Silverton Paper Mill Siding

One of the great bonuses of travelling around again is that something of interest is often just around the corner. This may take the form of an unexpected ancient building, a piece of street art, a good view of a relatively rare bird or an attractive flower that I definitely won’t know the name of. For me, this fascination extends to any old bits of parallel steel rail that are [usually] four feet eight and a half inches apart.

We had just left the National Trust property at Killerton in Devon after a picnic break on our way home from Cornwall. The immediate task was to find our way back on to the M5. At this point, I generally like to rely on geographical nous, whilst Chris automatically reaches for the phone that has sat’ nav’ on it. She is programmed from previous experience to know what happens next. I go wrong, even before she has had a chance to set it up, as my inbuilt compass goes off on one yet again. I looked for an opportunity to turn round and found myself driving over an old railway line, set into a concrete base. “Wonderful”, I say. I have no idea why this is here, but, of course, I will find out, and I take the picture to remind me to do so.

The Silverton Paper Mill siding - rather than a branch line - led a short distance to the old mill from the former Silverton station, situated on the West of England main line between Exeter St David’s and Cullompton, but of which there is now no trace. It had a concrete base throughout its length, presumably so that trucks could be hauled by road vehicles as well as by locomotives. Though the siding has not been used for many years, the surviving part of the paper mill is within the Killerton NT estate and the surrounding landscape has been sympathetically restored with ecology in mind, in more recent times.

I don’t have to mess up, of course, in order to find things of interest. Sometimes we find out about promising places before we get there - but actually, the added surprise of coming across a stimulating location by accident does add another dimension to our wanderings. I guess its just nice to get out and about a bit more after the last year or so, even if that means sitting in a queue on the motorway for a bit - just like the old days.  

The Sands of St Ives

A 4-car Class 150 unit takes a 5-minute, mid-day, turn-around break before returning the St Erth shuttle to the junction station on 19/6/21. The end of the line is a rather undistinguished looking sand trap rather than the traditional buffer stops. I can confirm that this is certainly the least attractive of St Ives’ sandy locations.  

 

The Standard 2-6-4-Tanks

There were 155 of these Class 4 tanks. Designed by Robert Riddles and based on the LMS Fairburns, they were introduced in 1951 and constructed at Derby, Doncaster and Brighton by 1956. They eventually worked an all the BR regions before withdrawal between 1962 and 1967. 15 locos escaped scrapping for preservation.

John Dyer’s photographs show No. 80004 on Dawsholm sheds on 1/8/64, No. 80040 light engine through Wallasey Grove Road on 27/6/59, No. 80060 at Dunblane on 2/8/60, No. 80079 at Wallasey Grove Road in July 1963, No. 80090 approaching Wallasey Grove Road with a returning excursion from New Brighton in the summer of 1959, No. 80096 at Wallasey Grove Road with a Wrexham train on 6/8/62 and No. 80116 at Neville Hill sheds on 12/8/62. 

 

The Standard Class 2 2-6-0s

Introduced in 1953, designed at Derby by Robert Riddles and completed by Darlington works in 1956, this class amounted to 65 locos. Based on the LMS Ivatt Class 2 design, they were nicknamed “Mickey Mouse”. Withdrawal began in 1963 with the last ones going in 1967. Four examples were spared the torch. John Dyer’s photos show Nos. 78003 and 78007 on Machynlleth MPD on 24/6/61, No. 78030 at Crewe North on 18/3/62, No. 78038 at Chester on 29/7/59, No. 78043 at Sandhills on a foggy 29/9/60 and No. 78061 at Aintree sheds, having arrived with a Grand National special on 25/3/61.

   

66741 Swanage Railway

This Roberts Road GBRf Class 66 was seen hauling “the metals” through Rolleston yesterday. Its great that the heritage railways are recognised in this way. What a fabulous achievement they have been over recent decades, creating popular tourist attractions, much needed employment, acknowledging our rich engineering, social and cultural history and so much more. Our last visit to the Swanage Railway was in 2015 and the pictures were taken by Chris Priestley.

