Favourite 'Railway' confectionery

[S&CLER]

When changing at New Street in the late 1960s and early 1970s, I often bought a bar of Irish Coffee flavoured chocolate from a stall; it came in a pink wrapper, and I never saw it anywhere else for years until I came across it again in TK Maxx.

 

[Bald Rick]

Paynes Poppets were not just a railway thing

absolutely not - I still buy them!

you can get mint poppets ice creams in Iceland…

 

[GWVillager]

Very explicitly railway, but Virgin Trains used to sell jelly beans in a Pendolino shaped tube, which I really liked. I also associate Piper's cheese and onion crisps with Virgin First Class as there was a period in which they offered them in the First Class lounges. This is all probably a bit more modern than the thread was intended for!

 

[LOL The Irony]

I was another fan of Dairy Crunch, also Kia-Ora when it came in square tower shaped containers with stepped sides. There used to be a vending machine on the walk down the platform from Victoria to Exchange that sold it. Paynes Poppets were not just a railway thing, I used to buy them at the cinema as well.

Kia Ora and Poppets are both still available, although the former now only in cans and bottles.

 

[Springs Branch]

Payne's Poppets . . . . . They were in a small box with a perforated push out to dispense. I recall two types were available toffee or raisin. There may also have been chocolate coated peanuts as well.

Thank you for reminding me what they were called!

Definitely my choice because they were SO railway; never ate them anywhere else.

Yes - I'm another with long-forgotten memories of those, which have been revived by this thread.

For me too, the only time Payne's Poppets were ever consumed was whilst enjoying the view from the window of a non-A/C Inter-City Mk.2 - the little box with perforated dispenser in front of me on the coffin-shaped table. Or maybe an occasionally sneaky nibble whilst on the platform waiting for the arrival of a train of non-A/C Mk.2s.

I remember both raisin and peanut varieties. I ate them on railway journeys any day of the week though - not only on Saturdays

The Nestle Sultana bars that used to be found in vending machines on the tube, and as far I know, no-where else, were not quite the very best, but they were at least a kind of novelty

Were these the ones sold from the red vending machines bolted to the wall on the Underground platform? Those machines where you put your coins in the slot and it was hit-or-miss whether or not the metal drawer would open, and you might well end up with no money and no chocolate bar.

 

[W-on-Sea]

Were these the ones sold from the red vending machines bolted to the wall on the Underground platform? Those machines where you put your coins in the slot and it was hit-and-miss whether or not the metal drawer would open, and you might well end up with no money and no chocolate bar.

I think the machines were mostly white (or cream) coloured, with some green detailing - but, yes, you had to give the metal drawer a strong tug to get the chocolate, and there was no guarantee it would open!

There's a picture of a similar machine, from a BR station (presumably) at the National Railway Museum here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctor_dave/26484014748 .

Now I think about it the Sultana bars weren't Nestle, but Cadbury's, so it figures that the machines would not be identical to this one.

 

[randyrippley]

Yes - I'm another with long-forgotten memories of those, which have been revived by this thread.

For me too, the only time Payne's Poppets were ever consumed was whilst enjoying the view from the window of a non-A/C Inter-City Mk.2 - the little box with perforated dispenser in front of me on the coffin-shaped table. Or maybe an occasionally sneaky nibble whilst on the platform waiting for the arrival of a train of non-A/C Mk.2s.

I remember both raisin and peanut varieties. I ate them on railway journeys any day of the week though - not only on Saturdays

Were these the ones sold from the red vending machines bolted to the wall on the Underground platform? Those machines where you put your coins in the slot and it was hit-or-miss whether or not the metal drawer would open, and you might well end up with no money and no chocolate bar.

Red ones with a pull-out drawer were probably selling Kit-Kats

 

[AndyW33]

What confectionery did BR have in their buffet cars? Were they tied to a certain brand? I seem to recall Pepsi was generally on offer as opposed to Coke when it came to soft drinks.

Up to sectorisation, each region had its own supply contracts, so it would have depended on where the buffet car was based and took on supplies. But since Cadburys/Frys/Nestle/Rowntrees were distributed nationally, they seemed pretty much universal. I always used the individual pork pie brand to tell where the buffet car was based - these were much more regional products and at the time different regions had contracts with different pork rie manufacturers.

 

[John Luxton]

The other thing I recall distinctly were the refrigerated Milk vending machines which dispensed milk - was it in 1/2 or 1/3 pint cartons?

They had three buttons - top and bottom was usually milk - middle one was orange juice of the kind the milkman used to deliver - not proper orange juice as we would expect it today.

