stapleton road steam banker

[nineflover]

does anyone know the stabling point for the daily? banking duties i.e was there a specific siding that the banker sat in to wait for trains, or did the banker attach at dr days or somewhere else? I think the 1 in 75 starts at narroways junction?

anyone know any old railwaymen?

[Injector]

HI
I was a fireman at Bath Rd and SPM and did a few turns on the bankers
at stapleton Rd and stoke bank
as I remember it we were held in a siding next to the main line ready to run up behind a train that required a banker, was always hard going on the fireman, watching the water gauge with it down in the nut and your fire going up the chimily and the steam gauge dropping

[nineflover]

Hi Injector, was the siding north of stapleton road, on the birds scrapyard yard side or the gas works throat? also do you know anything about the prairie sized single road shed behind bristol west powerbox at pylle hill junction that gave access to the emergency line into bath road turntable?

regards

[tugboatcharly2]

The Stapleton road bankers there were two at the busy times both out side the signal box and the signal man would shout out double up for number 1 or 2 the turns were in the Radstock link by the way i had my 21 st birthday on a saturday 1954 and it was the afternoon turn and we had relief we all went over to the South Wales tavern. the litte shed by Bristol west box held the engineers coach.

[tugboatcharly2]

PS my mate in the Radstock was Cliff Ellacott and a super man to kwow and would let one make a bed up in the corner of the class 22xx which was a railway overcoat and a plank of wood which was hidden behind the box. oh what days they were.

[nineflover]

thanks!

theres a building on google earth at pylle hill. is it the engineers coach shed, still there?

[tugboatcharly2]

The movement for banking was as follows.The signal man would call out the words double up and the dummy would be cleared for the banker to go down to the down main and stand clear of the dummy protecting the x-over to the up main and wait.Meanwhile the fire man would build up the fire very quickly and get afull head of steam and suffient water in the boiler,when the train has stopped on the up main the dummy would be cleared and the engine would proceed to the rear of the train just touching the buffers the guard would give the banker driver the load and then two crows on the whistle replied by the train engine and the banker started to push first and then off we jolly well went and believe me sometimes it was a sight to see.When the banker was near the incline
signal box the banker driver would ease off on the regulator the banked train would now leave on its own.The next part of the banking duty was to go back down the bank and that is another story.! It is 40 odd years ago i believe the bankers ceased ?

[Injector]

Hi tugboatcharly2
How you doing old son How you can remember all of it I don't know.
I only did a few bankers and as SOON AS YOU SAID we went from the signal box down over the dummy, back it all came .
I only did one turn on Pilelhill pilot but cant remember a line going to Bath rd turntable, not without going through BTM and up to east box then back to bath rd via west box and down into the shed??
You know anything about that tugboatcharly2

[tugboatcharly2]

Before the new signaling was put in one could come from under the west box towards the foot crossing where the was an emergency ground frame
and also from the old no 1 platform road to -wards what became known as the oil road by which means an engine could get on or of the shed if the engine shed box was out of use remembering that the in and out movements were controlled by proper signalling rules, so with a bit of juggling around one could get on to the turntable with out using the coal roadIdo hope this helps as it was a long time ago eh! In the steam days most trains to Portishead used platform no1.

[tugboatcharly2]

I had such a super career and i cannot as long as I live forget that most of the men I worked with, the others are not worth remembering and I am thankful that they were just a few that were waste the space and it gives me great pleasure to pass on how it was for all of us in those days not like those playing trains on their gleaming locos perhaps to get a bit of real fireing they should get on an engine that had not had the fire cleaned and the clinker up to the ring of the firehole door and even a tube or two leaking now that was real work remember? Its easy now all a memory.

[Injector]

I worked one like that in the Passenger relief link from BTM to Weston .
Turn the engine there then back to BTM drop of coaches then to shed
What a trip, all bar and clinker dragging it out and pushing it over the side.
trying to keep some resemblance of an experienced fireman watching the steam and water go down by the time we got to whorl I was knackered
but as you say it is all in the memory now

I never new about that ground frame Charley always went down the coal road way
I new a Colin who was union rep think he was a fireman when I new him that would have been 1955
can you throw any light on that?

[tugboatcharly2]

I think you will find that was Colin Ball but he was N U R dead and gone now.( Joke ) after the little bank up to the aqua-duct it was all down hill to Yatton where you could have a blow up but put the bag in and pretend to take water!thats what a driver did with me on an austerity that the fire went out and my dad came over from the shed cleaned the ashes out and re-lit the fire at 3 0 clock in the morning all in about 20 minuets one of our unrembered so called drivers.

[Injector]

yes that's right Colin ball your memory is much better than mine
Did you know a driver called Wilf Turner He was my first driver when I went in the pilot link I booked on 2 hours erly so I was ready to go when Wilf arrived engine number was 5555 tank

[tugboatcharly2]

Yes sometimes it paid to book on early especially when the engine you were going to prepare was a wash out on road 0ne ,oh what a mess they were in sometimes ,yes I remember Wilf my first driver was in the Temple meads pilots Albert Griffin of Sandy park I say this because there was more than one Griffin I was made a fireman on the first BR vacancy list Janary 1950 Dear Alec Jones in the passenger link who I was with when I came back from Egypt oiled a castle under neath first and when he went to oil the outside there were no rods fitted.That took plce on number one road in the shed so from that day to the last up Barrow rd yours truly always checked the works outside!

[madhattie]

Dear Alec Jones in the passenger link who I was with when I came back from Egypt oiled a castle under neath first and when he went to oil the outside there were no rods fitted.

Classic!!