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Milk on the rails: Looking for photos of rail-served facilities

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Karhedron

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Hello,

I am interested in milk trains and the infrastructure that existed to handle them, both creameries at the country-end and bottling plants in the towns.

This is a general appeal for help in finding photos of the buildings that were involved in this traffic as they seem to be rather poorly photographed unless they happened to be adjacent to a station. My main area of interest in the Western region up until the end of the steam however I would welcome photos from any period and anywhere in the country.

Online pictures are great but if anyone can recommend any good books on the subject that would also be of interest.

One particular building I am interested in is the bottling plant at Wood Lane in west London. This striking art-deco building is still there today but I have been unable to find any photos of it in use for its original purpose. Here is an aerial shot of the building today courtesy of Bing.

wood_lane3.jpg


In order to get things rolling, I have added some links to the photos I have found so far covering the subject.

Here are some shots of the creamery at Moreton-in-the-Marsh.
http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/moreton_marsh.htm

Here are a couple of shots of the bottling plant on Rossmore Road next to Marylebone station after it closed to milk traffic.
http://daverowland.fotopic.net/p48050807.html
http://daverowland.fotopic.net/p48050806.html

Some information on the milk flow from Torrington.
http://www.svsfilm.com/nineelms/torr.htm

Merton bottling plant complete with Express Dairies shunter on duty.
http://gallery62603.fotopic.net/p58745379.html

Any more additions very welcome.
 

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John Webb

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The rail-connected creamery at Cricklewood was perhaps a more recent building but very similar to Moreton-in-Marsh. A large canopy over the track where several milk-tanks could stand and be unloaded by flexible hoses; sorry, no pictures available although I was passing it almost every day for 8 years.
 

kentuckytony

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Although it didn't have any creamery pictures, the book Rail Centres: Clapham Junction by J.N. Faulkner and published first in 1991 by Ian Allan, has quite a number of pictures of milk trains taken around Clapham Junction over the years - mostly heading to or from Wood's Lane .

This book may be out of print, but I saw a number of used copies available.
***** Edit on 23/12/10 - I did see Ian Allan now has a new reprint of the 1991 book *****

The milk train photos I quickly spotted were:
1951 - engine 35005
???? - engine 30130 (around the same time as above)
1957 - engine 31578
1959 - engine 32547
1961 - engine 4681 [pannier]
1976 - class 73

Just posted in case the trains themselves were also of interest.
 
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Peter Mugridge

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The disused milk platform at Wimbledon ( just to the west of the station on the up slow ) is, I think, still extant under the undergrowth and resulting soil?

I think you can just see the end of it at the corner of the car park to the north side of the lines here, but most of it I suspect is hidden under the raft extension ( the car park over the lines )

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&s...19965,-0.20855&spn=0.000978,0.002988&t=k&z=19
 
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fsmr

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Hi
as an engineer working for the dairies, the subject has always fascinated me although i have only been doing this job for 26 years so missed the rail operations

Not sure about photos but some milk sites that were rail connected were:

Arla Foods Northallerton (closed this year but rail had gone by the 60s) The factory is shown on rail sim but on the wrong side of the freight loop. It is actually hemmed in a triangle between the ECML and the loop

Express dairies Appleby (closed in then 90s) the source for the Eden Vale trademark

Express Crediton (still there but rail long gone)

Milk Marketing board Bason bridge Closed late 70s (on the Highbridge branch of the S and D

Evercreach unigate now closed on the S and D

St Ivel Hemyock closed in the 80s

Co Operative dairy at John O Gaunt Leics on the defunct Great Northen line to Melton. Dairy went in the 70s a, short while after the railway and even had a workmans train stopping there in the early 60s after passenger services went in the 50s

and of course Unigate Chard (now Dairy Crest) still going but no milk sidings


You could try contacting Dairy Crest who took over many Unigate sites to see if they have any archive pics?

Good luck
Nige
 

Old Timer

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In the 1970s and I guess the early 1980s there used to be the St Erth to Kensington Olympia milk train. St Erth of course was a dairy serving the West of Cornwall

Somewhere I have a picture of the train at St Erth station, which I will try to find.
 

Karhedron

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You could try contacting Dairy Crest who took over many Unigate sites to see if they have any archive pics?

Thanks, that is a good idea. Industries are usually good self-promoters and may well have some pics, even if rail enthusiasts do not have many.

