Interest for Railway Enthusiasts


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Don't say that, it isn't true, it related to the morals of the time, whatever they were supposed to be, left overs from another age I suspect. Compared to some of the teenage filth that I get in the b

My Dad was a railway signalman, at Nottingham Victoria and later when the station closed, on the Nottingham to Boston line, he kept a note of all the trains that passed and drivers if he knew them in

See, a little bit of humour never does any harm. Well played all !

You'd better join them benjamin if you've been to work in that dress again.

Oh sorry, that's not your working attire is it? Sorry, honestly.

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Face the wall and be quiet, you've not been forgiven yet. Tee Hee Hee!

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My new house sign is about to be shipped from the manufacturer. A full size enamelled steel totem:

DSCF0315.jpg

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Loads of pople say that. I have used the nice and warm old LMS colours rather than the cold Scottish blue, throughout the scheme. LMS is valid for this line.

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But Compo - shouldn't Watten be on a blue Scottish Region background?

I once had a "Pye Hill & Somercotes" totem, but it walked many years ago. All I have left is "Gentlemen" and "Way Out ->".

For sale perchance?

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At one time I believe there were five stations in the immediate Bulwell area.

Basford & Bulwell and Bulwell Market. (Ex Midland Rly).

Bulwell Common and Bulwell Hall Halt (Ex Great Central Rly).

And latterly Bulwell Forest (Great Northern Rly).

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Basford & Bulwell became Basford North which would have had dark blue totem signs and later possibly red ones.

Bulwell Common the same

Bulwell Market was originally just Bulwell and would have had red signs.

Bulwell Hall Halt & Bulwell Forest were both closed to passengers when nationalisation took place, 1948.

Each Region of BR had their own colour:- Midland -red, Eastern-dark blue, Western-brown, Southern-green, Scottish-light blue, and North Eastern-orange. They are worth over £1000 each at railwayana auctions.

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Re #33 and #35. What am I thinking of? The totem I had (that walked) was NOT Pye Hill & Somercotes (which would have been blue). It was Codnor Park & Ironville (red).

Compo, as for the "Gentlemen" and "Way Out ->" signs, I might be willing to part with them. PM me if you like and make me an offer. But be warned, they are big brutes, double sided, LMR red, reasonable condition, although the hanging eyes are rusty.

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Stephen, wasn't Pye Hill and Somercotes the elevated station, you got me worried, we tried to remove one of the totems that was hanging from the station canopy in the 60's. I sat on my mates shoulders and managed to get through one of the bolts with a hacksaw, the other refused to budge, we had to abandon the task and the sign was left hanging, I thought you may have turned up later and finished the job.

Bilbraborn, enamel station signs on abandoned stations were a rarity, I would have had a garage full otherwise, as soon as a station was closed, the totems were removed. Pye Hill was a one off, it was the only place we ever found with the signs intact and in place except they were hanging down from the canopy and hard to get to, maybe why they were still there. I can remember Awsworth having it's totems attached to the gas lamp posts, except they had been used for target practice with bricks and were so battered and bent as to be not worth 'rescuing'. Don't forget we always carried suitable removal equipment in our bike saddlebags, this equipment was mainly used for the removal of bridge plates as there were plenty of those about. When we went up the entire route of the Pinxton branch, there were plenty of bridge numbers, crossing gate numbers and much paperwork, including posters, scattered around the stations, but all the signs had gone apart from in the signal boxes.

Incidentally, you may be interested in these photos that I found a few weeks ago, I've managed to get Photobucket working on this crappy computer so I can upload them at last.

