Frome and N somerset railway

[railwaysi]

Hi all,

Would anyone be able to provide me with details about the Frome and North Somerset line?? (Marsh Junc. - Frome)

I know bit and bobs but am struggleing on the bristol side of things.

Any help esp. images would be great.

In return I can offer some information on miost sugnallin

[Robin Summerhill]

What had you in mind?

History?
Track plans?
Timtables and general train operation?
Geographical location?

Give us a bit more to go on

[railwaysi]

Ok sorry i'll do my best.

Being an S&T engineer I have a primary interest in the signalling of the line and its boxes.

However the biggest unknown to me is the Marsh Junction end. Currently I have no idea where whar ran etc So any information regarding the route from Marsh junction to pensford would be a very good start.... so any track layouts would be good. Likewise for the rest of the line. I have found that the Signalling Records society have lots of signal box diagrams which have been a great help, but there are some missing.

Hope this helps.

Simon

[Robin Summerhill]

The 1959 WTT tells us the following:

"Single Line Marsh Junction to Radstock West station, worked by electric train token. Crossing places at Marsh Junction, Pensford, Pensford & Bromley siding, Clutton, Hallatrow and Radstock West station."

"Double line Radstock West station to Mells Road south end."

"Single line Mells Road south end to Frome worked by electric train token, Mells Road and Frome South box being the token stations."

Being predominantly single line, signalling would not have been all that substantial. There were boxes at Pensford, Clutton, Hallatrow, Radstock West, Radstock South and Mells Road.

Some of the line's formation has become cycle tracks (West Town Lane to Whitchurch and Midsomer Norton to (near) Mells Road). Although much of the line's course can still be traced (see Google Earth) some of it has been obliterated, particularly at Chelwood Bridge which now remains in name only (underneath a roundabout) and the north end of the line beyond West Town Lane (Brislington).

There are a couple of "old maps" websites that will allow you to see where the line ran. The second link below also gives access to archive maps back to the late 19th century, and those at 1:2,500 and 1:10,560 scale will sometimes show individual tracks and signal posts.

http://www.npemap.org.uk/tiles/map#450,207,1

http://www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html

[railwaysi]

Thanks for that.

I have noticed that from what is now chelwood roundabout you can see the old cutting starting to sink where they infilled it.!

More of interest is the marsh Junction end. ( I live out in the sticks) as this area has been developed quite a lot.? Was there a bridghe over the imperial ground? now called hither bath bridge? also did the line go through brislington tescos?

Also hallotrow was quite a busy little box.

What is the WTT?

[Robin Summerhill]

What is the WTT?

Working time table.

Other points will be addressed after I've had some food!!

[StrawberryLine]

There is a gent called Tim Venton, who has built a splendid model of Clutton railway station on the North Somerset Line, he also prior to this built a model of Whitchurch Halt. He has a website with plenty of information including some photographs of the prototype and the model, it can be found at http://www.tventon.freeserve.co.uk/. I dont think much is left of the Line at the Bristol end, from Marsh Junction it went under Sandy Park Road, the back of the houses on Bath Road (where the Go Outdoors Store is now) Under the Bath Road just about where the one way system starts at Brislington, from there the Tesco's store is built on it and then out to Whitchurch where the road still goes over the old bridge just before the end of the speed restriction signs. Hope this helps in your quest, no doubt other more learned contributors know more than I do.

[Robin Summerhill]

^^^ Wot Srawberry Line said.

A 1:50,000 scale of the OS map is on Streetmap here:

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=36 ... f+Bristol+[City/Town/Village]&searchp=ids.srf&mapp=map.srf

You can deduce from here where the line went, because much of it is still showing as vacant strips of land. I will have to presume that you know your way around Ordnance Survey maps and the local area:

The junction at Marsh junction faced towards North Somerset junction (bit of a clue in the name there!) so passenger trains would leave Bristol eastbound, take the right hand track (the Bristol avoiding line) at North Somerset junction, then bear left at Marsh Junction, which is/ was more or less under St Phillips Causeway by the shopping precinct that includes the Showcase cinema. It crossed the river at more or less the same point as St Phillips Causeway, ran on a low embankment then crossed Broomfield Road on an overbridge and carried on on first an embankment, than a shallow cutting, to pass under Sandy Park Road - the hump back bridge is still there.

It then ran in a cutting almost parallel to Bath Road, passing beneath it just before the start of the one way system . Still in a cutting, it passed under Talbot Road (once again the bridge is still there) and came to the first station on the line, Brislington. This site is now occupied by Bristol Scrap Metal.

Beyond Brislington station you really need to have been around at the time to know where it went, because the topography has changed so much in the last 25 years! The line ran to the west of what is now Tescos, crossed the A4174 Callington Road just about where the Tescos roundabout now is (but on a low embankment - this is now gone) and then ran through what is now the back gardens of the houses in Hither Back Bridge, still on the embankment that has now been removed.

It passed over West Town Lane on a low bridge (which caused the Bristol Omnibus company havoc before they introduced the Lodekka because they could only use single deck buses under it!). All trace of the bridge is gone, but the embankment on the south side of West Town Lane can still be seen just before the junction with Sturminster Road.

