Arglwydd Golau
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- 14 Apr 2011
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I’m not sure of its history myself but that shot across from the end of the platforms used to be a bit of a classic and I instantly thought of it when I saw your dad’s photo.I think that you are correct, Cowley...tho' the fire escape on the building was presumably added after Dad took the photo. I don't know paddington at all, but I am assuming then he must have been standing at the end of one of the other platforms that gave a good view of all arrivals and departures. (There is also a pic of a prairie tank on a train at the same location). Was it always a parcels platform?
The Bulldog is arriving on Platform 1. To the right of the box is 1a with the stop blocks just about where the canopy starts
Of course, yes I see now. Thanks @Clarence Yard.The Bulldog is arriving on Platform 1. To the right of the box is 1a with the stop blocks just about where the canopy starts
Nice to see this. I reckon I stood in the area just about where the front of the loco is, or perhaps a bit closer to the left, in early 2019 to see and photograph some of the last HST services from Paddington, before taking a lunch time HST and enjoying a superb lunch in Pullman dining on a run to Plymouth!It's been some time since I posted one of my father's old photos....here's one taken in 1936/7 when he was at Oxford, I'm assuming it's on the outskirts of London. Must be easier than a level crossing in the Reading area! Loco is an unidentified GWR 'Bulldog'View attachment 83300
The track was realigned away from the face in the mid 1990s remodelling but the re-activated Motorail side-loading facility was created with a bit of cantilevering. My car used it a few times up to the end of 2005, ISTR.Out of interest when was Paddingtons platform 1a taken out of use?
Additional information on your father's photo: The building behind the loco is the new departure signal box - looks like it is nearing completion; note the marks on all the window panes to remind people that the glass had been fitted! This may place the photo to around 1931/32 as it was brought into use in July 1933.
Glad to have been of help. Paddington underwent a major resignalling scheme in the early 1930s when the GWR, assisted by government money to relieve unemployment, installed colour light signalling and modified both the station and the tracks approaching it. There were three new signal boxes, Westbourne Bridge, opened January 1932, Paddington Departure opened July 1933 and Paddington Arrival in August 1933.That information really is priceless! ......
A further question....was it usual to have a 'departure' signal box? I have never heard that term before in connection with a 'box.
Maybe Bulldogs were a rarity at Paddington by then? Prairies weren't though!Of course, it doesn't explain why he took two photos at Paddington, one of a humble Bulldog and the other of an even more humble Prairie tank, when there were presumably Kings and Castles available...I'll never know the answer to that.
A further question....was it usual to have a 'departure' signal box? I have never heard that term before in connection with a 'box.
If your hunch about London is right, could the location be one of the bays at Addison Road/Olympia?I suspect that this is a Webb LNWR 0-6-2T, but I can't see any evidence of this particular number on the BRDatabase site. The location is unknown (to me) but I suspect it's in London. Is that condensing apparatus?View attachment 84102
Is what you think is condensing gear actually the vacuum pump for autotrain working?I suspect that this is a Webb LNWR 0-6-2T, but I can't see any evidence of this particular number on the BRDatabase site. The location is unknown (to me) but I suspect it's in London. Is that condensing apparatus?View attachment 84102
I've just read a brief description on Kensington Olympia on the Disused Stations website. I suspect that the train was heading for Willesden Junction and possibly beyond...Harrow or Watford?Another interesting pic to see. Given the emerging agreement about the location, what sort of service might this have been?
Interesting carriages and wagons in shot too.
Yes, it was a toss up between the two and I think I went for the wrong one! Thinking about it afterwards I couldn't see where and why an LNWR loco would require condensing apparatus, but then you have found that it was possible!Is what you think is condensing gear actually the vacuum pump for autotrain working?
Or are they milk churn wagons? ISTR slatted-sided vehicles were commonly used, and there was a milk depot at Wood Lane in later years. In fact it looks very like a GWR Siphon F from a quick Google!Did they used to have circuses at Olympia? If so, could the wagons on the right have been used to transport the animals and equipment?
Or are they milk churn wagons? ISTR slatted-sided vehicles were commonly used, and there was a milk depot at Wood Lane in later years. In fact it looks very like a GWR Siphon F from a quick Google!
It looks like a parcels train to me - and a very quick Google makes me think it could be an LNW or NER* design - but we need an expert and that's not me.
As to date - LMS era, so I think you are right and your father was a tripfather to town from Leatherhead.
*not impossible - parcels vans got everywhere! - but the stock looks quite homogenous so less likely.
According to Bertram Baxter's "British Locomotive Catalogue", the loco details were:
New 9/1884 as LNWR 161
Renumbered 4/1921 as LNWR 3727 ("Duplicate list")
Renumbered 12/1927 as LMSR 7700
Withdrawn 3/1948 (not allocated a BR number.)
Fitted for "push-pull" working 12/1921
(officially described as "motor working"; that explains the small vertical cylinders near the front.)
The coach next to the loco is a LNWR 50 foot full brake. A photo of an identical coach appears in David Jenkinson's "Illustrated History of LNWR Coaches" (Note - some LNWR design coaches came under the "West Coast Joint Stock" pool: LNWR/Caledonian Railway) .
The other coaches do not appear sharply enough on my monitor for identification.