If you so wish, wear your poppy with pride today, pause respectfully for two minutes at 11 am this Armistice Day and again tomorrow for Remembrance Sunday remembering all those, both service and civilian personnel whom have given their lives for the freedom that we all enjoy today, and should you feel so inclined, support the sterling work of the Royal British Legion.
As the current situation of conflicts around the world are a concern to us all, please importantly remember that the poppy is neither a religious, racial or a political statement, nor is it a “sign of support” for any war or conflict, but instead a symbol of remembrance and hope”.
This post is written to not only commemorate the fallen service personal from any conflict, but it is also, as in previous years, dedicated to all Railway companies across the country and indeed the world that lost many staff; not only those drafted into the military services, but also those lost whom continued their duties on the railways keeping the networks up and running, we should honour and remember them all.
When You Go Home,
Tell Them Of Us And Say, For Their Tomorrow,
We Gave Our Today
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.
Locomotive 333 was built originally by the London Brighton and South Coast Railway, designed by Billinton, as an L class 4-6-4 ‘Baltic’ tank. She was given the name Remembrance and became the companies War Memorial engine and carried a plaque with the inscription:
“In grateful remembrance of the 532 men of the L.B.& S.C.Rly. who gave their lives for their country, 1914-1919″
In 1934, under the auspices of Maunsell they were rebuilt as Class N15x (an appropriate Brighton-style suffix) 4-6-0s, and fitted with standard Urie LSWR tenders along with smoke deflectors. Now number 2333 ‘Remembrance’ retained its name, plaque and status within the Southern Railway.
Inscribed on James Scott’s Victory Arch, at Waterloo station: “Dedicated to the employees of the Company who fell in the war.”and the names of those London and South Western employees who gave their life are honoured within the arch.
And just to end this post, as written by Paul Hunter – as I stressed above, the poppy is more than a one time of a year symbol:,
I am not a badge of honour, I am not a racist smear, I am not a fashion statement, to be worn but once a year, I am not glorification of conflict or of war. I am not a paper ornament a token, I am more.
I am a loving memory, Of a father or a son, a permanent reminder of each and every one. I’m paper or enamel, I’m old or shining new, I’m a way of saying thank you, To every one of you.
I am a simple poppy, a reminder to you all, That courage faith and honour,
will stand where heroes of all kinds fall.
Today the 15th October marks the 200th birthday of William Adams (15 October 1823 – 7 August 1904). He was the Locomotive Superintendent of the North London Railway from 1858 to 1873; the Great Eastern Railway from 1873 until 1878 and then of course the London and South Western Railway until his retirement in 1895.
Appropriately, and not coincidentally, this month has seen two William Adams related events.
Firstly, the publication of a new comprehensive biography “William Adams: His Life and Locomotives: A Life in Engineering 1823-1904” by John Woodhams and published by Pen & Sword Transport.
During his time on the LSWR over five hundred locomotives were built to his designs, including many graceful 4-4-0 express classes regarded by many as his greatest achievement. Adams also proved himself a very capable designer in developing locomotive and carriage works at all three railways, improving efficiency and reducing costs.
This book covers his early years, time on the North london and Great Eastern Railways along with his successful time on the LSWR vastly improving locomotive and carriage fleets. It includes a summary of all his locomotove designs and his legacy covering the preserved Adams locomotives, including T3 Class No. 563 detailed below. Overall it tells the story of a genial man with a love of music, who was undoubtedly one of the finest late Victorian locomotive engineers, and is well worth a read.
The graceful lines of the T3 Class 563 at Norden on the Swanage Railway 7th October 2023
Secondly, and one close to my heart, as I have been assisting the Swanage Railway Trust 563 Locomotive Group, the completion of the restoration of LSWR Adams 4-4-0 T3 Class Number 563.
This 130 year engine was last steamed on 11th June 1948, albeit at a low pressure of 25psi to move from Micheldever to Waterloo to be on display as part of the Waterloo centenary celebrations.
First introduced in March 1893 she initial worked from Nine Elms before spells being allocated to Guildford from 1905 and Salisbury from September 1935.
The Drummond livery looking great in the sunshine as she awaits to run round the first train on 7th October 2023
She was initially withdrawn on 9th March 1939 after a failure on the Fawley goods, before being repaired and reinstated in November 1939 due to WWII.
