If you could...

To have been able to pop into the box at Quintinshill in May 1915 and point out the local on the main before Meakins accepted the troop train.

 

An interesting if you could....... and I can see where you're coming from too. Especially as the troops were I believe destin for Gallipoli. Churchills' ill fated Dardanelles Campaign, that cost the lives of so many Aussies and Kiwis of the ANZAC division. Speaking of the Aussies and in particular as I was born in the same town [South Shields] as one of their Greatest Great War Heros' John Simpson Kirkpatrick AKA "The Man with the Donkey". He found a Donkey on the beach, which he then used to carry the wounded back from the front. Many using a decided sense of "Gallows/Black Humour" would remark, "One of these days you'll stop one! Haven't you stopped one yet!" i.e. a bullet. Until tragedy did strike and he did. The Donkey returning with a wounded soldier. Kirkpatrick was so well known that one of the senior Officers of the ANZACs entered a remark in the reports to the effect that: "The Man with the Donkey" has been reported "missing in action."

 

My pick - a day at Swindon workshops circa 1927/28 when I could see the first Kings roll out all shiny and new. I believe a batch of Castles were also under construction at the same time. Not to mention all the other engines being worked on.

 

I believe there was a Cripple Sidings Lane in Peterborough once.

 

Watery Lane Shunt Frame always makes me smile.

 

Actually, having read a book or two on the place, Peterborough at the turn of the 20th century might have been interesting - a convergence of GNR, GER, MR and LNWR.

 

How about Plodder Lane in Bolton, home to many an old LNWR, well, plodder of the Super D variety.

 

i would pick a day in 1913


a Saturday , and I would do my usual Saturday expedition . take one of the new Oerlikon electrics from Harrow to Willesden . do Willesden shed .compound 2-8-0s to be seen ,some super Ds . princes , experiments , Precursers and a Bill Bailey , maybe a Jumbo or two. look ! a brand new Claughton and just look at that paint . My G. Grandfather is working in the carriage shed down the road from Kilburn ,maybe on Mr Parks ' new corridor stock . no matter , next stop is Old Oak.

walk along the Grand Union , under the freight link bridge and into the depot . Saints and Stars , with brass everywhere , not forgetting the copper. some 2-8-0 s -even these were clean with gleaming brasswork that soon would be gone . a City on the turntable with a couple of Moguls . is that the Great Bear on the next turntable ? ohh yes it is !.
Metro tanks are everywhere - the 4-6-0 s are stingy with the cabs but the Metro have none at all . a couple of Atbaras and a Bulldog and its time to sneak round to the carriage sidings , find a nice Dreadnaught , climb in and eat my sarnies and mums ginger beer .

back to Willesden and catch a local into Euston ,hauled by a Precurser tank . no hanging around we're off to St Pancras , but we spare a glance at the ironwork of Hardwickes' old station .
City road - all noise and bustle ,hooves and iron tyres clattering over the cobbles carters and cabbies shouting to gain their way . horsedrawn buses advertising Swan matches and Virol and lamp oil . open topped with stairs curling around the back . and the horsepoo -lots.

St Pancras . we pass thro the ornate booking hall. all dark wood and gold lettering.
Hansom cabs are waiting neatly on the cab road and a compound with a 2-4-0 pilot alongside the cabs , look out for the horsepoo. !. down to the end of the platform .not stopping long 'cos its the Great Northern next , but we see a couple of class3 4-4-0s and another compound , and a pair of 2-4-0s heading a boat train bound for Tilbury . hoped to see a Spinner but it is not to be . a Flatiron brings in a train with big gold "3" painted on the doors

and so to Kings Cross ,green engines , a couple of Atlantics simmering in the bays.
walk down the platform . an Ivatt 0-6-2 tank is waiting the right away with the black bulk of Kinross Buildings behind. smoke is curling from the black tunnel mouths .above the tunnels I can see the Gasholders . they are sooty black .who would imagine them painted brightly 100 years on ?
another 0-6-2 stops at York Road before plunging into the hole , and a nondescript 4-4-0 emerges from the tunnel with a rake of 50' teak coaches .
now an Atlantic is leaving hauling another train of teak . it slips and slides to the tunnel mouth .. I expect when the Atlantics are replaced , the new engines wont slip like this .will they?.
we stay another 1/2 hour . no point in going to the shed 'cos you wont get in . very touchy ,the GNR. , but get the Underground to Chalk Farm and maybe Camden will be more accommodating. and so it proves , and we add another Claughton , Sir Frank Ree and 5000 Coronation to our tally , and look at the old roundhouse over the tracks . the railway has out grown it now.

