19. Westbury area-09.09.78

THE ARCHIVE FILES > Archive-1978 > 19. Westbury area-09.09.78

A trip taken to Westbury with my friend Duncan Copeman. I am pretty sure that we used our bikes to get around Westbury but am not sure if we rode it from home or if we took the train from Bradford-on-Avon? Either way, I took a lot of shots of diesels under semaphores and also 'bagged' a visit in to Heywood Junction signal box.

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Images 1-22 of 22 displayed.

50013, unidentified up working, Heywood Road Junction
50103 'Agincourt' takes the Westbury cut-off as it approached Heywood Road Junction with an unidentified up working to Paddington. I am on the trackside here but am wearing a small orange hi-viz waist coat with permission from the signallman at Heywood Road box that is a short distance behind me.
Keywords: 50013 unidentified up working Heywood Road Junction

50044, 08.30 London Paddington-Paignton (1B34), Heywood Road Junction
The fact that 50044 'Exeter' has been taken slightly early and to one side enhances the interest contained in the image. It allows Westbury's iconic white horse to be seen clearly on the Salisbury Plain escarpment behind. It also allows the superb telegraph pole to be seen carrying the all important communication wires between the signal boxes. I am crouching in this spot at Heywood Road Junction with the permission with the signallman who had provided me with a hi-viz jacket for the occasion. As the two outer arms are lowered on the home bracket, the 08.30 Paddington to Paignton will not be stopping at Westbury but taking the avoiding line. I'll need to watch my back though as the up home is also pegged for a Paddington working. The left hand home arm at danger on the up bracket permits access to the now closed Westbury cement works sidings.
Keywords: 50044 08.30 London Paddington-Paignton 1B34 Heywood Road Junction

50017, 07.50 Paignton-London Paddington (1A07), Heywood Road Junction
Taken across the field from the elevated box at Heywood Road Junction just east of Westbury is 50107 'Royal Oak' working the 1A07 07.50 Paignton to Paddington. The arm lowered on the signal seen in the image indicates that the train has stopped at Westbury station rather than taking the cut-off route. Also note that the buffet/restaurant car is marshalled as the second coach of the formation. It was usual practice to find it here on an up Paignton working with it often being the first coach.
Keywords: 50017 07.50 Paignton-London Paddington 1A07 Heywood Road Junction

31123, 06.35 Plymouth-Old Oak Common empty vans, Heywood Road Junction
The 06.35 Plymouth to Old Oak Common empty newspaper van working was a regular working that was usually headed by a class 31. Here, 31123 has taken the Westbury relief line and is about to pass Heywood Road Junction past the signal box. I am standing in this position with the full permission of the signallman complete with hi-viz orange jacket.
Keywords: 31123 06.35 Plymouth-Old Oak Common empty vans Heywood Road Junction

47499, 09.30 London Paddington-Penzance, Heywood Road Junction from the signal box
Taken from the window of Heywood Road Junction signal box, 47499 leads the 1B44 09.30 Paddington to Penzance. The train is about to rattle over the point work as it takes the Westbury cut-off as it continues its journey westwards. The 400 foot high Westbury cement works chimney dominates this scene. In September 2016, this chimney, that was part of the scenery of Wiltshire for over forty years, was demolished following the closure of the works in 2009. The class 47 did not live quite that long, after becoming 47709, exactly a year after this picture was taken, it went on to be become one of the short-lived Pullman machines being named ‘Dionysos’ by Fragonset in 2001. Unfortunately, it became ‘surplus to requirements’ and was stored eventually being cut up at Eastleigh in September 2012.
Keywords: 47499 09.30 London Paddington-Penzance Heywood Road Junction from the signal box

47513, 06.15 Penzance-London Paddington, Heywood Road Junction, from signal box
Standing at an open window of Heywood Road Junction signal box sees 47513 heading east with the 1A15 06.15 Penzance to Paddington. It has not stopped at Westbury station being seen coming off the cut-off and opening up as it does. I had arranged this visit to the signal box with the support of a signalman who lived a couple of houses from our family, Mervin Holbrook. He was based at Bradford Junction box but also did shifts at all of Westbury’s boxes at various times. He could be seen heading up or down our road at odd hours his Honda C90 moped with his black open face helmet as he went off and on shift.
Keywords: 47513 06.15 Penzance-London Paddington Heywood Road Junction from signal box