She survived in further use until August 1945 and withdrawn and put into storage, despite being stored at Kimbridge Junction to await scrapping at Dinton.
She was thankfully reprieved (by Bulleid) in January 1948 and restored into Adams condition wearing Drummond livery for the Waterloo celebrations in June and July 1948 (the 11th July being the actual anniversary date).
563 approaches Woodyhyde Lane between Harman’s Cross and Corfe castle on the first public passenger service 08/10/23
She along with ex LBSC A1 Terrier ‘Boxhill’ was a regular at works and shed open days during the 1950s. She underwent a further refurbishment, mainly to the underframe and running gear, but not the boiler or the life expired firebox in August 1559 emerging in Adams livery.
She entered the National Collection 25th January 1961.
563 spent many years on display firstly at the Clapham Museum before relocation to the National Railway Museum at York then Locomotion at Shildon and subsequently being a theater prop in a production of the Railway Children at the ex Waterloo International Platforms and incredibly Toronto Canada.
563 is a fine sight between Harmans Cross and Corfe Castle 09/10/23
The next major milestone was in March 2017 when ownership was bravely and controversially at the time transferred to the newly formed Swanage Railway Trust 563 Locomotive Group with the intention to restore her back to working condition.
Following a six year project to raise funds, in excess of £650K and carry out the restoration, including a brand new copper inner firebox, 563 has steamed again for the first time since 1948 and last weekend (7th/8th October) hauled passengers for the first time for over 78 years.
563 approaches Corfe Castle viaduct 08/10/23
A magnificent achievement by all involved with the Swanage Railway Trust 563 Locomotive Group and the vision of the Senior Curator, Anthony Coulls, of the National Railway Museum, that has certainly proved naysayers and vocal complainants of the time wrong, that has enabled the wonderful restoration to working order of 563 as can be seen in the pictures on this post. I am honoured to have been able to play a small part in her restoration assisting the Swanage Railway Trust 563 Locomotive Group with some archive research, drawings and livery advice.
Overall both the book and especially the T3 restoration are a fitting tribute to William Adams on what would be his 200th Birthday today.
The Kernow Model Rail Centre ex LSWR/SR Beattie class 0298 well tank was first produced back in 2011. Incredibly for a class that since the 1930’s had only three members, with a restrictive sphere of operation, albeit into the late 1960s, on the Bodmin and Wenford branch, the model has been extremely popular resulting in no less than five production batches, the last being under the EFE Rail brand as recently as November 2020.
THE KMRC Beattie well tank 3314 with crew added
Being by nature a very small locomotive, space within the cab is quite restrictive on the real thing let alone the model, finding loco crew to fit has always been a bit of a challenge.
After receiving many requests, my friends at scanning and 3D printing specialists, MODELU have now added a bespoke Beattie well tank crew to their Loco Specific Crew range.
These MODELU crew have been actually scanned on one of the preserved locos and then modified to specifically fit the footplate of the model.
This ensures the poses are both natural, realistic and can be easily fitted to the model.
The MODELU figures as supplied and a cruel enlargement following painting
The highly detailed and crisply 3D printed MODELU crew are supplied free of all sprues and ready to paint without the need for any fettling or primer. To aid painting I lightly glue the crew to a wooden string stick to make handling easier, I then firstly paint, nowadays using acrylic paints, all clothing matt black to act as a base and eventually give shadows within creases, folds and any inside edges.
Using matt acrylics, my prefered range is Vallejo, I apply the top colours using almost a dry brush allowing the black within clothing folds and inside edges etc. to still be visible to give the effect of darker shadows etc. and to bring out the exquisite detail within the 3D print.
I was able using tweezers and a small dab of UHU glue fit the crew into place without disassembling the model in any way and immediately bring the loco to life.
As part of their quarterly British Railway Announcements for Autumn 2023 Bachmann have announced the ex London South Western Railway (LSWR) / Southern railway covered vans to Diagrams 1410, 1406 and 1408 and the ex LSWR / Southern railway 56ft non corridor cross country sets as early formation four coach sets, in 00 gauge. Those of you who watched the announcement video may have seen a familiar or strange face depending on you point of view, as I developed these models in my role with Kernow Model Rail Centre on behalf of EFE Rail. Also appearing in the Bachmann Branchline range is the Refurbished 3-CEP and 4-TEP.