This pictures were wrongly captioned Trowell Moor Colliery sidings. In fact this is the Wollaton Brickworks level crossing, taken in 1952 looking towards Nottingham. The still surviving 'Black Path' bridge that we used to meet up on is in the background, the signal is the distant operated from Wollaton Colliery Box. To the left of the track is the old clay pit we used to call 'Jacko's Oller', to the right of the signal is the orchard that surrounded Jacksons house, the open drift mine was somewhere behind the signal terminating just short of the railway cutting. The steel handrails were the parapet for what we refered to as 'Tin Bridge', it was a short steel bridge that made a hell of a noise when the trains went over it, I suspect it was used as a permanent access from the clay pit to the brickworks, possibly with a narrow gauge track to take tubs of clay.

Note the cast iron 'Beware of Trains' signs, how these didn't end up in my garage I'll never know, I seem to remember they were bolted into tarred posts, the bolts rusted and fused together, I think my brother had a go at them, then one day the gates and timber roadway were removed by BR and the signs had gone.

brkyd1.jpg

I think this picture was taken by Coventry Lane bridge, looking in the same direction. You can see the steel bridge over the canal and Moor Farm Lane bridge in the background. The ultimate dare was to climb into the centre section of the bridge and experience a train coming past, it was deafening. I doubt whether this scene has changed very much, presumably the telegraph poles have gone, or have they, note the gradient summit just past the canal bridge.

brkyd2.jpg

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When I worked at Nottingham sidings, many of the train drivers would complain about the kids sitting on that central girder. The kids knew that if they kept still the trains wouldn't touch them, but it played hell with the poor driver's nerves.

That elevated station once called Jacksdale has long gone. All that is left is the old parcels office and the station house. There are a few bits of embankment left. My wife and I often park up in the Wharf car park and have a little walk along to canal to Ironville and back. Then we look around the charity shop that used to be the old Co-op, then have a cuppa in the community centre café. She gets fed up with me telling her the story of that stubborn station sign. (she wouldn't get fed up with the money you could get for one).

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Further to my last post. There is precious little of the ex GNR Pinxton Line left. Even the station at Pinxton Wharf is devoid of everything bar the cottages. And passenger trains were still using this line in the first 12 years of my life. An interesting goods branch on that line was the Barber - Walker system which linked their collieries at Underwood, Brinsley, Watnall and others. A branch came off both the GNR Pinxton Line and the MR Erewash Valley Line both near Eastwood and linking together at Beggarlee Junction. There was also a wharf on the Cromford Canal. Alas hardly any sign of this line now.

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Strange to read someone's description of the area I have lived in for the past forty odd years. If you had gone across the kids playground from the community centre carpark and then down through the nature reserve toward stoneyford one of the things you pass is an old railway bridge or at least the two sides of one, I have often wondered weather the line would have been one that went into the old butterley wagon works or not. I know the whole area was once covered in railways and canals but very little of it now remains. The station I was told is the one featured in the film "The One That Got Away" don't know how true this is though.

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The station I was told is the one featured in the film "The One That Got Away" don't know how true this is though.

According to the book 'Horton's Guide to Britain's Railways in Feature Films' by Glyn Horton, published in 2009, the scene in the film 'The One That Got Away' - 'where Hardy Kruger, attempting an escape, converses with staff at a railway station' was filmed at Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire.

I don't know whether that's accurate or not. I haven't seen the film or read the book for years.

According to the Wikipedia entry on Franz von Werra (the German escapee featured in the film) the actual station in real life was Codnor Park.

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I've never read the book but the Wikipedia entry would be correct, the actual station was meant to be Codnor Park (or Codnor Park and Ironville)

Strange because the nearest station to Swanwick Hayes was Butterley, less than a mile away but perhaps he knew there weren't many trains on that line!

Codnor Park would have been about three miles away.

In the film, the station was very clearly not Codnor Park, I heard it was somewhere on the Southern but it may well have been Gerrards Cross.

Always enjoy seeing the film because I was born and grew up in Swanwick!

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It was filmed at Gerrard's Cross, not Codnor Park, the airfield used was RAF Northolt, not Hucknall. The film was made in 1957 and nearly 60 years on I saw that same Hurricane you saw Von Werra climb into still flying yesterday with the BBMF.

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