DETAILS OF THE PLATFORM SIDE OF E&W SMALL STATIONS

[Si Donal]

Hi everyone,

Not been online for a while, been modelling but more importantly for this forum, preparing some drawings of the small SMJ (ex E&W) Station buildings at Byfield, Morton Pinkney and Blakesley. These have been scaled form photos in the Jan, Feb and March editions of Railway Bylines magazine.

There does seem to be a lack of photos of the platform side of these buildings. I am particuarly keen to find out what was under the small platform canopies at these three almost identical stations. I would be interested to see a view of the platform face of these stations and also the non-toilet end of the buildings.

There was no door on the road side of these stations so the entry doors must be on the platform sides but was there also a window? Did passengers have to walk onto the platform to enter the building?

I have a scanner and would be happy to upload my (albeit amateurish) scale drawings if there was interest.

I hope someone can help.

Kind regards to you all

Simon

[Si Donal]

Thanks Tony,

There's no need but thanks you for the offer. I have re-read the article in the July 1968 Railway Modeller, where the drawings in the March edition were turned into a model building. A chap called Bill Ibbot provided notes and photographs for the lady that made the model. Although Black and White, the pictures show faded LMS cream on the bargeboards. .

Tony Newman said:

Si, I don't think I have what you are actually asking for, but I may be able to make a blurry contribution to your accumulation of pics.
Tony
[e-mail]

[Gary]

Hi Si,
I'd like a copy of the RM drawings please if possible.
I'd also like to see pictures of your modelling to date. I am working in 4mm myself although not any specific station at the moment.

I have had my first go at making a cardboard scratchbuilt building - Towcester Goods Shed. Spent a while looking at the photos & counting the brick courses - Not quite finished but I was happy with it at the time.
A couple of really cruel close ups.

I had made a very crude start at Towcester complete layout in 2mm a while back but a couple of moves, lack of real space and my unhappiness with it meant it was scrapped - it was some 16ft at a guess and no fiddle yards or anything!
ATVB
G

Si Donal said:

Sorry I've not been on the site for a while, my Christmas Leave has given me motivation to do alot of railway modelling so I've been busy elsewhere.

I just want to say thank you to Barry, John and Robin for their help. I have started the model of Blakesley/Morton Pinkney station. I have built it in 4mm/1 foot scale instead of 2mm scale so I can do it some justice. I have lots of experience in scratchbuilding but these tiny stations are quite complex to construct. Architecturally there are some oddities. The toilet extension has a very odd wall in the middle of it, that is taller than it needs to be, possibly to support the water headerntank over the Gents. This tank is missing from the building at Byfield so I assume it was either rebuilt or the header tank was elsewhere. The wall that supports the canopy on the right hand side is also much taller and longer than necesary. You can tell the instigators of the E&W had high hopes for it's success, The plain brickwork is embellished at the window frames and the chimney.

Now my questions is......

I know that Towcester station was painted in the BR Maroon and Cream style because there are pics on this site but was the rest of the line so treated? Photos show Blakesley and Byfield with light coloured bargeboards in the fifties which suggest that they were still in LMS brown and cream. There were also no totem signs on the line, LMS Hawkeye signs being in evidence in all the photos I have seen. Any thoughts or memories?

I am happy to scan in the Railway Modeller drawings for anyone who wants a copy for their own use and am happy to take pics of my model if it might be of interest.

[Dick Bodily]

Si

Fairly certain that Blakesley station was never repainted maroon in BR days, Seem to remember the doors were a drab nondescript colour, brownish or greenish and the barge boarding, windows and the signalbox were a creamy colour. The only brightly painted things I remember were the red fire buckets that hung outside the toilets. Cecil Smart the station master kept the station very neat and tidy and the flowerbeds were a labour of love. He also had a smallholding and had a deal with a big house in the village, he provided their vegetable gardens with all the manure that they needed and in return he was supplied with quality bedding plants for the station! Cecil may well have repainted the woodwork himself so proud was he of 'his' station. I'm pretty sure I would have remembered if LMR maroon had been used, as the village school's doors, etc. were painted with red paint in the 50s and everyone in the village was up in arms about using such a bright colour that didn't fit in with the sombre tones of everyone's front doors in those days ' makes it look like a bloody fire station', etc. were the comments. Signboards and gates were still labelled LMS right up to the end Platform fencing was Midland Railway style lattice and affixed there were two fabulous lamps like those on old fashioned streetlamps at just about head height. One was by the the gate from Blakesley village onto the up platform, the other next to the passenger board crossing on the down platform. They had a faded yellowish coloured rectagular panel with 'BLAKESLEY' in black capital letters at the top of the lamp glass.

I doubt if Morton Pinkney station got as much attention as it closed completely even for goods much earlier it was certainly derelict by the late 50s, Blakesley was handling coal and general goods and Cecil tidying up right up to the very end.

I'm going to see an old railworker who worked as signalman at Blakesley as soon as the snow clears, I'll ask him what he remembers about the colour scheme. Mind you, I finished full time work just two years ago but if anyone asked me what colour the door was at my workplace I would not be able to tell you!