These tended to be at larger stations - Lime Street had one, used to be near the enquiry office.

They also appeared on some high streets.

THis is a link to a Flickr image which shows one on the pavement adjacent to the Welshpool & Llanfair Railway on the abandoned town section.

RD9336a (1963/07 - 8). Church Street Level Crossing, Welshpool.

RD9336a. One of the exciting features of the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway was the cross town section where the trains threaded through the houses and shops to reach the exchange sidings with the Cambrian Railways main line at Welshpool Station. Sadly this section was lost to an...

www.flickr.com

Thank you for reminding me what they were called!

Definitely my choice because they were SO railway; never ate them anywhere else.

Yes they were very railway.

My parents had a newsagents and stationery shop and sold a wide range of sweets - but they never stocked Payne's Poppets, though I seem to recall them selling other Paynes items out of jars. Could it be that those poppet boxes were just for vending machines?

 

[WesternLancer]

The other thing I recall distinctly were the refrigerated Milk vending machines which dispensed milk - was it in 1/2 or 1/3 pint cartons?

They had three buttons - top and bottom was usually milk - middle one was orange juice of the kind the milkman used to deliver - not proper orange juice as we would expect it today.

These tended to be at larger stations - Lime Street had one, used to be near the enquiry office.

They also appeared on some high streets.

THis is a link to a Flickr image which shows one on the pavement adjacent to the Welshpool & Llanfair Railway on the abandoned town section.

RD9336a (1963/07 - 8). Church Street Level Crossing, Welshpool.

RD9336a. One of the exciting features of the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway was the cross town section where the trains threaded through the houses and shops to reach the exchange sidings with the Cambrian Railways main line at Welshpool Station. Sadly this section was lost to an...

www.flickr.com

Yes they were very railway.

My parents had a newsagents and stationery shop and sold a wide range of sweets - but they never stocked Payne's Poppets, though I seem to recall them selling other Paynes items out of jars. Could it be that those poppet boxes were just for vending machines?

Great picture!

 

[Rescars]

What confectionery did BR have in their buffet cars? Were they tied to a certain brand? I seem to recall Pepsi was generally on offer as opposed to Coke when it came to soft drinks.

IIRC not much, apart from KitKats. Travellers Fare never sold Coke, only Pepsi.

 

[John Luxton]

IIRC not much, apart from KitKats. Travellers Fare never sold Coke, only Pepsi.

When I did a lot of rail roving 1978 to 1982 Ruddles County Beer seemed to be popular in Buffet Cars. I seem to also recall apple pies in boxes.

 

[WesternLancer]

IIRC not much, apart from KitKats. Travellers Fare never sold Coke, only Pepsi.

Yes, when I worked at Travellers Fare mid 1980s we had Pepsi post mix machines (for the dispense) - also some other fizzy drinks on post mix but I cant recall what - lemonade would have been one I'm sure - I guess another product from the Pepsi stable.

 

[alistairlees]

Without question, the little chocolate biscuit/crispy thing they give out on Avanti in First Class. Awesome.

Uglies!

 

[Traveller54]

Older members here may also remember the "print your name" machines, where a large alphabet dial on the front, plus an appropriate coin, printed up to maybe 30 characters on an aluminium strip. It appeared not to need an electrical supply, each character needed the handle pulled to make the letter impression. Some years ago, visiting the Bluebell, I got into conversation with an older couple, who said they were not particularly interested in the railway ride, but had come specifically because they recalled such machines, and wanted to print a number of aluminium tags for their garden plants, and thought the preserved railway would still have them. I explained the bit about the concessionaires, who owned them and took them away. They seemed a little disappointed.

I remember them and also a “Record your own voice” machine at Perth station where for the princely sum of about 3/6 you could make your own record. I pestered my parents to let me do this to no avail, wouldn’t have bee much point anyway as we didn’t possess a record player.

 

[WesternLancer]

I remember them and also a “Record your own voice” machine at Perth station where for the princely sum of about 3/6 you could make your own record. I pestered my parents to let me do this to no avail, wouldn’t have bee much point anyway as we didn’t possess a record player.

A record your own voice device (on Brighton Pier IIRC) is a key plot device in Brighton Rock - certainly in the film and I presume also in the novel.

 

[Taunton]

I pestered my parents to let me do this to no avail, wouldn’t have been much point anyway as we didn’t possess a record player.

