Return of 82E 4F 43924

[trafalgar45682]

Robert Tarling's photo's on his Flickr site may be of interest, showing the line 13 years after closure.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bristol-re ... 138740887/

These two shots of mine show the site half developed, but before the famous arches were removed.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bristolste ... 5157165429

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bristolste ... 5157165429

I have photo's of my son at Haworth Station in a pushchair alongside 34092 !

[worthvalleyfitter]

There may have been some contributory issues from the quality of the coal being obtained at the time.

This matter came up in a supplementary conversation on Saturday night.

LMS and Midland engines were designed to operate well on Yorkshire coal. In places like Skipton and Stourton Junction and Holbeck and Normanton they may well have been able to get their mits on some.

By the time my friend transferred to Barrow Road (he had previously been at Swindon and Bath Green Park) the Western region was making do with a mixture of cement and dust for the majority of its workings, otherwise know as "briquettes" or "ovoids."

Ovoids had a nasty habit of rolling out of the tender onto the footplate where, in truth, they did about as much good as chucking them onto the fire. Something not totally unlike to trying to run your car on paraffin rather than 4-star. In my trainspotting days, when "cabbing" engines at Temple Meads, my youngster's vocabulary was extended immensely by overhearing firemen's expletives as they struggled to stop the things rolling around the cab, rolling off the shovel, and somehow getting enough through the firehole door to get the needle round far enough to make trying to start a train worthwhile.

In the latter days of steam in this neck of the woods it might not have been a bad idea to convert 'em all to clockwork, but no doubt the political masters of the day would have objected to paying for the keys ...

I know what you mean. They had them up here as well. Ovoids was the polite name for them! Political Correctness prevents me from repeating the name with which your colleague was probably quite familiar!

[worthvalleyfitter]

Robert Tarling's photo's on his Flickr site may be of interest, showing the line 13 years after closure.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bristol-re ... 138740887/

These two shots of mine show the site half developed, but before the famous arches were removed.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bristolste ... 5157165429

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bristolste ... 5157165429

I have photo's of my son at Haworth Station in a pushchair alongside 34092 !

Thanks for this Pat. I have in fact already printed quite a few of the piccies on You Tube as clues. It's going to be quite some Treasure Hunt, with beer, but without the view of Anneka Rice's behind- which incidentally reminds me that she travelled on 43924 on one episode. The lads still drool at the image!

[trafalgar45682]

I've just had another look at Terry Nicholls' DVD "Railways around Bristol".

43924 appears twice - in the condition I remember her - moving quite fast, although she was a LE on both occasions.

Many other Bristol Barrow Road favourites appear in this excellent DVD, shot mainly in 1964 / 65.

[Pines Alan]

"and then of course you get to the Avon Valley Railway so Oldland Common and Bitton stations are both in one piece".


Sorry for belated reply; the passenger platform that exists at Oldland Common is new construction by the AVR. The Bath end of former down side platform was a few yards further south and the ramp was almost under the North Street bridge; the old platform was considerably shorter and was old timber sleepers on old rails supported by concrete blocks. The up side platform has vanished - the raised part of the cycleway is NOT the old platform, though the access footway is one and the same.

[worthvalleyfitter]

I'll look out for that Railways around Brisol DVD. The Marsden Rail Glucester area video has a shot of her on shed at BArnwood taken form a passig DMU but so far I've seen nothing of her in BR days with the wheels turning.

There has been some more footage appearing on YouTube and FlickR of her, a few being taken on 24/7 when she ran a special for the Vintage Carriages Trust as a late substitute for our Ivatt 41241 which was poorly. Behind the tender are a Bulleid TSO and SECR Brake both in Blood and Custard which seemed to hae a flavour of S&D about it so the lads stuck the appropriate headlamp code on. Ok, so far as I know she didn't venture south east of Bath but she looks the part.

Petticoat pipe now affixed in smokebox- steams like a witch- our man in Corsham most welcome to exchange pint glass for shovel. We can even purchase some ovoids from the coalman who works from Haworth Yard for the true experience!!