47497, 09.48 London Paddington-Newquay (1B48), Heywood Road Junction
A lovely shot of 47497 hauling a uniform set of Mk. I stock past Heywood Road Junction signal box about to take the down fast cut-off line. As it’s a set of Mk. I stock it was probably going to be a relief or a train to Newquay. Indeed, this particular one was down in Heywood Road box’s train register as the 1B48 09.48 Paddington to Newquay. The signal box here is a GW Type 28B design built of timber probably because of its precarious position on an embankment. It was opened in 1933 at the same time as the cut-off and closed when the Westbury PSB was opened in April 1984.
Keywords: 47497 09.48 London Paddington-Newquay 1B48 Heywood Road Junction

47479, 10.30 London Paddington-Paignton (1B56), Westbury north
47479 brings the 1B56 10.30 Paddington to Paignton service in to Westbury station. It is about to pass under one of Westbury’s gantries, in this case the down gantry at the junction of the Berks. and Hants. line and the Avon Valley line from Bath. The rough ground to the right is where the Westbury PSB was built a short time after this image was taken and one, at the time or writing in 2018, that is looking as though it will close as Network Rail seek to concentrate their signalling arrangements further. I suppose that I will have to make the effort to get a picture of it before it closes; never ever did I think that this would be the case when I was taking these photographs back in 1978!
Keywords: 47479 10.30 London Paddington-Paignton 1B56 Westbury north

31131, 11.15 Bristol Temple Meads-Porstmouth Harbour (2O69), Westbury north
31131 approaches Westbury station with the 2O69 11.15 Bristol Temple Meads to Portsmouth Harbour working. I am standing on the overbridge just east of the station to take this picture looking through the down gantry that spans the lines. I was delighted to see this class 31 as it was a cop being an Eastern Region interloper from Immingham. It ended its days at Vic Berry’s infamous Leicester scrap yard during April 1990.
Keywords: 31131 11.15 Bristol Temple Meads-Porstmouth Harbour 2O69 Westbury north

47537, unidentified up working, Westbury north
A classic location at the eastern end of Westbury station that has been a firm favourite for many photographers over the years. Thankfully, it’s a cloudy day becuase if the sun had been out this shot would have been straight into it. It shows 47537 leaving the station leading an unidentified up working. 47537 is still on the network today (2018) as a maroon WCRC locomotive numbered 47772. Notice in the background, the massive number of locos. on-shed at Westbury Depot. It looks to be packed with class 37 and 47 locomotives that, as it was a Saturday, would be standing idle awaiting their next job.
Keywords: 47537 unidentified up working Westbury north

50038, 11.30 London Paddington-Penzance (1B66), The Cornish Riviera, Dilton Marsh ST856512
50038 ‘Formidable’ sweeps around a curve on the Westbury cut-off at speed with the 1B66 11.30 Paddington to Penzance, the down ‘Cornish Riviera’. The picture is taken from a footpath that crosses the line on a bridge that also carries the Portsmouth line up towards Dilton Marsh. In the background the famous Westbury White Horse can also be seen with a row of dead elm trees in the field in the foreground, victims of Dutch elm disease.
Keywords: 50038 11.30 London Paddington-Penzance 1B66 The Cornish Riviera, Dilton Marsh ST856512

50022, 11.15 Paignton-London Paddington (1A47), Westbury south
Duncan and I ventured as far into Westbury South yard as we dared to get this picture. I was keen to got some shots in this area as Westbury South signal box was due to close in a week’s time with the consequential removal of all the semaphores at this location. 50048 ‘Dauntless’ brings the 1A47 11.15 Paignton to Paddington around the steeply cambered and sharply curved section of track as it slows for its stop at Westbury station. This part of Westbury was rarely photographed due to it being fairly inaccessible except by two young spotters who got where they were not supposed to be!
Keywords: 50022 11.15 Paignton-London Paddington 1A47 Westbury south

