Prototype PhilH's BR Photographs from circa1959

PhilH

Western Thunderer
In early 1963 my visit to the withdrawn/stored line at Llandudno Junction had one particular objective - ex L&Y 0-6-0 No.52119


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taken on the shadow side in company with 3 stored Caprotti Black 5s


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and on the more awkward sunny side with several 2-6-2Ts.​
52119 was last allocated to Rhyl and withdrawn on 31/10/1962 (per RailUK). It was disposed of to Cashmore's, Great Bridge, on 31/5/1963


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I once had a 7mm scale kit for one of these plus a set of Alan Harris wheels but unfortunately never got round to building it, and later sold it......:( (wistful sigh)
 
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PhilH

Western Thunderer
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A L&Y 0-6-0 in home territory at Oldham Mumps Station in 1960, view towards Manchester. Note the platform road relaid in flat bottom rail with the bullhead rails laid aside but yet to be collected. Prominent in the background are the cooling towers of the former Oldham Corporation's Greenhill Power Station with the power station itself behind the loco. It received coal by rail via its own private siding. The power station was decommissioned by the CEGB in 1960 and subsequently demolished.


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A rather murky closer view of 52456 at the same location in colour - well at least the van is in colour !

While we're on the subject although off the topic date wise, I couldn't resist posting this :)

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K&WVR Autumn Gala 2012 at Oxenhope

 
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Osgood

Western Thunderer
The LMS BUILT HORWICH 1891 plate is interesting and a detail new to me.
Would this have been standard fitment to all engines, presumably fitted on first rebuild after grouping?
 

PhilH

Western Thunderer
The LMS BUILT HORWICH 1891 plate is interesting and a detail new to me.
Would this have been standard fitment to all engines, presumably fitted on first rebuild after grouping?

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More examples:
left and centre - the plates on the two preserved L&Y Pugs
right - the plate on one of the North Stafford locos sold to Manchester Collieries
 

PhilH

Western Thunderer
A few images from the North West taken in August 1962, before returning to North and Mid Wales


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Royton Station - a rather badly composed view but hopefully of interest.
Royton was the terminus of a branch just over I mile long from the Oldham to Rochdale line at Royton Junction. The station was the scene of a spectacular accident on 8th February 1961 when a train comprising 2 twin unit DMUs ran away on the down gradient into the station, crashed through the buffers and end wall, crossed the adjacent road and partly demolished two houses. The front of the leading unit finished up in the backyard of one of the houses. For more details see: Accident 08/02/61 Royton Station, LMR
A part of that account is worth quoting: "The leading car was M51701. The elderly couple in bed in the house which 51701 demolished were carried out into the open air on top of the unit"

The branch was officially closed on 18th April 1966, the last train running two days before. The station site has since been redeveloped for housing.


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Royton Junction - view towards Oldham of the Rochdale to Oldham (up) platform. The Royton Branch had separate platforms curving away from the Oldham to Rochdale Line behind the camera.


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An ex L&Y signal at Royton Junction - view towards Rochdale
The large building in the distance is the Woodstock Factory where Seddon commercial vehicles were manufactured.


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Middleton Junction East Signal Box with the Baytree Cotton Mill prominent in the left distance.

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The rather dilapidated Middleton Station at the end of a branch just under one mile long from Middleton Junction. It was closed to passengers on 7 September 1964.
 
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A

Arun

Guest
In early 1963 my visit to the withdrawn/stored line at Llandudno Junction had one particular objective - ex L&Y 0-6-0 No.52119

I once had a 7mm scale kit for one of these plus a set of Alan Harris wheels but unfortunately never got round to building it, and later sold it......:( (wistful sigh)
Thank you for the pics of 52119 - There are few enough decent pics of backheads available. They are enough to make me think of scratch-building one.
 

Dave Holt

Western Thunderer
Phil.
Loved the photos around Oldham - brought back childhood memories.
I don't think we ever used Mumps, Central being our station of choice for trips to Manchester. We could cross the OA&GB line on the Goddard St footbridge, walk along Kings Road and through the Clegg St goods yard or over the Woodstock St footbridge.
We had our house coal delivered by Thomas Mills (if I recall correctly) and a few times went to their office in Cloddwick Rd goods yard to pay. It was both exciting and a bit nerve-wrecking to venture onto private property as a small child.
My paternal grandparents lived in Derker and I would often walk across the fields to watch trains near Royton Junction but never went onto the station.
I've also got a soft spot for the L&Y A class and have a 4 mm scale model to build for my P4 layout based on Delph.
Thanks for stirring the memories.
Dave.
 
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PhilH

Western Thunderer
I first travelled on the Blaenau Ffestiniog to Bala line about 1958 with a school friend, and we made several trips, sometimes stopping off at intermediate stations, until its closure to passengers in January 1960. I think at times the two of us formed the majority of passengers on the single coach trains. At that time my photographic skills were severely limited and in any case the main interest then was the experience rather than recording the scene for posterity - that came later. So I can offer only two rather blurry images of my own showing the trains taken c1959, the remainder were mainly taken after rail services ceased.