LSWR / Southern railway covered vans to Diagram 1410, 1406 and 1408
E87051 D1410 LSWR Livery
The numerous LSWR 10 ton covered vans were built between 1885 and 1922 to a few different diagrams as the design was developed. Different body styles were combined with either timber or steel chassis with two axle boxes types, Panter or Warner’s, and several different brake systems.
The low roof, sliding door Diagram 1410 covered vans were the most common vehicle with well over 1000 built. Brake gear varied from: single sided double block, ‘Morton Clutch’, the rarer for this diagram ‘Lift Link’ and most commonly what the SR called ‘Freighter’ that had independent brake gear on each side.
E87052 D1410 S&DJR Livery
Ten covered vans to the Diagram 1410 were built for the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway (S&DJR) they differed from the LSWR versions as they did not have the end vents and only single sided brakes. They later were absorbed into SR stock and had end vents fitted, becoming identical to D1410 vans.
In early 1912 the roof level of covered goods vans was increased in height by 7 inches and 110 vans were built with sliding doors on either timber (D1407) or steel chassis as Diagram 1406. Lift link brake gear was fitted to all covered vans to this diagram.
E87053 D1410 SR Pre 1936 Livery
From late 1912 the sliding door design was superseded by a three-part hinged door design and used on covered wagons built from December 1912 until Grouping. The use of hinged rather than sliding doors allowed an increase in internal body width. Almost 400 were built on both timber (D1409) or steel chassis as Diagram 1408. Lift link brake gear was fitted to all covered vans to this diagram. The Diagram 1408 vans were originally built with roofs that finished flush with the sides, however, the SR modified the roofs to give an overhang at the eves.
E87054 D1406 in post 1936 SR livery
Although many were scrapped or entered departmental use before Grouping many passed into SR ownership at grouping with a number, many in departmental use surviving beyond nationalisation.
The KMRC / EFE Rail tooling suite allows for four body types across the three diagrams, four brake types (single double block, Morton Clutch, Freighter and Lift Link), two steel chassis types (D1410/06 and D1408), two axle box types (Panter and Warner) and three buffer types (tapered, ribbed and fabricated).
E87055 D1406 in BR Grey livery
The initial six releases by EFE Rail, that will be with retailers such as Kernow Model Rail Centre in the next two months or so, are as follows:
E87051 LSWR Diagram 1410 10 Ton covered van LSWR Brown livery – Morton Clutch brake, Panter axle boxes, plain tapered buffers.
E87052 SR Diagram 1410 10 Ton Covered van SDJR livery – no end vents, single sided brake, Panter axle boxes, plain tapered buffers.
E87056 D1408 with flush roof in pre 1936 SR livery
E87053 SR Diagram 1410 10 Ton Covered van SR Brown Pre 1936 livery – Freighter brakes, Warner axle boxes, plain tapered buffers.
E87054 SR Diagram 1406 10 Ton Covered van SR Brown Post 1936 livery – Lift Link brake, Panter axle boxes, plain tapered buffers.
E87055 BR(s) Diagram 1406 10 Ton Covered Van BR Grey livery – Lift Link brake, Panter axle boxes, plain tapered buffers.
E87056 SR Diagram 1408 10 Ton Covered van SR Brown Pre 1936 livery – Flush roof, Lift Link brake, Panter axle boxes, fabricated buffers, three hole disc wheels.
LSWR / Southern railway 56ft non corridor cross country sets
There were 36 sets formed wholly of 56ft vehicles and these sets were generically called ‘Cross County sets’. They were constructed between 1906 and 1910 being built originally as 4 coach sets. These sets comprised of the following:
Brake Thirds, four compartment to LSWR Drawing 1446, SR diagram 124, 2 per set
Composite (1st / 3rd class), seven compartment, to LSWR Drawing 1298, SR Diagram 274
Third LSWR Drawing 1302, SR Diagram 17, 8 compartment, (The all Thirds were originally introduced as 2nd / 3rd Composites but rebranded to all Thirds with no structural change by the end of 1919)
The set numbers were in the ranges 130-151, 253-263 and 311-314. All sets were reduced to three coaches in the mid to late 1930s by the removal of the 8 compartment Third Diagram 17 coaches which became loose stock. At the same time the number of first class compartments in the Composite, Diagram 274 was reduced from 5 to 3 (not a physical alteration just reclassification and change in class banding on the outside of the compartments)
EFE E86012 4 coach set 134 in SR Lined Olive Green
Despite the longevity of these sets, apart from the reduction from 4 to 3 coaches and the reclassification of some of the composite compartments there was no real physical changes to any of the coaches.