Somewhere I have a picture of the train at St Erth station, which I will try to find.

That would be great if you find it. Photos osf St Ives usually show that station to good advantage (unsuprisingly) but rarely give more than a fuzzy glimpse of the dairy.

Many thanks to all who have posted so far. Any further photos, ideas or reminiscences very welcome.
 

Greenback

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I have an old magazine somewhere, Modern Railways Pictorial I think, which had a photo article on West Country Milk Trains.

I believe it's languisihing at the bottom of the spare wardrobe, under a ton of other stuff, but someone else may have a more accessible copy?!
 

mailbyrail

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This is a fascinating subject, milk was the life blood to many minor lines, even keeping open many WR lines into the 70s.
The two Derbyshire ng lines -Leek & Manifold and Ashover depended upon milk for a lot of their income, the L&M transporter wagons carried mainline NSR milk tanks to Ecton dairy, the line closed shortly after the dairy. I've got books with photos and details for both lines. The Middleton book on lines around Tiverton gives lots of detail and photos of the Hemyock branch. I'm sure I've got others.
The book GWR Then & Now includes several photos of milk trains at Southall, Tiverton Jc, Hemyock, St Earth, Llanelly (as it was in 1960) amongst others.
Don't think I've ever seen a book on the subject, but it's much wider than many others that have had their own publications.
Photos of Hemyock dairy and rail links on the Disued Stations website at:
http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/h/hemyock/index.shtml
 

Karhedron

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Don't think I've ever seen a book on the subject, but it's much wider than many others that have had their own publications.

Very true, I guess it takes someone with the skill to write to take an interest in the subject.
 

Karhedron

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How about you, Karhedron?

The idea has crossed my mind however with a full time job and two small boys it would definitely be a long term project. The other problem is I have no idea how to go about researching a book or getting it published.

Thus far my research has consisted of posts like this in the hope of getting lucky. ;) I am sure there is a more consistent methodology required for dealing withe the subject but I would have to pick that up as I went along.
 

mailbyrail

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There's a 4 page chapter 'Milk' in 'Railfreight since 1968 - containers, cars & special traffics' by Paul Shannon published 2010. He lists WR milk trains in 1971 with illustrations of 70's period WR milk trains including a 1977 shot of 47086 passing Lostwithiel Unigate creamery. The list of operational loading points in 1978 is given as St Earth, Lostwithiel, Totnes, Torrington, Chard Jc, Carmarthen and Marshfield with delivery terminals at Woiod Lane, Vauxhall, Ilford and Morden South. It also illustrates at 1997 intermodal trial by DRS from Penrith to Cricklewood.
A four page chapter might have been all the subject justified by the final years, but the traffic must be almost as old as the railways themselves warranting a much wider study from the original churns through to the distinctive tank wagons - why 6 wheels when other liquids only needed 4?
 

Karhedron

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why 6 wheels when other liquids only needed 4?
I can answer that one. Due to its perishable nature, milk needed to be run at express passenger speeds. 4-wheel tankers were introduced briefly in the 30s but they ran too roughly, churning the milk en-route. They were quickly rebuilt as 6-wheelers and newer tanks followed the same pattern.

An oil train could quite happily trundle along at 25mph on 4-wheeled tankers. Milk going at the same speed would quite probably go sour on the journey.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
The list of operational loading points in 1978 is given as St Earth, Lostwithiel, Totnes, Torrington, Chard Jc, Carmarthen and Marshfield with delivery terminals at Wood Lane, Vauxhall, Ilford and Morden South.

Thanks for that, does the list include which dairy company operated which sites? Many of those on the WR were Unigate while I believe Morden South was Express Dairies.
 

mailbyrail

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Thanks for that, I always wondered why milk tanks were so distinctive
Unigate were the main customer, all loading and delivery points listed by Shannon were theirs, except Carmarthen - MMB, Marshfield - Cambrian Dairies, Morden S - Express Dairies
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
With a bit of free time over the holiday, I'm beginning to enjoy this topic.

