This is the original forum of the Bristol Railway Archive that existed between 2003 and 2013. I finally rescued it after it seemed unrecoverable after a large crash. I have made it available for viewing. It is locked, all posts to the new version please!
Use this forum to talk about the railways in and around Bristol, or for any off-topic stuff you want to share. Also request photos and information that you are missing.
the green mile wrote:
My brain was pre-disposed towards orderly things like parallel rails, symmetrical motion and groupings of numbers....
...and the regular chuffing of a steam loco, the rhythm of carriage wheels over rail joints, etc - sounds which if one lived by a railway from a very early age one would have been exposed to subliminally even during sleep.
My first few years were spent living close by the L & Y line between Nelson and Burnley where I too was lulled to sleep then woken up by the passing Crabs Cl5's Jubs, unrebuilt Patriots, WDs, L&Y A classes, Derby 4s etc.
Thank you Professor Buxton, for explaining why I have got it so bad.
You can tell a Derby man, but you can't tell him much!
[quote="Robin Summerhill"]My early years were spent living some 50 yards from the main Bristol to Birmingham line mid-way between Staple Hill and Mangotsfield stations. Trains and railways, therefore, were never far from my ears in my early life, but I have to admit no more than a passing interest in them until one unusual day, Saturday 8th September 1962. So the tale went at the time, my mother was sick of having me under her feet through the summer holidays and had instructed father to ôtake the boy to Bournemouth for the day.ö
Hi Robin,
Not entirely a response to this particular thread though it could be a topic for conversation-
My mate "Norton" who looks after 43924 and I have been planning for some time to come down to Bristol to have a look round places where we have phots of the loco and to walk the old line. Needless to say beer will feature in the itinerary. Dennis Griffiths kindly offered to show us where the shed was, when he came up to KWVR with the 82E gang.
Anyway, we've booked digs in the IBIS near Temple Meads station for 12th-15th of next month.
If you're in the parish and fancy a beer we'd be pleased to meet up. or, when does your ovoid shovelling Baby Scot hating mate hold court in the 2 Pigs at Corsham?
regards
Ralph
You can tell a Derby man, but you can't tell him much!
Interesting choice because the Ibis is built on ex railway land, Avonside sidings which were operated by short wheelbased 03's towards the end. The tracks here crossed Avon Street on the level and it was not unknown for the road to be blocked by a raft of wagons, occasionally with the loco waiting fitters attention from Bath Road. I seem to recall Presflo cement wagons being stabled there.
Mitch wrote:Ahh, yes. Westerns and Warships, the pride of the Premier Region
When I was a telegraph boy at Taunton, I used to love the Warships because they were always breaking down - they were a disaster for the operating authorities.
But thank God we still had a stud of fine steam locomotives to bail them out!
Often the diesel didn't even get beyond Reading on a down London service and 81D had to provide assistance often in place of the stricken diesel but if not, attached to the front of it. The same happened, although less often on the Bristol to Taunton line.
Pride of the Premier Region should therefore be awarded to....
Mitch wrote:Ahh, yes. Westerns and Warships, the pride of the Premier Region
Often the diesel didn't even get beyond Reading on a down London service and 81D had to provide assistance often in place of the stricken diesel but if not, attached to the front of it. The same happened, although less often on the Bristol to Taunton line.
Mitch wrote:Ahh, yes. Westerns and Warships, the pride of the Premier Region
When I was a telegraph boy at Taunton, I used to love the Warships because they were always breaking down - they were a disaster for the operating authorities.
Wnen I was a Secondman at Reading in the early '70s, my one and only duty on a Warship ended in failure! I can't remember zhich one it was, but I think it was one of the last in service. we were working empty parcels stock from Reading to Old Oak Common, working on only one engine. the remaining engine failed and we couldn't restart from a signal stop on the Up Relief. We ended up being pushed ignominously into Ruscombe Loop.
What really kindled my interest was The School Railway Club. Prior to then, I had hardly ever been to a station, let alone travelled by train anywhere. There are a couple of earlier influences that may have contributed
û I had a modest Hornby O gauge layout with two tinplate coaches and a clockwork tinplate loco (0-4-0 in reality, but the proportions and lined Brunswick Green livery clearly represented something much bigger)
û waiting daily at crossing gates in Weymouth, one holiday, for what I now recognise as a pannier tank to pass did leave a bit of an impression
I do recognise Green mileÆs disposition towards æorderly thingsÆ- those parts of railway infrastructure and operation that are (largely) systematic and predictable are somehow endlessly fascinating -even when not much is happening û and reassuring. Please donÆt tell anyone I said soÃ
Really, had something not drawn me to the school model railway in the cellar, my lifetime interest in railways may never have got started. Without the club, I wouldnÆt have travelled on the Clevedon branch on the last day (my first day of gricing, I think), gone to Bath Road Open Days, got bitten by the steam bug during school shed bashing trips, or griced on happily for decades since. I bet this wasnÆt what my parents had in mind when they packed me off to that schoolÃ
Nor mine! But as I have pointed out to them on many occasions, it led to a career which put a roof over my head and bread on my table for over 4 decades plus a half decent pension at the end.
Since I retired a month ago, I have been a fish out of water, a ship without a rudder.....but plans are afoot to remedy this. Heritage Railways watch out!
76026 wrote:I do recognise Green mileÆs disposition towards æorderly thingsÆ- those parts of railway infrastructure and operation that are (largely) systematic and predictable are somehow endlessly fascinating
This is undoubtedly true, but does that make every railway enthusiast hopelessly obsessive by nature, I wonder?
Speaking for myself, I certainly suffer from Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder, but I would hate to think that all enthusiasts were the same.
Ian L Jamieson wrote:
Speaking for myself, I certainly suffer from Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder, but I would hate to think that all enthusiasts were the same.
I used to be an obsessive/compulsive, but now I'm not so slapdash...
for me, it was moving up here and seeing Western Prince after 30 years. A love affair rekindled hee hee Not only that....... I had to join ELR as a volunteer and work on her. As Roy Castle said "dedication's what you need"
Use the car park for the Transport museum, its right next to castlecroft diesel shed. All you need to do is walk up the steps, cross bolton road and theres the station facing you. its a 1 minute walk from the car park mate. just make sure youre back before 5 or you'll be locked in till the next morning. its the safest place - and free
Not only that....... I had to join ELR as a volunteer and work on her. As Roy Castle said "dedication's what you need"