In terms of use, they were seen all over the SW section of the Southern and their duties were pretty well interchangeable with any other 3/4 set. They did not generally run on Brighton or SE section lines, although photographic evidence exists of them running along the south coast to Brighton.
Withdrawal of these sets was completed during 1956/7 Brake Third number LSWR 1520 SR 2975 (ex set 63 / 146) survives and is operational service on the Bluebell Railway http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/pics/1520.html and Composite number 5065 (ex set 134) survives on the Kent and East Sussex Railway awaiting restoration.
As was standard LSWR practice not all the coaches had full electrical equipment, i.e dynamo and battery boxes the others being through wired.
E86011 ex LSWR Cross Country Set – 4 coach set 63 – LSWR Salmon Pink and Chocolate
E86012 Ex LSWR/SR Cross Country Set – 4 Coach set 134 – SR Lined Green
The coach sets are currently at Bachmann and should be with retailers such as Kernow Model Rail Centre in the next week or so.
Note: All pictures above re courtesy and copyright KMRC.
3-Cep / 4-TEP EMUs – Refurbished
The Bachmann Branchline model has been refurbished with new bodyshells portraying the work undertaken when the real units were refurbished – most notably the fitting of hopper window ventilators and the relocation of the brake compartments from the two driving vehicles to a single trailer vehicle.
Bachmann Refurbished 4-CEP
The first release to utilise this new tooling depicts Class 411/9 3-CEP No. 1199 in South West Trains livery and this is joined by a Blue & Grey-liveried Class 422/7 4-TEP – a unit formed of three refurbished CEP vehicles and an un-refurbished buffet vehicle from a BEP unit. The TEPs were formed to provide catering capacity whilst 4-BIG units were being refurbished during the 1980s. Both models require a single DCC decoder for use on DCC systems or can be purchased in SOUND FITTED format with a decoder pre-installed.
31-420 Class 411/9 3-CEP No. 1199 in South West Trains livery
31-420SF Class 411/9 3-CEP No. 1199 in South West Trains livery SOUND FITTED
31-424 Class 422/7 4-TEP Blue & Grey-liveried
31-424SF Class 422/7 4-TEP Blue & Grey-liveried SOUND FITTED
My Set 253 following a few tweaks and awaiting some light weathering
The EFE Rail ex LSWR Cross Country Sets were announced last November and as is usually the case with the Bachmann quarterly announcements arrived within a matter of weeks. This is not a full a review of the models as that would be a bit disingenuous of me, having been involved in my day job at Kernow Model Rail Centre , with their development (and yes, I hold my hand up to not spotting a couple of the gremlins that crept in to a couple of the livery details).
This post is about a few quick tweaks / improvements that I have made to my own malachite green set 253 (yes, I purchased it myself). Whilst these models have not jumped on the feature creep trend of magnetic roofs (we are yet to see how practical these might be in practice with handling etc.) and over bright interior lighting, they have a good level of detail and separately applied parts inclduing grab handles, handrails, underframe details and roof vents to look the part.
EFE E86015 coach set 314 in BR Green showing box set (Picture Courtesy and copyright KMRC)
The initial EFE Rail Releases, supplied in neat three coach book box sets are as follows:
E86013 ex LSWR Cross Country Set – 3 Coach set 253 – SR Malachite
E86014 Ex LSWR/SR Cross Country Set – 3 Coach set 130 – BR Crimson
E86015 Ex LSWR/SR Cross Country Set – 3 Coach set 314 – BR Green
So on the tweaks…
The very first thing I did was to blacken the faces of the wheelsets, I have simply and quickly used a black Sharpie permanent marker pen, this improves the look and is actually a darker finish to the eye than the brightly lit pictures show. (As an aside, a couple of Sharpie pens are always good to have in the modelling toolkit, especially when exhibiting, as they can be used to quickly touch up any chips or damage that might have occurred).