Best of luck with your project

Dick

[Dick Bodily]

Si

The entrance to the booking hall at Blakesley was under a sloping canopy style roof on the main down platform. If standing under this entrance canopy roof looking straight ahead to the booking hall door with its two windows to the left of it, the stationmaster's office was entered by a door to your left. His office had three windows facing the platform and a small one on the end wall facing the signalbox. The gents had a window to the left of the fire buckets rack. Around the back were 4 or 5 windows but no door and a wooden weighbridge hut, which I think was olive green in colour. The weighbridge was in regular use almost up to the end, Ted Botterill one of the coal merchants used to specialise in bulk deliveries ie. multiples of half tons and used to check his total load this way in addition to weighing individual bags on a scales. There was a 'tin hut' near to where the miniature railway platform had been but I don't know what it was used for.

(There's diagrams of the station on Page 85 of March 1968 Railway Modeller which I think you have got, let me know if you haven't.)

The majority of passengers using the station would have accessed the main station building via the up platform gate from the driveway leading from Blakesley High Street, over the board crossing onto the down platform. There were pathways around to the rear of the building. So if you wanted to go to Towcester you had to cross the railway twice first in order to buy your ticket. The double gates protecting the goods entrance driveway from the Woodend direction were usually kept shut blocking the way to pedestrians to discourage the night time theft of coal. The village policeman used to put in regular appearances to discourage such goings on and as a result three different coal merchants had storage wharfs there.

Dick

[Dick Bodily]

Robin

Is it possible for you to add the pix and diagrams which you have attached to your comments to Si, particularly of Ettington (of which we have little) into the 'Pictures' section of this website?

Dick

[Robin Cullup]

Dick said:

Robin

Is it possible for you to add the pix and diagrams which you have attached to your comments to Si, particularly of Ettington (of which we have little) into the 'Pictures' section of this website?

Dick

[Robin Cullup]

First of all, I've just been informed that there is a photo of Byfield on ebay - ref 280449584802 - nice shot taken in 1958, have a look all of you.
I don't think I've put anything on about Ettington, and I only have the standard Roger Carpenter shots of Ettington which I'm sure you all have - sorry about this. These are attached herewith.

Robin

[Si Donal]

If I get some time at my drawing board, I'll be able to upload copyright free plans of the "standard" E&W stations and hopefully a few others.

[Andy Thompson]

Nice one Si - look forward to seeing them! Andy

[Si Donal]

Here's the model I made. Thanks to everyone for their advice and guidance. It's not quite complete (gutters etc). I'm not looking for any comments on my modelling but I'd really appreciate Dick's thoughts on the colours. I backdated the model to the 1930s so that's why the second chimney pot and valance on the canopy is there. They were not there in the 1950s.

[Dick Bodily]

Si

The model looks really great and I look forward to seeing a picture of the finished article.

I've added the two pix to the Blakesley album but unfortunately on the Home Page it now looks like I added them in the first place, Andy gave me limited editing rights so that I could tidy up the photo collection and create albums for each station and I try to add all new pix to existing albums and add the place name to photo headings if necessary to aid searches. I hope I'm not offending anyone by doing this. There was a similar problem when Andy set up this new website as when he tranfered all the pix from the old Towcester Railway History site it credited them all to him, which is just the way that this ning site works, a bloody nuisance but it can't really be helped.

I wasn't around in the 30s so can't help with the colours, I haven't been to see the retired signalman yet as his wife hasn't been well but he may be able to help when I finally get to see him.

One or two minor points that might help or hinder. In the 60s there was blue engineering brick pattern work on the corners of the building which would be very difficult to show on your model, have a look at Robin's black and white picture which is next to your two model pix in the 'Blakesley' Album I've put together. However this feature isn't noticable in earlier SMJ days pictures so perhaps this was a later modification.

There was a rack with 3 red fire buckets labelled FIRE in black capitals about one brick to the right of the right hand toilet window, the bottom of the rack roughly in line with bottom of the window itself. It was about half as long as the total length between the window and the corner of the building and was definitely there as early as SMJ days (Jordan Page 37) for a picture. Someone nicked the buckets just before the demolition.

The picture on Page 37 also shows that the brick screening wall for the gents entrance was already in place, so that will need to be added to your model. The very same picture in better resolution on the front of David Blagrove's 'Northamptonshire's Lost Railways' book shows a strange sign left of the gents entrance. I can't quite make it out with a magnifying glass but in seems to say 'Old House' followed by a number or date. Bizarre! If David is reading this and has an original print perhaps he might be able to help?

The notice boards, there was one on either side of the stationmaster's room's windows and on the platform wall of the toilets, were still labelled LMS up to the end in BR days, but I have seen a picture which was taken in SMJ days with the one on the platform facing toilet wall was labelled 'Midland'. (Jordan Page 94 ) Stationmaster Broomfield is standing next to it and there was also a Great Central board to the right of the waiting room wall. Whether these boards were reheaded or actually replaced in LMS times and when this happened I've no idea.

In LMS days a lamp hung from the corner of the gents toilet to illuminate the platform ramp near the foot crossing. this lasted at least until the end of passenger services, it can also be seen in the picture on Page 37. There were two on the up platform, the one next to the entrance gate lasting almost until the final demolition. I'd like to know who got their hands on that, I always fancied owning it but wasn't prepared to pinch but somebody did!

Dick

[Dick Bodily]

Si

I've spoken to the ex-signalman on the phone and he can't be sure but thinks the office doors were a dull brownish colour during his time ( WW2 & early 50s). He does remember the paintwork was quite faded and that the one part of the station that was kept freshly painted was the foot wide white platform edge as a H&S measure during the blackout.
So I should say the best compromise might be a nondescript weathered dull reddish brown.

Dick