Frome and N somerset railway

[Robin Summerhill]

I used to live close to West Town Lane bridge in THe late 50s & early 60s.I remember it as a stone arch bridge, with just room for two cars to pass. There was a white marker board in the centre of the arch directing busses & high vehicules to the centre of the road. I didn't take much notice of the trains in thoes days, was more interested in collecting slow worms that lived on the embankment.

Now we're getting close but we still don't have agreement. I received an email from somebody this morning which gives the following information:

If my memory serves me right West town lane railway bridge Brislington was built of stone, wide enough for two Lodekka double deck buses to pass each other without using the middle of the road. The footpaths either side were raised with hand rails i believe.

There were bus stops Either direction each side of the bridge set back a little as pull ins.

I used to walk along the length of West town lane as a lad in the early 1960's, delivering newspapers, and later as a Bus Conductor/Driver based a Brislington Depot in the late 1960's."

Still no photograph though

[stantheman]

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 .........

Actually Bristol lowbridge K types did operate under this bridge on route 36. There is a photo of 2 of these vehicles operating on this route, one with an 'L' prefix and one with an 'LC' prefix, in Martin Curtis's excellent book 'Bristol Omnibus Services (The Green Years)'.

[43126]

I Knew i had seen a photo of West Town lane railway bridge somewhere, Lowbridge K Types were also used on the service 40 Stockwood to the Downs, Looking at the photo i was wrong about two buses passing each other under the bridge (It was a long time ago,) But the fact it was made of stone and had raised footpaths with hand rails and pullins each side of the bridge was also correct, J M H, http://john-m-hobbs.fotopic.net

[Splodge]

I Knew i had seen a photo of West Town lane railway bridge somewhere, http://john-m-hobbs.fotopic.net

Wheres the photo? I've looked everywhere on that site!

[43126]

I Knew i had seen a photo of West Town lane railway bridge somewhere, http://john-m-hobbs.fotopic.net

Sorry Try now john-m-hobbs.fotopic.net/p68292222.html

[jules]

http://john-m-hobbs.fotopic.net/p68292222.html

I can remember that now I see it.

Is that the back of the sign for the Imperial Sports Ground on the left?

Can't quite make out what route number the bus is on though

[43126]

http://john-m-hobbs.fotopic.net/p68292222.html

I can remember that now I see it.

Is that the back of the sign for the Imperial Sports Ground on the left?

Can't quite make out what route number the bus is on though

36 Patchway to Withywood, There was also the 36A Patchway to Red Lion Hill, Knowle.

[Splodge]

Excellent!! well done, its a different pic to the one I saw in a book in the Industrial museum, there wasn't a bus going through, im surprised how high it actually was.

Well done for tracking down a photo, i've looked for ages & found nothing on line.... dont suppose you can find one with a train going across??

[bristolian]

Out of interest, that's a Lodekka, as opposed to a K type passing beneath the bridge ...

[jules]

36 Patchway to Withywood, There was also the 36A Patchway to Red Lion Hill, Knowle.

I used to catch them to school, or was that the 98 - Patchway to Knowle? What was the 36 route south of the river?

I do remember 36's though, as they gave you the best view of Barrow Road as they went over the arched bridge. Very exciting for an 8 year old ...

[jules]

dont suppose you can find one with a train going across?? Laughing

Some people are never satisfied, eh?

[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 .........

Actually Bristol lowbridge K types did operate under this bridge on route 36. There is a photo of 2 of these vehicles operating on this route, one with an 'L' prefix and one with an 'LC' prefix, in Martin Curtis's excellent book 'Bristol Omnibus Services (The Green Years)'.

I Knew i had seen a photo of West Town lane railway bridge somewhere, Lowbridge K Types were also used on the service 40 Stockwood to the Downs, Looking at the photo i was wrong about two buses passing each other under the bridge (It was a long time ago,) But the fact it was made of stone and had raised footpaths with hand rails and pullins each side of the bridge was also correct, J M H, http://john-m-hobbs.fotopic.net

Stan/ John - the "L" prefix was not just applied to the Lowbridge variant, it was also applied to Lodekkas. The "C" prefix simply meant a bus allocated to Bristol City Services routes.