The Diagram 124 Brake Third
I have added, using HMRS Pressfix transfers, the missing class designation numbers to the brake thirds and for consistency also replaced and repositioned slightly higher those on the composite. The BR versions correctly only have ‘1’s on the first class compartments (and in the slightly lower position). To remove the factory applied class designations on the composite, I first soaked them in good quality enamel thinners and then using a cotton bud and some t-cut to gently rub them off.
For consistency, an element of individualism and personal preference, I like to brush paint all my carriage roofs with Humbrol enamel dark grey Number 33. I also took the opportunity to paint the side of the roof gutter at the same time, as these had been finished in the bodyside colour, that gives a bit of an optical illusion of the sides being too high.
Finally, a recap of the history of these sets, there were 36 sets formed wholly of 56ft vehicles and these sets were generically called ‘Cross County sets’. They were constructed between 1906 and 1910 being built originally as 4 coach sets. These sets comprised of the following:
Brake Thirds, four compartment to LSWR Drawing 1446, SR diagram 124, 2 per set
Composite (1st / 3rd class), seven compartment, to LSWR Drawing 1298, SR Diagram 274
Third LSWR Drawing 1302, SR Diagram 17, 8 compartment, (The all Thirds were originally introduced as 2nd / 3rd Composites but rebranded to all Thirds with no structural change by the end of 1919)
The Diagram 274 Composite
The set numbers were in the ranges 130-151, 253-263 and 311-314 All sets were reduced to three coaches in the mid to late 1930s by the removal of the 8 compartment Third Diagram 17 coaches which became loose stock. At the same time the number of first class compartments in the Composite, Diagram 274 was reduced from 5 to 3 (not a physical alteration just reclassification and change in class banding on the outside of the compartments)
In terms of use, they were seen all over the SW section of the Southern and their duties were pretty well interchangeable with any other 3/4 set. They did not generally run on Brighton or SE section lines, although photographic evidence exists of them running along the south coast to Brighton.
Withdrawal of these sets was completed during 1956/7 Brake Third number LSWR 1520 SR 2975 (ex Set 63 / 146) survives on the Bluebell Railway and Composite number 5065 (ex Set 134) survives on the Kent and East Sussex Railway awaiting restoration.
As was standard LSWR practice not all the coaches had full electrical equipment, i.e. dynamo and battery boxes the others being through wired.
The Rapido Trains UK ‘OO’ gauge GWR V6 ‘Iron Mink’ covered vans have arrived, it might seem unusual for such a wagon to mentioned here you might be thinking… there is a reason, read on…
The SR ‘Cone’ Improvised Gunpowder Van converted from GWR V6 ‘Iron Mink’.
The GWR covered vans of all metal construction, therefore known as ‘Iron Minks’, appeared between 1888 and 1901 (after which their covered vans construction reverted to being built with wooden bodies) were built on 16’6″ underframes with a 9′ wheelbase and had a capacity of 8 tons, with over 4000 being built.
Due to the Governments re-armament programme, the fact the Southern Railway had not built any Gunpowder vans and only had 38 were in service (such as ex LSWR Diagram 1701) , a further 100 were apparently required from late 1937. It was decided to exchange 100 covered vans for GWR ‘Iron Minks’ and convert them as Improvised Gunpowder vans, they were to be returned at the end of the armament period or potentially the end of the war.
Crisp livery application and lettering.
It does not appear to be documented exactly how many actually came to the Southern or for how long they stayed, but they were lettered SR with temporary SR numbers in the range 59001-100 and carried the SR code name ‘Cone’.
They were never allocated any SR Diagram number, and do not appear to to have been included within the SR Wagon registers, although they are very similar to the aforementioned LSWR Diagram 1701 Gunpowder vans, except the LSWR vans had lifting link brake gear rather than the two independent sets of brakes on the GWR Iron Minks.
Well detailed underframe.
As is now standard on the Rapido Trains UK they feature good underframe detail that includes nicely moulded beams, planking and central coupling rods/spring details and brake gear nicely in line with the wheels. Standard NEM slim line tension lock couplings are provided (on removable mounts for those that want to use 3 links) although they do protrude out past the end the buffers a little more than I personally prefer.
