The Bristol Railway Archive

Hello everyone on here. I am a new member and already I am after information (Sorry). I have directed your way by some nice people on the http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/gwr-elist/

I am currently researching Winscombe station with the view of making a model railway. I have copies of "The EAST SOMERSET and CHEDDAR VALLET RAILWAYS" 'The Strawberry line' by R. Harman and "Steaming along the Cheddar Valley by D. Phillips. Are there any other books worth getting?

Also does anyone on here have any other information on either Winscombe or the Cheddar Valley railway, any help greatfully recieved.

Cheers

Andrew Peters

I thought "Strawberry Line" would have been along by now

I never actually used the line when it was open, although I do remember Collett 22xx engines plus a couple of coaches in the bay at Yatton. As a young trainspotter in those days there were no engines to see down there that you wouldn't see in Bristol at some time or other, so I never bothered to go!

However, if you're modelling, there doesn't appear to have been a lot down there so it should be quite straightforward. The Old Maps website that I have ben pouring over a lot just lately (see the Location Quiz thread) shows the track layout if you look at the 1:2500 scale plans. Go to http://www.old-maps.co.uk/index.html, enter Winscombe in the search box, then move the target to the station area, then select whichever 1:2500 scale map you fancy from the selection on the right hand side. You will see (if you take the 1903 map as an example), all there was was a single track through the station plus a siding/ run round loop to the north of it.

The station platform still exists, and the formation between Yatton and Shute Shelve is now a cycle track, so you can take a trip down there if you like to see what is left.

As regards motive power, it was a "dotted blue" route which basically meant GW tender engines in classes 22xx, 43xx and 78xx were allowed, plus pannier tanks and 41xx tank engines, and also standard classes up to class 4 (75xxx) including the LMS variants (412xx and 464xx). In practice, all the photographs I've ever seen of the line depict 22xx 0-6-0s, standard class 2s (78xxx and 464xx) and class 2 or 3 tanks

Robin Summerhill wrote: In practice, all the photographs I've ever seen of the line depict 22xx 0-6-0s, standard class 2s (78xxx and 464xx) and class 2 or 3 tanks

Until I looked here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/phil-seafo ... otostream/

None of Winscombe, but the photos do give a flavour of the motive power and trains on the line.

Robin,

Thanks for the reply. I have had a look at the OLD MAP's site and have managed to copy the track plan to the best of my ability.

Nice to know what types of classes ran or could run on the line.

I am actually going down tomorrow for the weekend so am going armed with camera and measure and notepad.

Cheers
Andrew

there are some photos posted today in one of the Galleries on RMWeb.

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index. ... e-station/

MOW,

Cheers I'd missed them as I've been busy yesterday.
They are by one of the folks posting in my thread on there about the station. Ta for pointing them out

Hi, sorry Robin bit slow of the starting blocks. Modem problems have laid me low for several days, the nice man from Virgin Media arrived today and sorted it out
Great to see the subject and the links to some photographs that I had not seen before. Splendid. Winscombe seems to be one of the "Cinderella" Stations when it comes to photographs being taken there in working days of steam. Plenty of pictures of Wells and Cheddar, even Axbridge. It is the same story for my own chosen station Wookey which I have been researching for some time. (Incidentally does anyone have a picture of the front of the station building at Wookey - hope my computer does not crash in the rush )
I can confirm you do have access to the old site at Winscombe on the cycle track I was down there in Christmas holidays last year and you could possibly get the dimensions of the station building from the footings that are still there.
Andrew you do seem to have the required books on the subject that I am aware of. The Bristol and Exeter Goods Shed at Sandford and Banwell is still in existence, now part of a sheltered housing development which has recently been refurbished and is now a cafe/restaurant which I believe is open to the public (well there is a gate and path across to it from the Cycletrack). There is an excellent article in Great Western Railway Journal No 15 Summer 1995 on Congresbury Station, Railway Bylines Vol 6 Issue 4 dated March 2001has an article on the Cheddar Valley Branch and Modellers Back Track Volume 12 no. 2 of February 1998 has an article on the Railways of Wells. You can sometimes pick up copies of these at preserved lines and some model railway shows. All of them give an added dimension to research of the line. Hope all of the above is useful and good hunting.

Strawberry Line,

Thanks. hope you have some luck with your picture hunt.


I did manage to get down to the station on Friday and had a nice wander down to Sandford. Found a few things I didn't know existed. Couple of bridges and a culvert more exploration required.

The BEST bit is at the approach to Sandford. Off to the right where the line upto the quarry would have gone is the Gate that would have crossed the quarrys lines (gated access) It is right on the edge of the clearance work that the developers did.

Strawberryline
I have a photo of the front of Wookey station not the sharpest photo but does let you know what was there.
andy@vilesa.freeserve.co.uk

Last Friday would have been an excellent day for exploring, hope you had a fruitful day, we must be grateful that we still have access and can at least photograph the remaining infrastructure. There appears to be no trace of the line at the Quarry when you walk along the main road between Sandford and Winscombe though. There was a Sentinel shunter employed full time there so it was quite busy. Are there any other buildings in situ at Sandford apart from the goods shed? I must have missed them if there are.
My quest for a photograph of Wookey Station has exceeded my wildest dreams thanks to Andy Viles > The power of the "www" and the Bristol Railway Archive astounds me.

Strawberry Line,

The station building and lamp hut are both still there at Sandford, along with a stretch of platform. The new development around it is very nicely done, and they have added some rails and a pair of wagons at the platform. This is all quite easy to see now from the footpath.
The information there said that the lamp hut had been destroyed by a runaway set of wagons from the quarry that ran through the goods shed and hit it. The quarry owners were made to rebuild it to the original Bristol and Exeter spec. The worst bit about it was that the line closed 3 years later .

Hi folks,
Here are the pictures that I managed to take the other weekend. Hopefully the link works.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ponti461/s ... 131126151/

I need to get back and take some more on a quieter day, and try and find some more of the details hidden in the undergrowth.

Well I've been playing with the drawings I have and have made a mockup of the station building to get an idea of it's size. This is 2mm Fine scale.