Bringing two aspects of this thread together, I described how I wondered at the complexity of the machine at the chocolate factory which produced Fry's Five Centres, segregated within one chocolate bar. At just the same time Signal toothpaste was introduced, heavily advertised on the television with "the stripes". This intrigued me considerably, how they managed this, and I likewise pestered to have one. Eventually I succeeded, it came into the house, and I was informed in no uncertain terms what an expense it had been. Tried to work out just how it did it by examining the nozzle etc, eventually curiosity got the better of me and I Stanley Knifed it apart on a number of cross sections, first one, then another, and worked out how it achieved this.

On discovery of this, I received a considerable Painful Punishment (remember "what an expense it had been"?). Maybe I should have buried the remnants in the garden. But stupidly I presented them as a scientist might. Surely it was the start of a Mechanical Engineer's curiosity and ingenuity (my grandfather being a significant member of the professional institute, his formal membership certificate signed by institute president of the era Nigel Gresley still hangs on the wall here). But he wasn't there to save the situation ...

If you want to know how striped toothpaste is achieved, I can still tell you.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

...I wondered at the complexity of the machine at the chocolate factory which produced Fry's Five Centres, segregated within one chocolate bar.

Surely achieved by squirting five dollops of differently-coloured fondant filling (from five parallel nozzles) on to a milk chocolate layer in a shaped upside down mould, and then adding some more chocolate on top as a seal?

 

[Bald Rick]

If you want to know how striped toothpaste is achieved, I can still tell you.

I saw a documentary once about the Signal SR factory and remember it well! (It may have been on Blue Peter about 40 years ago…)

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

For me, early train travel (1961) involved Lyons Individual Fruit Pies at BR refreshment rooms, I think apricot was the best.
They also did Campbells soup in individual cans (usually tomato), heated in a steamer (long before coffee machines).
Tea I think was then 4d, coffee 5d.
I distinctly remember consuming these more than once at Holyhead, in between travelling on the summer Irish Mail, non-stop from/to Chester behind EE type 4s, on a holiday runabout ticket (£1 5s for the whole week).

 

[Arglwydd Golau]

I seem to also recall apple pies in boxes.

Ah....glad you mentioned those! I do recall journeys in the mid 1960's with Dad where he would buy one from the buffet to supplement
our home-made sandwiches. Can't recall the brand though.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Ah....glad you mentioned those! I do recall journeys in the mid 1960's with Dad where he would buy one from the buffet to supplement our home-made sandwiches. Can't recall the brand though.

Possibly (but not necessarily) Lyon's.

 

[Pinza-C55]

Back in Deltic days I remember hearing that some enterprising bashers managed to get through the ticket barrier at Waterloo and other stations by flashing a red Nestle chocolate bar.
The chocolate of choice for Deltic bashers was a Lion Bar, usually following a Bowyers steak and kidney pie from the BR buffet.

 

[Arglwydd Golau]

Possibly (but not necessarily) Lyon's.

View attachment 123547

Thinking about it after I posted I did come up with Lyons, but that pic doesn't stir any memories, faint recall that the carton/box had a pic of....an apple pie!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Thinking about it after I posted I did come up with Lyons, but that pic doesn't stir any memories, faint recall that the carton/box had a pic of....an apple pie!

To be fair, the pic I posted was of one of their Fruit Pies.

 

[theblackwatch]

Back in Deltic days I remember hearing that some enterprising bashers managed to get through the ticket barrier at Waterloo and other stations by flashing a red Nestle chocolate bar.
The chocolate of choice for Deltic bashers was a Lion Bar, usually following a Bowyers steak and kidney pie from the BR buffet.

There were also another brand of Steak & Kidney pies that were commonplace in Travellers Fare buffets, from a firm called Robirch.

 

[D6968]

Lemon Polos were a favourite of mine when chasing EE type 3’s between New Street and Holyhead in 1998/99.
Think they called Citrus Sharp?

 

[Furryanimal]

Can't remember who made them but I used to have some delicious oat biscuits with my coffee at stations in the West Country.
They were not Hobnobs.And I haven't seem them in years.
Best oat biscuits I've ever had!

 

[37078xotTE]

Lemon Polos were a favourite of mine when chasing EE type 3’s between New Street and Holyhead in 1998/99.
Think they called Citrus Sharp?

Loved these too.

 

[12LDA28C]

IIRC not much, apart from KitKats. Travellers Fare never sold Coke, only Pepsi.

Yes, when I worked at Travellers Fare mid 1980s we had Pepsi post mix machines (for the dispense) - also some other fizzy drinks on post mix but I cant recall what - lemonade would have been one I'm sure - I guess another product from the Pepsi stable.

My all-time favourite soft drink was Schweppes orangeade which used to be sold on draught in the buffet at Doncaster station and I consumed gallons of the stuff during my many days spotting there in the 1980s.