The brake handle correctly passes through the see through ratchet, rather than just being a solid moulding, a welcome development that is now starting to be seen on some of the more detailed new RTR wagons.
Another 3/4 view.
They also feature correct 8 spoked wheels on 26mm pin point axles that run in brass bearing cups, that, despite being slightly lighter than I would prefer at 32g, run very freely.
The black livery application is crisp and well printed with the red cross and red and white lettering and has an overall pleasing satin finish. The roof is mid grey which I prefer, although it is suggested that they might haver originally been white.
It would be remiss of me not to mark the fact that today is 100 years since the Grouping and the formation of the Southern Railway, it also of course marks the demise of its constituent companies. This post attempts to provide a simplified potted history of the Grouping and the Southern Railway.
The Southern Railway coat of arms incorporated heraldic elements from the main constituent companies.
Although the actual Grouping occurred on 1st January 1923, it’s instigation can be traced back to the First World War where all railways were under state control until 1921. The Railways Act 1921, followed discussions at the time on potential nationalisation, had the aim of stemming the losses being occurred at the time by many of the 120 or so railway companies.
The form of Grouping originally proposed in 1920, by former North Eastern Railway executive, the Minister of Transport, Eric Geddes, was for five English and one Scottish regional companies, by 1921 this was amended to four English and two Scottish companies before the Scottish routes were incorporated in the companies that we know as the ‘Big Four’. Royal Assent for the Railways Act was in August 1921.
The first SR passenger livery was a continuation of the LSWR style in Olive Green with expanded Clarendon ‘Egyptian’ style ‘Southern’ font as seen on ex LSWR Adams A12 0-4-2. From 1937 the Bulleid malachite green and ‘Sunshine’ lettering as seen on the ex LSWR M7 in the background was introduced.
Also incorporated were the three Isle of Wight railway companies and the Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway (Bere Alston and Callington section).
Some non-working or joint companies that had been previously leased or worked by the main constituent companies, including for example (not an exhaustive list): the North Cornwall Railway, Sidmouth Railway, Lee-on-the-Solent Railway, Hayling Railway, Cranbrook and Paddock Wood Railway, London and Greenwich Railway, Croydon & Oxted Joint Railway and Dover & Deal Railway, were also included, as was the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway although not covered by the Railways Act 1921, it had been absorbed by the LSWR.
The Southern Railway also was to share or jointly operate a number of lines including: the East London Railway, West London Extension Railway, Weymouth & Portland Railway and of course the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway.
The Southern Railway Network
The total route mileage owned whole by the Southern Railway at Grouping was 2,186 miles, with the main constituents not surprising forming the majority with 1,020 miles ex LSWR, 457 miles ex LBSC and 637 ½ ex SECR. The SR was operated essentially as three Districts: Western, Central and Eastern based approximately on the previous main constituents.
There were two Chief Mechanical Engineers; Richard Maunsell, ex SECR, between 1923 and 1937 and Oliver Vaughan Snell Bulleid, ex GN / LNER, from 1937 to 1948.
And just because you can never have enough Bulleid pacifics or Southern malachite green…
Although originally three general managers were appointed from each of the main constituents, with a year Sir Herbert Walker became the single General Manager and the development of the SR was built upon many of his ex LSWR practices. Following his retirement in 1937 he was succeeded as general manager by his long-time assistant Gilbert Szlumper. In 1939, Szlumper left the Southern Railway for war service and Sir Eustace Missenden took over.
The Southern Railway officially lasted, of course until Nationalisation in 1948, although in reality, just as during the First World War, the Railways due to the outbreak of The Second World War were taken once again under Government control via The Railway Executive on 1st September 1939 and would remain so until the 1st January 1948 becoming the Southern Region of British Railways.
With the passing of the Transport Act 1947 that nationalised the Railways, Missenden became the first Chairman of the Railway Executive and John Elliot became acting General Manager of the SR and would later become Chief Regional Officer of the Southern Region of British Railways.
I hope this brief simplified history of the Southern Railway has been of interest, and appropriate to mark the 100 years since its formation. I thought it was about time that it was included on my corner of the blogsphere!
