect a 'tender first' exchange, but perhaps that was a bit too esoteric for the Appendix, and in any case of no concern to signalmen.

Yes, I too noticed the reference to gauging the pouches rather than the lineside standards. Much of my information comes from Peter Cattermole's monograph, in which he expressly refers to gauges kept at signal boxes "to check the adjustment of the lineside apparatus," so is it possible that the monograph is in error, or were signal boxes equipped with gauges both for the pouches and for the standards? I think the S&DRT's collection includes a braced, L-shaped gauge connected with the Whitaker apparatus, but can't recall whether it was for gauging the engine exchanger or the ground standards. In any case, it was a very straightforward piece of kit, easily capable of replication if required for checking the ground equipment and intended for supply to each signal box.

 

A boarded up post Beeching unstaffed station awaiting closure would be an interesting and unusual historical feature.

 

It would certainly give the line that all important authenticity

 

Be careful what you wish for! If things do not go well you could see most if not all the WSR stations "boarded up"

 

Authentic "post Beeching" or a prediction of things to come!

 

These days it would. I especially remember the sometime Barmouth Junction, West Grinstead and (much more recently, North Woolwich) as a boarded up ghost stations.

 

Or sold off, the old buildings and platforms turned into private dwellings, whilst modern prefab bus shelter like shelters on basic platforms await the GWR service to Bristol or Minehead, after the Council sells back the railway to NR,

 

And provide somewhere to park the 'stock awaiting restoration'? That might fit in with the overall ambience and cure some of the linear scrap heaps elsewhere.

 

I have a note from 'somewhere' that the Whitaker apparatus was the responsibility of the Loco Dept. That would certainly make sense in terms of the equipment fitted to the locos, as no doubt they would be 'gauged' from time to time before leaving shed. Ivo published a photo showing the Shedmaster at BGP doing exactly that. Atthill makes no mention.

But I wonder about the gauging of actual lineside apparatus? Would that have been done by the Loco Dept as well or perhaps the S&T? Given that the Sectional Appendix states that the 'ground apparatus' would be maintained by the Signal Engineer's Dept, then it would seem reasonable to assume that task would include the gauging. On the assumption that the gauging was not done by the signalman himself, then would there have been a gauge kept at every SB or would the relevant S&T Dept chap take one about with him? Indeed, would the standards actually need to be gauged very often, if at all, anyway? Unless there were regular earthquakes in Dorset <g>, the position of the standard relative to the track is unlikely to have changed other than if the track sank for some reason or was raised by over-jealous packing of the ballast.

Is there any mention about this in PEC's monograph, as sadly I don't have a copy of that - I was supposed to have been supplied with reference copy in my days as 'Signalling Steward', but somehow it never materialised :-(

 

I have rediscovered my copy of Cattermole (after xx years!).
In the chapter 'The Tablet Apparatus' he states:
'A special apparatus was kept at locomotive depots for checking this height adjustment', referring to the adjustment to compensate for tyre wear. The reference is to Ivo Peters' 'The Somerset & Dorset in the Fifties', OPC 1980.
In the chapter 'The Apparatus in use' he states:
'The reliability was mainly due to its design, but regular maintenance and a strict set of rules must also have contributed. Every signalbox controlling a single line section of the S & D was equipped with a gauge to check the adjustment of the lineside apparatus. As early as 1907 a fitter was specially employed at Highbridge for the purpose of making regular inspections of the apparatus, though later his function was transferred to the Signal Engineer's Department.'
Hope this is of use.
Pat

 

Returning to Washford, are there any plans to recover the trust's shed and relocate it? I can't find anything on their website. I'd have thought it would be a useful asset at one of their new homes, but do any of them have space for it? It would be a retrograde step for those S&D carriages to have to live out in the open.

 

PM sent.

 

Please find the link to this weeks Washford update Blog below:

https://www.sdrt.org/the-merry-men-of-washford/

 

No I am not editing it. I have read it many times today and I have not give blame in it. I have said what they are doing and they are doing it. I haven’t blamed them in it. You have read it negative and making a mountain out of a molehill.