leaving the shed we admire the town houses that followed the railway .Camden New Town .The mustard coloured brick ,made from London clay is acquiring a coat of soot .my Grandfather lives nearby . easy to get to his work as a clerk at Euston . many years on he would be Chief Clerk there for the LMS . but he does not know that .

and so , back to Harrow ,tired , dirty and hungry . rabbit stew tonight with luck , and some brown bread baked in a charcoal oven from Spurriers , the baker on the corner.

so .. that's not too much to ask . is it?

 

So many choices, but if it's a one time only offer ..... The Isle of Wight c.1890. Ryde Pier was now on the network, the IWR was pretty much at it's zenith (such as it was!), the original C&N singles were still active on the 'Central', as was my favourite 4-4-0t, ex-NLR No.7. The Black Hawthorn 4-4-0t No.6 was brand new and the first bogie stock had recently taken to the rails. Although Ventnor Town didn't yet exist, the FYN was recently opened.

From my location, the additional bonus of top link locos of Mr.Stroudley, all resplendent in 'Improved Engine Green' would contast nicely with the products of the LSW at the Portsmouth end of the mainland leg.

 

If only...so many things I would love to have seen/travelled on. Shap behind a Duchess obviously, in an LMS corridor coach, The broad gauge on the GWR, and a couple of journeys I have done thousands of times, but years ago, Handforth to Manchester on the LNWR about 1910 ish, a Precursor tank instead of a 323, Radcliffe to Manchester at the same time, an L & Y radial tank.

Oh, and just one more from Radcliffe to Manchester Victoria on one of the class 504 EMUs!! (gets coat!)

 

Nice choices. Do I get another go then?

A trawl of the Col.Stephens' lines around the time of grouping (that way I get to see the WC&P's first petrol railcar too!).

If you get the impression I've got a soft spot for those impecunious lines which clung to life on a shoestring budget, you'd be right!

 

The Hundred of Manhood and Selsey Tramway then? Apparantly, they tried to get the Southern to take it over some time in the 30s and the SR sent a team down to check it out and said "no thanks!"

 

Indeed. I've seen a summary of that SR report. It'd be quicker to list what they didn't find fault with! The GW report (for the same purpose) on the WC&P has a very similar tone.

Edit: Found the link to the Selsey line report, courtesy of the Col. Stephens Railway Museum website:
https://www.hfstephens-museum.org.uk/other-railways/selsey-tramway-in-its-last-days

Can't find the WC&P report online, but the main website on this line has had a major revamp lately and is even better than before. No apologies for blatant plug:
http://www.wcpr.org.uk/index.html

 

Interesting reading, thanks. The GW did take over the WC & P in 1940, and two ex LBSCR Terriers were taken into GWR stock, numbered 5 and 6, both ran for BR until after nationalisation. I don't know what happened to any of their other rolling stock, they had some interesting American style open verandah coaches which looked like something from a Western.

 

To my surprise, I learned that the demise of the WC&P wasn't as cut and dried as you may think. It seems it came within an ace of surviving due to wartime conditions. Ho-hum!

Other than the Terriers, that which was 'fit to run' was taken en bloc one Sunday, at a sedate pace via Badminton, to Swindon for breaking up. The surviving balcony ended stock (allegedly built for an abortive Patagonian railway scheme and left on the makers' hands) suffered the indignity of having their steps removed ahead of this last run. The rest was demolished at Clevedon. The loss of the Dübs 2-4-0t (ex-Jersey Railway) 'Clevedon' and the Drewry railcars are a particularly sad loss to my mind. AFAIK, only one item of stock survives, in the form of ex-Met Rly 4-wheeler 353, WC&P No.7.

A short portion of the line itself (at Portishead) was briefly utilised for storing some wagons, but otherwise the line lay unused until taken up.

 

Anyone else think that if Colonel Stephens was around now, he would be an enthusiastic Pacer user!?

 

Same basic idea I suppose