If you so wish, wear your poppy with pride today, pause respectfully for two minutes at 11 am this Armistice Day and again this Remembrance Sunday remembering all those, both service and civilian personnel whom have given their lives for the freedom that we all enjoy today, and should you feel so inclined, support the sterling work of the Royal British Legion.
This post is written to not only commemorate the fallen service personal from any conflict, but it is also, as in previous years, dedicated to all Railway companies across the country and indeed the world that lost many staff; not only those drafted into the military services, but also those lost whom continued their duties on the railways keeping the networks up and running, we should honour and remember them all.
When You Go Home,
Tell Them Of Us And Say, For Their Tomorrow,
We Gave Our Today
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.
Locomotive 333 was built originally by the London Brighton and South Coast Railway, designed by Billinton, as an L class 4-6-4 ‘Baltic’ tank. She was given the name Remembrance and became the companies War Memorial engine and carried a plaque with the inscription:
“In grateful remembrance of the 532 men of the L.B.& S.C.Rly. who gave their lives for their country, 1914-1919″
In 1934, under the auspices of Maunsell they were rebuilt as Class N15x (an appropriate Brighton-style suffix) 4-6-0s, and fitted with standard Urie LSWR tenders along with smoke deflectors. Now number 2333 ‘Remembrance’ retained its name, plaque and status within the Southern Railway.
Inscribed on James Scott’s Victory Arch, at Waterloo station: “Dedicated to the employees of the Company who fell in the war.”and the names of those London and South Western employees who gave their life are honoured within the arch.
And just to end this post, as written by Paul Hunter – the poppy is more than a one time of a year symbol:,
I am not a badge of honour, I am not a racist smear, I am not a fashion statement, to be worn but once a year, I am not glorification of conflict or of war. I am not a paper ornament a token, I am more.
I am a loving memory, Of a father or a son, a permanent reminder of each and every one. I’m paper or enamel, I’m old or shining new, I’m a way of saying thank you, To every one of you.
I am a simple poppy, a reminder to you all, That courage faith and honour,
will stand where heroes of all kinds fall.
As part of their quarterly British Railway Announcements for Winter 2022 Bachmann have announced the ex London South Western Railway (LSWR) / Southern railway 56ft non corridor cross country sets in 00 gauge.
EFE E86013 3 coach set 253 in SR Malachite (Picture Courtesy and copyright KMRC)
There were 36 sets formed wholly of 56ft vehicles and these sets were generically called ‘Cross County sets’. They were constructed between 1906 and 1910 being built originally as 4 coach sets. These sets comprised of the following:
Brake Thirds, four compartment to LSWR Drawing 1446, SR diagram 124, 2 per set
Composite (1st / 3rd class), seven compartment, to LSWR Drawing 1298, SR Diagram 274
Third LSWR Drawing 1302, SR Diagram 17, 8 compartment, (The all Thirds were originally introduced as 2nd / 3rd Composites but rebranded to all Thirds with no structural change by the end of 1919)
The set numbers were in the ranges 130-151, 253-263 and 311-314 (sets 311-314 were originally introduced as 6 coach sets but became four coach formations in 1934 (and subsequently 3 coach sets). All sets were reduced to three coaches in the mid to late 1930s by the removal of the 8 compartment Third Diagram 17 coaches which became loose stock. At the same time the number of first class compartments in the Composite, Diagram 274 was reduced from 5 to 3 (not a physical alteration just reclassification and change in class banding on the outside of the compartments)
EFE E86013 3 coach set 130 in BR Crimson (Picture Courtesy and copyright KMRC)
Despite the longevity of these sets, apart from the reduction from 4 to 3 coaches and the reclassification of some of the composite compartments there was no real physical changes to any of the coaches.
In terms of use, they were seen all over the SW section of the Southern and their duties were pretty well interchangeable with any other 3/4 set. They did not generally run on Brighton or SE section lines, although photographic evidence exists of them running along the south coast to Brighton.
Withdrawal of these sets was completed during 1956/7 Brake Third number LSWR 1520 SR 2975 (ex set 63 / 146) survives and is operational service on the Bluebell Railway http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/pics/1520.html and Composite number 5065 (ex set 134) survives on the Kent and East Sussex Railway awaiting restoration.