That photograph is of a Lodekka, not a Bristol K Lowbridge

Bristol K Lowbridge variant to the right: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23095055@N05/4891372125/

Lodekka (Bristol LD): http://www.flickr.com/photos/27302738@N06/3154806491/

Later Lodekka Bristol FSF/ FLF: http://www.flickr.com/photos/andysbusphotos/5207302124/

I was living in Stockwood from 1964 to 1970 and initially the bus service number was 145 (Stockwood to Henleaze Lake/ Shirehampton), becoming service 40 shortly after I moved in. Lodekkas were certainly used on the route (and on the 36), and the later FSFs and FLFs (front loading short wheelbase 60 seater -FSF, front loading long wheelbase 70 seater -FLF) but I never saw a Bristol K Lowbridge on the route. FSFs were normally used on the 36 service.

Route no 145 is confirmed by my Ian Allan British Bus Fleets book of the Bristol Omnibus Company, which I can't see a date on but I believe comes from 1963.

That book also confirms that, by then, there were only 11 Bristol K Lowbridges still surviving from the 1948-50 batch (fleet nos 4118/20, 24 to 26 and 31 to 35). Most if not all of these were based in Stroud and were inherited from Western National. There were a further 10 Lowbridge KSWs dating from 1952 (fleet nos 8086 to 8095) and I think that most if not all of these worked from Bath.

What the situation was before the Lodekka was introduced in 1955 (first production models) I have no idea, as I was only three at the time!

Can I stop being a sad case now?

[bristolian]

Keep going Robin, there are plenty of us interested in buses, and Bristol in particular .

[stantheman]

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 .........

Actually Bristol lowbridge K types did operate under this bridge on route 36. There is a photo of 2 of these vehicles operating on this route, one with an 'L' prefix and one with an 'LC' prefix, in Martin Curtis's excellent book 'Bristol Omnibus Services (The Green Years)'.

I Knew i had seen a photo of West Town lane railway bridge somewhere, Lowbridge K Types were also used on the service 40 Stockwood to the Downs, Looking at the photo i was wrong about two buses passing each other under the bridge (It was a long time ago,) But the fact it was made of stone and had raised footpaths with hand rails and pullins each side of the bridge was also correct, J M H, http://john-m-hobbs.fotopic.net

Stan/ John - the "L" prefix was not just applied to the Lowbridge variant, it was also applied to Lodekkas. The "C" prefix simply meant a bus allocated to Bristol City Services routes.

That photograph is of a Lodekka, not a Bristol K Lowbridge

Bristol K Lowbridge variant to the right: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23095055@N05/4891372125/

Lodekka (Bristol LD): http://www.flickr.com/photos/27302738@N06/3154806491/

Later Lodekka Bristol FSF/ FLF: http://www.flickr.com/photos/andysbusphotos/5207302124/

I was living in Stockwood from 1964 to 1970 and initially the bus service number was 145 (Stockwood to Henleaze Lake/ Shirehampton), becoming service 40 shortly after I moved in. Lodekkas were certainly used on the route (and on the 36), and the later FSFs and FLFs (front loading short wheelbase 60 seater -FSF, front loading long wheelbase 70 seater -FLF) but I never saw a Bristol K Lowbridge on the route. FSFs were normally used on the 36 service.

Route no 145 is confirmed by my Ian Allan British Bus Fleets book of the Bristol Omnibus Company, which I can't see a date on but I believe comes from 1963.

That book also confirms that, by then, there were only 11 Bristol K Lowbridges still surviving from the 1948-50 batch (fleet nos 4118/20, 24 to 26 and 31 to 35). Most if not all of these were based in Stroud and were inherited from Western National. There were a further 10 Lowbridge KSWs dating from 1952 (fleet nos 8086 to 8095) and I think that most if not all of these worked from Bath.

