Departmental Rolling Stock

In addition to the Royal Train and Northern Belle, we also have a rake of Departmental rolling stock that has recently been acquired.

Here we see each item being hauled by another recent addition to the loco fleet, namely another Hornby Class 50 50040 'Leviathan', Catalogue Nº R3653, which has been fitted with a DigiTrains sound decoder and megabass speaker - and she sounds awesome.

The real 50040 was named 'Leviathan' in September 1978 but was renamed 'Centurion' in July 1987 following the withdrawal of the original 'Centurion' (50011) in February of that year.

As it happens we also have 50011 'Centurion' in our fleet, also in large logo livery, and it is nice to have the two locos running together again, at least in model form, for the first time since 1987.

The first coach behind the loco is this Laboratory 23 BG Full Brake that, like the Northern Belle BG, is only available through the Bachmann Collector's Club and is a limited edition of only 504 pieces.

The Running Nº is RDB 975547 and the Catalogue Nº is 39-176K.

Next we have a Hornby Laboratory 10, which is an ex-Mk1 BSO. 

The running number of this coach is RDB 975428 and the Catalogue Nº is R40009.

The penultimate vehicle in this Departmental rake is another Hornby ex-Mk1 BSO, in the guise of a Landore Breakdown Unit.

Her running number is ADB 975082 and the Catalogue Nº is R40010.

And, so, bringing up the rear in this colourful consist is this Hornby BR R&D Division, ex-LMS CCT Research Laboratory.

The Running Nº is RDB 975667 and the Catalogue Nº is R60005.

These last three items are all in the current Hornby catalogue.

Now all we need is a similarly liveried locomotive to haul this train!

Royal Train

Another Special Train that sees occasional use on the railway is this Royal Train, by appointment to Her Majesty!

The train consists of six Hornby carriages and a Hornby locomotive, all resplendant in the Royal Purple livery.

The locomotive is this splendid Hornby Class 67, 67006 'Royal Sovereign', Catalogue Nº R3272. She is fitted with Hornby TTS sound decoder and she is very heavy, making light work of the six-coach load.

Behind the loco is the first of two Hornby Royal Household Couchette, kitchen & brake van.

This, like the second one in our train, is numbered 2921.

Next comes the Duke of Edinburgh's lounge, bedroom and bathroom, Nº 2904.

This, in turn, is succeeded by the Queen's lounge, bedroom and bathroom, Nº 2903.

 

Her Majesty must eat while she is on her travels so, next, we have this Royal Household dining car with kitchen, 2917.

If it is a particularly long journey, she might also need to spend the night on the train, hence the inclusion of the Royal Household sleeping car, Nº 10734.

Although, the real 10734 (ex-Nº 2915) was actually sold to Cotswold Rail in 2001 and was later to become a sleeping car as part of the Northern Belle.

Finally we have the second Royal Household Couchette, diesel generator & brake van.

Unfortunately this, like the first Couchette, is numbered 2921 but would be easy to renumber 2920.

This, then, concludes our Royal Train.

Although, not quite, because we do have a steam locomotive that can be assigned to Royal Duties, should her Majesty so desire!

Indeed, she has previously been featured on this blog but she is such a handsome loco that she is worth a second look.

The loco in question is BR Class 8P7F 4-6-2 70000 'Britannia', complete with white cab roof, indicating that she is in charge of Her Majesty's special train!

Northern Belle-issima

I have recently managed to make up a model version of the Northern Belle luxury Pullman train formed of a Bachmann Class 57, a Bachmann Full Brake, three Hornby Northern Belle Pullman Cars and a Hornby Northern Belle Sleeping Car.

First up is, of course, the locomotive, which is a Bachmann Class 57/3, 57312 'Solway Princess', Catalogue Nº 32-764A. 

She has not yet been fitted with a sound decoder but this should happen in the next week or so.

Immediately behind the loco is this Bachmann BR Mk1 BG Full Brake. 