From that point to Whitchurch the line is easy to follow as it is now a cycle track. Whitchurch British Legion took over the trackbed to extend their car park, the line went in a cutting under Staunton Lane and Bristol Road (the A37). Whitchurch Halt was south of Whitchurch and could easily be seen from the road on the western side. The overbridge is still there.

Everything has been obliterated under new housing development between Staunton Lane and the A37.

Bewteen Whitchurch and Pensford, most of the railway formation has been obliterated (filled cuttings and embankments removed) but, if you look at the area in Google Earth, the scars of where the railway was can still be seen quite clearly.

Right - having got to just north of Pensford station, I shall knock off and leave a description of the southern part of the line to others!!

Just one final point - Hallatrow was of course the junction for the Limpley Stoke branch. Perhaps somebody knows when it was lifted between Hallatrow and Camerton, but it was certainly before my time, as the remaining Camerton to Limpley Stoke section was lifted just after they filmned "The Titfield Thunderbolt" on it in 1952

[nickt]

If you go round roundabout by Sainsburys by Black castle and drive as if to go in supermarket, look to end of road and there is the end of track bed and bridge. This must be about last remnant of line before the North Somerset junction.

[Robin Summerhill]

If you go round roundabout by Sainsburys by Black castle and drive as if to go in supermarket, look to end of road and there is the end of track bed and bridge. This must be about last remnant of line before the North Somerset junction.

Just had another look on Google Maps. "Bloomfield Road Link" that goes from Bloomfield Road past the entrance to sainsburys is probably just about on the site of the low embankment that carried the line here. And on Google maps if you go south along there then the bottom of the bridge abutment can still be clearly seen masquearding as a retaining wall!

When I was at Bath Road in the 1970s and lived in Brislington I used to walk that way home!

[Robin Summerhill]

A bit more information which seems reasonably accurate on a cursory glance:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_an ... et_Railway

[Splodge]

Brislington station building was only demolished in the early 1990's. (maybe even 1990). When I had recently passed my driving test, 1989, I remember looking at the station when driving (or jumping) over Talbot hill bridge. Once I actually stopped & had a walk around the station building, there was a lovely victorian fire place in what must have been either the waiting room or the station masters office. I remember thinking i should rip it out & chuck it in the back of the car & I intended to pop back & do that however a few weeks later when i poped back the building had been demolished.

I grew up in Stockwood in the 70's & 80's & often used to walk the dog along the old track bed. Ive always wondered what the bridge was like over west town lane, recently I found an old photo of it & it was a small stone archway, not big enough for double decker buses so I guess it had to go. There arnt mant pics of it though & ive not found any online.

Whitchurch Halt....are the platforms still there, buried under the field? I bet they are...

[Robin Summerhill]

I grew up in Stockwood in the 70's & 80's & often used to walk the dog along the old track bed. Ive always wondered what the bridge was like over west town lane, recently I found an old photo of it & it was a small stone archway, not big enough for double decker buses so I guess it had to go.

I lived in Stockwood from 1964 to 1970. The bridge over West Town Lane was not a small stone archway (there were a couple of those serving footpaths off Sturminster Road and, IIRC, a footpath that ran behind the Imperial Ground under the railway on its way to Knowle) but a girder bridge that was a little on the low side.

When the council estate was first developed along Sturminster Road, the bus company introduced a single decker service (no 145) which ran as far as Stockwood triangle. By the time the private estate was built at the top of the hill (very late 50s early 60s) the Lodekka double decker had been introduced as standard and they could get those under West Town Lane bridge. The earlier double deck models (ie. the Bristol K that was built up to 1955) would not fit under.

There was a "Lowbridge" version of the Bristol K which had a sunken footwell on the right hand side upstairs and bench seats seating 4, but they were never particularly popular for some reason. There were small numbers of them working out of Stround and Bath depots, and I don't ever remember seeing one in Bristol except when one was on loan to Hanham depot for a short period and ran on the former Bence's services with the service number range 300-319

I must be such a very very sad case to know all this .........

[nickt]

Just looking back through old postings and found piccs of North Somerset branch girder bridge.
credit to Mau _zhou
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mao_zhou/2 ... 332768818/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mao_zhou/3 ... 332768818/

[StrawberryLine]

[

quote="Robin Summerhill"]
There was a "Lowbridge" version of the Bristol K which had a sunken footwell on the right hand side upstairs and bench seats seating 4, but they were never particularly popular for some reason. There were small numbers of them working out of Stround and Bath depots, and I don't ever remember seeing one in Bristol

On the contrary Robin not sad just a font of knowledge, at the risk of going off subject, I do remember my grandfather who was a BOC country services driver telling me that the crew's nickname for the "K" with a four seats across was a "Skittle Alley" Now at the time we lived in Wells and I can remember travelling on these buses on the Service 27. Whether these were garaged at Wells or Bristol I would not know but they would have gone into Prince Street. But to get back on subject, I suspect the reason for using this type of bus on that service, was because of the Railway Bridge on the A37 as you started the descent into Pensford (Pensford Station was off to your right) which was also quite low on the Bristol side at least and possibly a girder bridge. I dont recall whether the bridge at the bottom of Hursley Hill was low but in the back of my mind this might have been a stone structure. Any one else got a better memory than me?