The BR Standard Class 3 2-6-0s

There were just 20 of these mixed traffic engines, designed by Robert Riddles and built at Swindon works in 1954. Operating mainly in north east England and in Scotland, they had all been withdrawn by 1967 and none were preserved. John Dyer’s photos show No. 77001 outside Mirfield sheds on 12/8/62, No. 77013 at York MPD on 26/7/60 and No. 77015 at Glasgow Corkerhill sheds on 4/8/60.

  

The BR Standard Class 4 2-6-0s

There were 115 of these 2-6-0s designed by Robert Riddles at Doncaster in 1953. They were built at Horwich, Doncaster and Derby works and the class was completed by 1957. They were intended mainly for use on freight trains and had a largely unrestricted route availability. They were withdrawn between 1964 and 1968 with four examples eventually being rescued for preservation from Barry scrapyard.  

John Dyer’s photographs show No. 76008 at Southampton Central on 28/8/61, No. 76052 crossing a main road in Liverpool in August 1965 and also taking a freight through Saltney on 24/8/65, No. 76053 at Southampton Central on 26/4/60, No. 76059 also at Southampton on 26/8/61 and No. 76086 in pouring rain at Trafford Park sheds on 19/8/62.

     

An Hour to Spare

I found myself in Newark with an hour to spare on Saturday. I’ll do a recce, I thought, of the station surrounds so that I’m aware of future possible locations for photographing steam specials. It was hot and I didn’t get very far. The main line had engineering works south of Grantham, so that put a stop to any freights that would have been diverted elsewhere and I was left with a succession of Azumas.

The smooth front end design is quite effective, I think, communicating speed and power – all sleek and purposeful. They are certainly keeping them clean. The rest is just a long tube, with tinted glass in the windows just allowing the outlines of those very vertical seatbacks. I have yet to sample them but hopefully that won’t be long as I pluck up sufficient courage to re-join society, full-time. There are certainly plenty to choose from.

   

The BR Standard Class 4s

These 4-6-0s were designed at Brighton by Robert Riddles, introduced in 1951 and built at Swindon. There were 80 in the class. They were mixed traffic engines with a wider route availability than the heavier class 5s. From 1957, many locos were equipped with a double chimney. They were largely employed on the London Midland, Western and Southern regions. Some examples lasted until the final year of steam on BR in 1968 and 6 have since been preserved.

John Dyer photographed No. 75033 at Denbigh on 25/4/62, No. 75045 at Sandhills on 29/9/60, No. 75054 at Denbigh on 25/4/62, No. 75056 at Nottingham on 18/8/63, No. 75064 approaching Wallasey Village with a New Brighton-bound excursion on 21/6/59 and No. 75079 at Winchester City on 27/8/61. As always, I’m grateful to John for allowing me to use his photos in my blogs.

 

A Flurry of Activity at Fiskerton

A quick half-hour at Fiskerton in the early afternoon of Tuesday 1^st June yielded a Class 170 on a Nottingham Eastcroft return working for crew training/route familiarisation purposes, an Immingham-bound oil empties behind Class 60 No. 60044 Dowlow and a Worksop yard to Chaddesden sidings light engine movement involving Class 20 No. 20118 leading classmate No. 20901, in addition to the normal two-car Class 158 stopper on a Newark service. Busy, busy.

The BR Standard Class 5s

The Standard Class 5MT 4-6-0s were designed by Robert Riddles and introduced in 1951. They were built at Derby and Doncaster works. Construction was completed by 1957. 30 of the class were built with Caprotti valve gear. There were 172 in the class altogether, of which 20 were named after characters from Arthurian legend, replicating names used previously on SR King Arthur Class locomotives - and like them - at work on the Southern Region. They were essentially a development of the Stanier Black 5 but with a higher running plate for ease of maintenance and other added improvements.

John Dyer recorded No. 73003 on a parcels train at Bristol Temple Meads station in July 1964, No. 73034 heading past Saltney near Chester on 26/8/65, No. 73036 awaiting its next turn of duty at Shrewsbury station in July 1963, No. 73095 departing from Preston on 15/7/64 and No. 73125 passing Saltney and making for the North Wales coast in August 1965.