What the situation was before the Lodekka was introduced in 1955 (first production models) I have no idea, as I was only three at the time!

Can I stop being a sad case now?

I think there may be a little confusion here. I was not answering the question about the West Town Lane railway bridge. I am aware the photo referred to is of a Lodekka. I was purely pointing out that lowbridge Bristol Ks did work under the bridge at some time. The photo I quoted in 'The Green Years' (page 69) showed two Ks on route 36 passing. This was not in West Town Lane. The vehicles concerned were LC3377 (JAE 765) and L3642 (HHY 586).
I lived in Lawrence Weston and used to catch the Lodekka 145 route to get to Bristol Speedway on Friday evenings. After the meeting I would walk along to West Town Lane bridge to catch the bus home and therefore get a seat before it filled up on Wells Road.

[Robin Summerhill]

I think there may be a little confusion here. I was not answering the question about the West Town Lane railway bridge. I am aware the photo referred to is of a Lodekka. I was purely pointing out that lowbridge Bristol Ks did work under the bridge at some time. The photo I quoted in 'The Green Years' (page 69) showed two Ks on route 36 passing. This was not in West Town Lane. The vehicles concerned were LC3377 (JAE 765) and L3642 (HHY 586).
I lived in Lawrence Weston and used to catch the Lodekka 145 route to get to Bristol Speedway on Friday evenings. After the meeting I would walk along to West Town Lane bridge to catch the bus home and therefore get a seat before it filled up on Wells Road.

Now this is getting interesting (but what it has to do with the Bristol RAILWAY Archive I'm not too sure)

Ah well, in for a penny .....

The vehicles you mention are just before my time (well, certainly 3642), but my Ian Allan British Bus Fleets book throws up some more information.

Fleet number 3377 falls into the range 3354 to 3394, which were Bristol K (W)s built in 1945/46 (although 3377 had been withdrawn at the time my book was published). These were not Lowbridge variants, but "normal height" buses. However, searching that book for JAE 765 shows that this registration number was carried by fleet number 3481, another K(W) introduced in 1946, and once again a "full height" bus, not a Lowbridge variant.

The book also tells me that registration number HHY 586 was carried by fleet number 3785, another full height K(W) introduced in 1944/45 and rebodied in 1949/50. But 3785 was not a Lowbridge variant because it did not carry an "L" prefix. The earliest example I can find on the internet of the Lowbridge variant being produced was in 1948. http://buspics.net/buspics1.html

From another field of "sad case research" I have been involved in over the years, I know that registration numbers were frequently re-used prior to the "ABC 123 A" format introduced in 1963, but they would not have been swapped between vehicles whilst still on the road. So, we are left with a number of conflicting scenarios:

1. The Ian Allan Bus Fleets series contains errors in fleet numbers and/or registration numbers
2. Martin Curtis's book contains errors in that the two buses depicted were not actually prefixed "L" no matter what the photograph caption may say (unfortunately the book appears to be out of print and there are no secondhand copies for sale in any of the usual internet oulets)
3. The service 36 buses as depicted in Martin Curtis's book may well have been working service 36, but at the time the photographs were taken the 36's route did not include going under West Town Lane bridge, because full height double deckers would not fit under it. On that, at least, we are certain! If anybody has a copy of the book and can scan the appropriate photograph so that we can all have a look it would be helpful

If anybody else can add any further information that would be useful. All the data I supplied above comes from Ian Allan British Bus Fleets no.13 (Bristol) published I believe in 1963, and is on pages 20 and 21 of that book. If anybody else has a copy please have a look and confirm one way or the other.

If you don't have a copy and are really really that interested, there's one for sale on Ebay at the moment http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trks ... Categories - the only problem is the bloke wants 18 quid for it