I've tracked down a couple more locations available on the web:
Aerial view of Whitland in 1955
http://www.peoplescollection.co.uk/Item/12169-aerial-photograph-of-whitland-creamery
View of Carmarthen in 1937
http://www.peoplescollection.co.uk/Item/14061-aerial-photograph-of-milk-factory-in-carmarth
Ecton dairy on the Leek & Manifold in the 30's - click on 'Stations-Ecton'
http://www.kachuzyn.fsnet.co.uk/homepage.htm
and check out the video on the site of a newsreel film of the line as well

A good shot of a preserved SR milk tank on the Bluebell with a little bit of history of milk on the rails
http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/pics/4430.html

Also I've remembered there was a dairy at Egginton Jc on the NSR which was rail connected until the 60's (before I moved to Uttoxeter), must check picures in a NSR book I have access to, all I can find on the web is post-closure
http://www.old-dalby.com/mremains.htm

Whilst seeing what I could find on Egginton, I came across this useful history of the whole topic available at
http://www.igg.org.uk/gansg/12-linind/milk.htm
(I must read all the other subjects written up here as well)
 

72C

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What an opportunity for remenisecene. I worked for Unigate in the Seventies and Eighties and loaded many a rail tanker. A dirty task, for try as we did to keep the outsides clean, rail transport is grimy business. The insides were very well cleaned.

When I first started many factories, Sparkford ( now Haynes Publishing) St Erth, Chard, Lostwithiel, Torrington, Camarthen, Hemyock, Bason Bridge, Bailey Gate, Whitland and Semely were all dispatching milk to London. I remember Vauxhall being a regular destination.

The Milk Marketing Board bought and sold all milk and bottling was priority so vast amounts were sent daily to London to meet this need. I understand that in the Fiities and Sixties Penzance and Camborne had sidings that also railed milk that had been road tankered in. This created the dilemma which ultimately moved milk from rail to road. I remember a proposal to develop Semely ( West of England main line, between Gillingham and Salisbury) into a major road rail hub for Wincanton Transport. This never happened and instead the road based Aldermeads reload depot at Wincanton was built.

With the take over of Unigate processing by the MMB and the restructuring that followed many factories closed. Chard and Lostwithiel remain with sidings in tact and the MMB did have a small fleet of rail tanks in strategic reserve. I believe these have been since scrapped.

You Tube, I think, has film footage of the daily S & D service from Bason Bridge to Bailey Gate to pick up tanks and there is a video of the history of the Hemyock branch which has footage of the daily milk traffic.

I hope this helps. I'm sure this topic will raise many interesting threads. Happy Days???
 

mailbyrail

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Nearly the end of the free time over the holidays, but I used some of the time today going through the 1956 Handbook of Stations to come up with the following
Express Dairies
Acton, Appleby, Cricklewood, Frome, Horam, Leyburn, Pipe Gate, St Helier
Milk Marketing Board
Felin Fran, Pont Llanio, Egremont, Sturminster Newton
United Dairies
Yetminster, Bailey Gate, Ealing Bwy, Mitre Bridge, Wootton Bassett, Shepherds Bush, Welford, Carmarthen, Whitland, Calverley,
Wilts Utd
Buckingham, Hemyock, Nine Elms, Bason Bridge, Chard Junc, Uttoxeter
Nesmilk
Congleton, Carlisle, Ashbourne, Tutbury, Bow, Martock, Holt Junc
Scottish MMB
Dalry, Dalbeattie
CWS Dairies
Melksham, Wallingford, Llangadog
Dried Milk Products
Lostwithiel, Wincanton
Cow & Gate
Wincanton
Primrose Dairy
St Earth
Egginton Dairy
Egginton Junc
Midland Counties Dairy
Kirkewydd (Welshpool)
London Co-operative
West Ealing
Carnation Milk
Dumfries

In addition, the goods facility at Colfin only accepted milk in tanks and churns, but there was no indication of who was the customer. Other loading points would not have been private sidings, so no customers identified.

My interest comes only from being a country boy, growing up with the railway as part of my life from pre-school days, and seeing milk churns at the end of every farm track. Closest I got to milk during my own railway service was in Worksop where the CWS glassworks made the milk bottles with wagonloads of sand for the 'Sand hole'.
 

John Webb

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Thanks for taking the trouble to prepare that list. I am aware there was a facility between Ilford and Seven Kings stations on the ex-Great Eastern main line; this does not appear on your list as far as I can see. Is this because it wasn't next to a station, or was it built after 1957?
 

Karhedron

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Yes, thanks a lot for such a good list of facilities.