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My friend talks to a member of the loco crew at Blaenau Ffestiniog Central Station before another trip. Note the normal attire of this period for a schoolboy enthusiast - cap, mac and school satchel over the shoulder for the sandwiches, this was pre the anorak era !


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On one trip from Blaenau I stopped off at Arenig to visit the quarry. The main quarry next to the station used dump trucks by that time and supplied ballast to BR, loaded at sidings next to the station. This quarry had once been connected to a smaller quarry about ¾ mile to the west by a 2ft. gauge railway worked by a small Bagnall 0-4-0ST. The railway and loco were long gone but a small amount of handworked 2ft. gauge track was still used within the smaller quarry itself. The photo above was taken looking down from near that quarry showing a Blaenau bound train and illustrates the bleak nature of the countryside around Arenig. The normal pannier tank and one coach passenger trains sometimes ran with a bulk cement wagon for the Tan-y-Grisiau Power Station construction contract. On returning to Arenig Station I got chatting to the sole member of staff, who turned out to be a Festiniog Railway volunteer in his spare time. He kindly arranged with the driver of the next train for me to ride in the loco cab on the return journey to Blaenau.

The line from Bala to Bala Junction remained open until closure of the Barmouth to Ruabon Line and photos of Bala Station will be posted later.
 
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PhilH

Western Thunderer
The following four photos were taken by another friend on his trip to Blaenau Ffestiniog on 6th December 1958


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Cwm Prysor Viaduct


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Llafar was the last halt before Trawsfynydd


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from Llafar the line ran along a shelf on the hillside


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nearing Trawsfynydd the scenery levels out somewhat

 

PhilH

Western Thunderer

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Trawsfynydd Station c1959. Unfortunately I nearly managed to miss off probably the most interesting part of this scene - just visible in the distance on the extreme left is the front of a pannier tank which was stabled with a coach in the lean to 'loco shed' extension on the goods shed.


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Trawsfynydd Station in April 1962 after closure of the line, view towards Blaenau


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From the same position looking the other way towards Bala


 
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PhilH

Western Thunderer
Llan Ffestiniog Station was originally the southern terminus of the 2ft gauge Festiniog and Blaenau Railway, opened in 1868. The standard gauge line from Bala reached Llan Ffestiniog in 1882 and opened for traffic in November of that year. For a short period the station served as an interchange between standard and narrow gauge trains, until the standard gauge was extended to Blaenau Ffestiniog and opened to traffic in September 1883. During conversion to standard gauge the service was maintained by laying a third rail for the narrow gauge trains.


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Tickets provided by the member of staff at Llan Ffestiniog Station - top two GWR, bottom two BR with the double "f" now provided in Ffestiniog. Both omitted the "Llan", so the station was officially Festiniog or later Ffestiniog.


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On 28th March 1959 0-6-0PT 7431 approaches Llan Ffestiniog on a Bala train. Note the GWR station nameboard on the right with the station name as Festiniog. There was originally a footbridge at this end of the station. The hills of Manod Mawr (right) and Manod Bach are prominent in the distance.


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Llan Ffestiniog Station c1959, view towards Blaenau.

 
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PhilH

Western Thunderer

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Llan Ffestiniog station building in 1962 after closure, everything still more or less intact but showing some signs of dereliction


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The signal box in 1962


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The goods shed with its slate cladding to the office walls


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View back to the station, towards Bala, from opposite the goods shed. The stones in the foreground indicate where the drainage from the cess enters a pipe culvert under the track.



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Signal at the Blaenau end of the station

 

PhilH

Western Thunderer

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By 1978 most of the Llan Ffestiniog Station infrastructure was still intact although very derelict and the track had been reduced to a single through line, view towards Blaenau


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The platform side of the station building. The platform was 15ft wide in front of the building, comprising 13½" (x 6" wide) edging blocks with a chequered surface, a 6" strip of concrete (except on the ramps) and the rest in bricks with the courses at right angle to the track. The platform edge was approx 28" from the inside edge of the nearest rail and approx 34" above rail level.


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The village side of the station building


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The shelter on the up platform


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View from the station towards Trawsfynydd


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View from the station towards Blaenau. Interesting to note that the station platforms were built with stone walls, the station building with blue bricks, the signal box with yellow bricks and the goods shed with red bricks.


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The signal box with just the remains of its slate cladding on the end wall


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The signal box was 17'-7½" long x 12'-2" wide over brickwork with its front face 6ft from the nearest rail


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View of the station looking towards Trawsfynydd. The signal box entrance stairway was on this side hidden by the tree.