As was standard LSWR practice not all the coaches had full electrical equipment, i.e dynamo and battery boxes the others being through wired.
EFE E86015 coach set 314 in BR Green showing box set (Picture Courtesy and copyright KMRC)
The initial EFE Rail Releases, build on the success of the EFE Rail Gate stock (and utilising some shared tooling), in three coach book box sets are as follows
E86013 ex LSWR Cross Country Set – 3 coach set 253 – SR Malachite SR Malachite
E86014 Ex LSWR/SR Cross Country Set – 3 Coach set 130 – BR Crimson BR Unlined Crimson
E86015 Ex LSWR/SR Cross Country Set – 3 Coach set 314 – BR Green BR(s) Green
These coach sets are currently on the high seas and should be with retailers such as Kernow Model Rail Centre in the next few weeks.
The Engineering prototypes of the Accurascale SR Banana vans
The banana traffic through Southampton docks in the early 1930s had grown rapidly and whilst the SR had the 99 LSWR built banana vans these were not enough and resulted in the SR hiring suitable vans from the North Eastern Railway that also included some ex Great Central and Great Eastern Vehicles (see my post about the GER versions here).
Between August 1935 and February 1936 the therefore SR introduced 200 banana vans to Diagram 1478, numbered 50575-774. These were similar to the previous insulated vans (Diagram 1477), with the Southern ‘Power Brake’ arrangement with eight brake blocks, but had horizontal planking and fitted with steam heating to aid the ripening of the bananas.
D1478 (early version)
In December 1937, after the LNER had requested the return of all its vans that were on hire, a further 125 banana vans were ordered, To enable them to enter service quicker ordinary covered vans in construction were instead built as banana vans to Diagram 1479, numbered 50775-899. These had the same bodyside strapping and roof profile as the ordinary vans to give them a different visual look than the earlier D1478 vans.
The original SR livery of these vans was like the insulated vans of SR Stone body colour with red lettering
The Diagram 1479 (early version)
A slight difference in that the D1478 vehicles carried large SR lettering until 1936, before the SR switched to small lettered branding, which is how the D1479 vehicles entered traffic.
During the war some gained a red oxide livery, and in BR days were bauxite with a yellow spot indicating the van had additional insulation fitted. Most vans were taken out of traffic by 1958, those vans that remained in service found use in BR Departmental service, mainly being used as Fitted Heads and classified as Tadpole. Additional plating was also added to the top of the ends in later life.
The underside of the chassis
Accurascale have announced that their D1478 and D1479 models will feature details variations for both early and later (additional end plating etc.) versions of each van , a die cast chassis, brass bearings, three types of wheel (split spoke solid spoke and 3 hole disc), separate hand rails, grab handles, door handles, lamp brackets, vacuum and steam pipes, through pipes steam heating cock and full SR ‘Power brake’ gear along with turned metal sprung buffers.
ACC2045 D1478 Original SR Livery Pre-1936 triple pack-1
ACC2046 D1478 Original SR Livery Pre-1936 triple pack-2
ACC2047 D1478 SR Livery 1936 to March 1941 triple-pack
ACC2048 D1478 British Railways 1948-1961 triple-pack
ACC2049 D1478 British Railways 1961 onwards triple-pack
ACC2050 D1479 SR Livery 1936 to March 1941 triple-pack-1
ACC2051 D1479 SR Livery 1936 to March 1941 triple-pack-2
ACC2052 Mixed D1478/D1479 Transitional British Railways 1948-1950 triple pack
ACC2053 D1479 British Railways 1948-1961triple-pack
ACC2054 D1479British Railways 1961 onwards triple-pack
ACC2055 Tadpole mixed ex D1478-D1479 British Railways departmental triple-pack
ACC2056 Tadpole ex D1479 British Railways departmental triple-pack
A group shot showing the end differences.
Delivery is slated for Q4 2023, with decorated samples due in Spring of 2023.
These are often asked for prototypes, a good choice by Accurascale especially as they often ran in multiples at the head of Southampton goods trains, and will certainly be welcome on any SR/BRs South Western based model railway.
Some along with my older kit built versions will definitely be making an appearance on Canute Road Quay.
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The model railway world and mainly Southern Railway meanderings of Graham 'Muz' Muspratt