Further to earlier comments I have tried to ge in touch with some of these companies (or their successors) to enquire if they have historical records that I could research. Hopefully now that the holidays are drawing to a close I may get some responses. So far only Dairy Crest have responded with an outright "No".

Does anyone know where the records of the MMB might have gone? They had oversight of the whole industry but without a clear successor I am a bit stumped as to where to look for their records.
 

mailbyrail

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No sign of anything listed except Ilford Goods and Ley Street Sidings for coal and S to S traffic, nothing in the London rail atlas either. No goods facilities under Seven Kings. Wagons dealt with in public facilities with no private siding agreement wouldn't show up.

However I also came across a company I'd not heard of at Stratford - British Feeding Meals & Milk Products Co which may have been another to add to the list.
 

John Webb

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I've a WTT from 1970/71 which shows a milk train from the West London area running to this facility at Ilford most days. It's rather buried at the moment but I'll try and dig it up and see what further information it has.
 

72C

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Yes, thanks a lot for such a good list of facilities.

Further to earlier comments I have tried to ge in touch with some of these companies (or their successors) to enquire if they have historical records that I could research. Hopefully now that the holidays are drawing to a close I may get some responses. So far only Dairy Crest have responded with an outright "No".

Does anyone know where the records of the MMB might have gone? They had oversight of the whole industry but without a clear successor I am a bit stumped as to where to look for their records.

It might be worth making an enquiry to Surrey County Archive as I believe Thames Ditton is in Surrey and the MMB was based there. When the MMB was broken up and Dairy Crest, which in MMB days was the manufacturing arm, took over the business. Milk sales went to various co-ops such as Milk Link.

Dairy Crest also took over many of the Unigate plants. Unigate is now a very small organisation and trades under the name Uniq . When it was formed, in the sixties, it's head office was in Trowbridge so archive material may have gone to the county archive for Wiltshire

I hope this helps.
 

fsmr

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Express head office was Ruislip so you could try archives there
i am surpised Dairy Crest dont have any archives from Unigate but then again!!

If anyones doing Guiness Park Royal I have some pics of Unicorn when she was there working in the early 90s on the beer keg traffic when I was working there for Alfa Laval
Another one bit the dust!

http://www.igg.org.uk/gansg/12-linind/milk.htm
seems to have quite alot of info on milk
 
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John Webb

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There is a shot here of the Unigate depot at Ilford. It would appears to still be in use in 1978 judging by the tankers in residence.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12064036@N04/3497767650/

Thanks for the picture link, Karhedron.

The Unigate depot was on the South side of the line; the coaches on the right are in the Ilford carriage sidings which lie between Ilford and Seven Kings stations. I worked at Plesseys, just north of the carriage sidings, in 1967 to 1969. I have to admit that despite passing it most days I just don't remember the Unigate depot at all!
 

mailbyrail

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Just dug out my copy of 'Through Limestone Hills' by Bill Hudson which contains the following reference to Rowsley.
The trackwork consisted of 5 sidings, one of which served the Express Dairy opened June 1933 on an adjacent site. It was agreed the the 4 remaining sidings be retained for loco coal for Rowsley & Buxton. At the same meeting the Chief Commercial Mgr recommended a 99 year lease be granted to the Express Dairy on approx 2538 sqr yds of land upon which the company had already erected a milk cooling depot, spray, pond condenser and filter plant. This seems a strange method of estate management and certainly an odd way to set up business but on being informed that in the 12 months to the end of May '34 the carriage value of milk forwarded from Rowsley was £16,886 the committee retrospectively granted the lease. Milk tanks were normally attached to the 5.18pm local to Derby for Cricklewood or the 10.15pm express freight to Brent. He includes a picture of the royal train in Rowsley station alongside 4 milk tanks in the siding.

The opening of Rowsley was the reason for the closure of Ecton dairy on the Leek & Manifold line.
 

Karhedron

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I have come across a few more pictures to share. The first is milk tankers being unloaded at Vauxhall.

Next we have the milk dock at West Ealing.

And then the Express Dairies facility at Morden. This is parhaps the most interesting as it shows a great view of the covered part of the sidings.

Last of all is some vintage footage from the S&D in the 1960s. It shows milk tanks being shunted at Bailey Gate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ch7cBCgmno&feature=related
 

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