 
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PhilH

Western Thunderer


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Still at Llan Ffestiniog - view the other way towards Blaenau


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The south (Bala) end of the goods shed, by now the office had lost much of its slate cladding


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The north (Blaenau) end of the goods shed


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View towards Blaenau from just beyond the road underbridge at the Bala end of the station


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View of the underbridge for the Llan Ffestiniog to Trawsfynydd Road.
The sign on the right was for a garage behind the camera on the left side of the road.

 

PhilH

Western Thunderer


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Manod Station in September 1962 with its small bay windowed station building and slightly subsided ground frame cabin, view towards Bala. The platform was extended in timber at the far (Bala) end. The point led to the goods yard with two sidings.


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Tan-y-Manod in May 2001. Bottom right is the former transhipment platform for slate from the Craig Ddu Quarry and above it the site of the sidings, which led off the photo right to the loco shed and turntable. Just left of centre and after the 'S' curve is the stone viaduct following which the line curves round to cross the road climbing the hill on a level crossing. On the mountainside in the left distance is the first incline of the former Rhiwbach Quarry Tramway; to the right on the skyline is a waste tip of the Llechwedd Quarry, the quarry itself being over the hill, and below that is the Votty and Bowydd Quarry waste tip; to the right again on the skyline is the Maenofferen Quarry waste tip and in front of that extending up the hillside to the right are the tips of the Diffwys Casson Quarry.

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Tan-y-Manod Viaduct. This replaced the original wooden structure carrying the narrow gauge Festiniog & Blaenau Railway


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View back towards Trawsfynydd from the level crossing. On the distant hillside to the right is the course of one of the Craig Ddu Quarry inclines, dropping down to the exchange sidings at Tan-y-Manod.


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After the level crossing the line passes under three road overbridges in Blaenau, the first having a cast girder with the inscription 'BRYMBO 1882', dating from the conversion of this section of line to standard gauge.


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View the other way, towards Central Station, from under the same bridge

 

PhilH

Western Thunderer
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Blaenau Ffestiniog Central in June 1963. At that date work was underway to connect the North and Central Stations and the temporary buildings visible in the distance between the signal cabin and the station building were provided for the construction works. After completion of the connection all trackwork at Central Station was removed except for a single through line clear of the platform.

The work was carried out by British Railways Engineers Department and used two 2ft. gauge Ruston & Hornsby locos from the BR Newton Heath Plant Depot. The locos were used to carry concrete in skips loaded on slate wagons from the mixer in the North Yard to the site of the works.


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Ruston & Hornsby 375702 of 1954


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Ruston & Hornsby 186339 of 1937

 
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PhilH

Western Thunderer
1962 was quite a busy year for riding on BR branch lines, and it was the last long summer break between finishing school and starting full time employment in the autumn. Some of the lines visited were closed later that year or shortly afterwards.

During one week in August I did 5 days of travel with my school mate, using one of the all Wales rover tickets then available, and done on a daily basis from home on the North Wales Coast. Unfortunately I didn't take any notes at the time and the photo taking was rather spasmodic, so its difficult to work out exactly what we did.

The first day we travelled through Bangor - Afonwen - down the Cambrian Coast line to Dovey Junction - Moat Lane Junction, then down the Mid Wales Line, presumably all the way to Brecon, although for some reason I didn't take any photos there. The few photos I did take on the Mid Wales Line were only blurry views from the train. Return to North Wales would probably have been via Oswestry and Chester. (The Mid Wales line will be covered later on trips made in October 1962 and the last day of service on 29th December 1962)

The second day we did Bala to Wrexham, the photos taken on that trip follow. I haven't a clue how we got to Bala, presumably via Afonwen and Dolgelley, but the return would have been via Chester.

The third/fourth day we travelled to Shrewsbury, then by the Central Wales Line to Swansea, up the valley lines to I've no idea where, except that we must have passed through Abercynon where I took a solitary photo - of a 0-6-2T, to Cardiff, then returned home overnight via Newport and Hereford, arriving back in North Wales on the morning of day 4.

The next day (day 5) it was down to Hereford and part way down the Gloucester Line, but this was a solo trip as my mate must have had enough travelling by day 4.


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Bala Junction - 7821 on the Barmouth to Ruabon train taking water with the connecting train to Bala on the extreme right


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7418 on arrival at Bala Station

 
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PhilH

Western Thunderer

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Bala Station with the coaches shunted out of the way to the other platform between trains


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View from the end of Bala Station platform towards Bala Junction, loco depot in centre distance to the left of the double track line and the goods shed with its castellated end wall on the right


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7414 being prepared at the loco depot.


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7414 with 7418 behind. The single road loco shed was behind the camera..


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7414 ready to depart on the Wrexham train


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Llandrillo Station was about halfway between Bala Junction and Corwen


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Excuse the poor quality of this one - taken directly into the low sun, but it shows 7414 taking water at Llangollen.


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7414 on arrival at Wrexham General Station

 
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