Ralph

[Robin Summerhill]

.... our man in Corsham most welcome to exchange pint glass for shovel. We can even purchase some ovoids from the coalman who works from Haworth Yard for the true experience!!

Ralph

I'll be seeing him on Tuesday and I'll pass the message on

[Robin Summerhill]

.... our man in Corsham most welcome to exchange pint glass for shovel. We can even purchase some ovoids from the coalman who works from Haworth Yard for the true experience!!

Ralph

I'll be seeing him on Tuesday and I'll pass the message on

I saw him tonight and his initial reaction was: "Its a long way to go to shovel some coal"

We'll see how he feels later in the week when the idea has sunk in

[Robin Summerhill]

... and then of course you get to the Avon Valley Railway so Oldland Common and Bitton stations are both in one piece.

Sorry for belated reply; the passenger platform that exists at Oldland Common is new construction by the AVR. The Bath end of former down side platform was a few yards further south and the ramp was almost under the North Street bridge; the old platform was considerably shorter and was old timber sleepers on old rails supported by concrete blocks. The up side platform has vanished - the raised part of the cycleway is NOT the old platform, though the access footway is one and the same.

I doubt that anybody alive knows more about Oldland Common station than Alan

As regards my original post, I am reminded of Stanley Holloway's monologue "The Beefeater," as he was showing some people around the Tower of London:

æEreÆs the axe û thatÆs the genuine axe, Sir,
ThatÆs given Royal necks some æard whacks.
True itÆs æad a new æandle and perhaps a new 'ead
But itÆs a real old original axe.

[mow]

A photo from the KWVR of the 4F.



with a view of the cab.



Link to some other shots.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16582147@N ... 600652258/

[trafalgar45682]

Good shots of the 4F at work on the Worth Valley.

I have a photo of it in its BR days in 1963/64. I had thought the engine was 44269, but having examined it with a stamp magnifying glass, it is definitely 43924.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bristolste ... 5157165429

[worthvalleyfitter]

[quote="mow"]A photo from the KWVR of the 4F.

Nice piccies- it's grand to see the old girl through someone else's eyes. Having spent the last 10 years on top, under and in the gubbins it's a pleasure just propping up the wall of Haworth shed taking a few mo's between jobs whilst she goes past. I'm not the only one doing it either- even some of the younger end diesel lads have been seen standing there marvelling as Mr Fowler's masterpiece strides past.

Beam me up Scotty!

[mow]

I'm glad you liked the photos.

[the green mile]

It's great to see some photos of my old 'back yard'. In '65 I lived in no.81 Barrow Road, almost opposite the Coop and halfway between the south end of the viaduct and the Forgeman's Arms. A tumbledown old house with outside lavy and no electric - all gas lights.

Once homework was done, most evenings were spent on the swings in Atchley Park watching locos arrive on shed. We frequently went round the back and over the wall in Days Road, getting our hands covered in a gooey mess, which I presume was fallout of some sorts from the gasworks.

I do recall it was not unusual to see an ex LNER B1 there at times. Any thoughts on where they worked in from?

It was on a trip to the KWVR in about 1972 that I became reacquainted with 43924 - instant recall told me that this was an ex-Barrow Road engine.

[trafalgar45682]

The Green Mile wrote

I do recall it was not unusual to see an ex LNER B1 there at times. Any thoughts on where they worked in from?

They mainly worked in on Summer Saturday extras from the Sheffield area sheds, Canklow and Mexborough. Even as late as Summer 1964, three used to work in overnight, leaving on morning trains to the north.
61051, 61153, 61370 and 61327 were regular performers. They also worked down on other occasions, 61002 Impala appearing a number of times.

Here are a couple of photos of them at Temple Meads

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bristolste ... 5395704513

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bristolste ... 5395704513

Barrow Road, of course, has changed beyond all recognition, just occasional sections of wall remaining.

I believe that this section of wall, where I took a number of photos, remains.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bristolste ... 5157165429