This is only available via the Bachmann Collector's Club website but it is a really handsome coach and it complements the loco very well.

The Running Nº is 92904 and the Catalogue Nº is 39-175K.

Next up is the first of two Hornby First Open Mk2D FO Dining Cars. 

This one is named 'Glamis.'.

She is followed by 'Warwick'.

These two coaches, I believe, were originally part of a 3-coach pack, which also included a Mk2E FO Dining Car, named 'Harlech'.

Then there is this Mk2D BFK, Service Car Nº 17167.

This, I believe, was part of the R3134 Northern Belle Train Pack and has since been named 'Mow Cop', after Mow Cop Castle in Cheshire.

Bringing up the rear we have this Mk3A SLE Staff Sleeping Car.

This is by Hornby and is Car Nº 10729 'Crewe', Catalogue Nº R4285. 

This particular coach was only available for a couple of years (2006 - 2007) and is extremely difficult to find nowadays.

High time, then, for either Hornby or Bachmann to produce a newer version, since the full size Northern Belle always has two of these cars at the rear.

The real train also has some Mk1 Kitchen Cars/Baggage Cars but these seem never to have been produced in model form.

The S&D at Bason Bridge & Edington

After visiting Burnham on Sea to discover what remnants there were of the S&D there, we retraced the course of the branch line; first to Highbridge, which became the terminus of the line following the closure of the Burnham extension. 

However, there was no sign of the former station here, which boasted five platform faces. The entire site was covered in a new housing estate with the only nod to its railway past being the naming of two roads: Somerset Way and Dorset Close.

The site of the former Highbridge Works is now a large industrial complex thus obliterating any signs of the railway at this location.

Moving on to Basin Bridge - and suspecting that, here too, nothing would remain - we were pleasantly surprised to see that the single platform still survives.

As you can see from the above photos, the platform is somewhat dilapidated and covered in vegetation and could not be accessed without getting pricked, sticked or stung.

Unsurprisingly, there was no sign of the former station buildings although the Station Master's House is still there with current work on extending it subject to a Stop Order, if the notices on the fencing were anything to go by.

On the other side of the road, behind the photographer in the photo above, we have the site of the former United Dairies milk factory.

Following closure of the branch in 1966, the factory continued to be served by rail, via a spur from the GWR main line at Highbridge. This, however, stopped in October 1972 when progress in the construction of the M5 motorway closed the spur.

The factory itself closed in 1987 but is still in use today for industrial purposes.

In the two photos above, the branch line was squeezed between the River Brue and the factory with sidings serving the former milk depot.

The next station on the line, heading towards Evercreech Junction, was Edington. This station had three different names over the years. 

It began life as Edington Road, a nod to the fact that the village of Edington, which it supposedly served, was about a mile away!

Its name changed in 1890 to Edington Junction, when the 7-mile branch line to Bridgwater was opened.

It changed its name for the third and final time to Edington Burtle in June 1953 following the closure of the Bridgwater branch, which closed to passengers in December 1952 and to goods in October 1954. Burtle being the name of the tiny village in which the station was actually located.

Curiously, a signpost in Edington, which originally pointed to Edington Station and to Burtle, still exists,, although the word Station has been painted over in white!

Clearly they must be proud of their railway heritage here because, in Burtle, there is still a sign, albeit a bit wonky, proclaiming Station Road.

Sadly, though,the new owners of the adjacent pub, which was previously known as 'The Tom Mogg Inn' in honour of the former station master, have refurbished it and renamed it 'The Duck'. 

Having sampled a pint here, I can affirm that it is a very nice pub, too, however I much prefer its previous name. "Let's go to the Duck for a pint" just does not have the same ring to it somehow.

As for the station itself, the site of which was but a few yards from the pub, again very little seems to remain except for the former Station House, which is in private ownership now and which has been extended and modernized.

The old line would have crossed from left to right here, in front of the fence, and over the road to the right, via a level crossing, towards Shapwick, following the course of the old Glastonbury Canal, now known as the South Drain.