47028, up hoppers, Westbury South yard
47028 has just descended Upton Scudamore bank with a ballast working from the Salisbury direction. It is entering Westbury at the South Yard. The bracket signal in the background is Westbury South’s home, that was only use for a further week as it and the box was being abolished as the first phase of Westbury’s MAS programme. 47028 was a Laira based locomotive at this time, in 1980 it became 47559 and then, in 1994, 47759. It was withdrawn in 2003 lingering on until being cut up by Ron Hull’s scrapyard at Rotherham in 2008.
Keywords: 47028 up hoppers Westbury South yard

31401, 13.00 Bristol Temple Meads-Portsmouth Harbour, Westbury South yard
31401 accelerates hard away from Westbury with the 13.00 Bristol Temple Meads to Portsmouth Harbour as it prepares to climb the four-mile long 1:70 Upton Scudamore bank. Duncan and I are standing in Westbury South Yard with the signal box in view; quite how we managed this I do not know! Perhaps the signalman had lost interest in chasing off some young spotters as the box had only a week left in use before abolition. This would render it redundant with it being pulled down soon afterwards and the sweeping away of all the superb semaphores at this location.
Keywords: 31401 13.00 Bristol Temple Meads-Portsmouth Harbour Westbury South yard

50049, 12.30 London Paddington-Paignton (1B76), Westbury South yard
50049 ‘Defiance’ passes the doomed semaphores and signal box at Westbury South with the 1B76 12.20 Paddington to Paignton working. When this picture was taken, the signalling infrastructure only had a week remaining in use being abolished the following weekend as the precursor of the Westbury MAS programme that was to wipe all the mechanical signalling away in April 1984. I like the composition of this picture with the tall home post to the left dominating the scene and the two shunting ground signals in the foreground. Notice the line of chairs left on the sleepers in the immediate foreground remaining from a former set of points. As a spotting schoolboy when this photograph was taken, I would never have considered that as a retired professional well over forty years later that I would still be photographing the same locomotive still in operation on the mainline, see..... https://www.ontheupfast.com/p/21936chg/30037057484/x50049-458505-11-22-clapham-yard
Keywords: 50049 12.30 London Paddington-Paignton 1B76 Westbury South yard

47463 (not 47460!), 13.20 Weymouth-Bristol Temple Meads, Fairwood Junction
The 13.20 Weymouth to Bristol Temple Meads passes over Fairwood Junction as it takes the line into the station with 47463 leading the rake of Mk. I stock. Note that the redundant headcode panel has been set to confuse us spotters by indicating that it is 47460. Today, this service would be formed of a unit of possibly three carriages, not quite the nine as seen on this service; how things have changed! The huge but totally dead elm tree to the right, a victim of Dutch elm disease dominates this view. Over forty years later in 2021, this scene is essentially the same but for the loss of the dead elm tree and the mechanical signalling. Of course, the trains are a little different too, see....... https://www.ontheupfast.com/p/21936chg/30014529096/x3-802114-gw-14-12-paignton-london
Keywords: 47463 not 47460 13.20 Weymouth-Bristol Temple Meads Fairwood Junction

50002, 10.38 Newquay-London Paddington (1A77), Fairwood Junction
50002 ‘Superb’ shatters the bucolic peace of the Wiltshire countryside at Fairwood Junction just west of Westbury. It is opening up to take the cut-off Westbury avoiding line leading the 1A77 10.38 Newquay to London Paddington. I am standing opposite Fairwood Junction signal box with the permission of the signalman who also permitted us access into the lovely and remote box.
Keywords: 5000 10.38 Newquay-London Paddington 1A77 Fairwood Junction

50013, 13.30 London Paddington-Penzance (1B32), Fairwood Junction
50013 ‘Agincourt’ sweeps around the curve as it comes off the Westbury cut-off at Fairwood Junction with the famous white horse on the escarpment in the background. It is leading the 1B32 13.30 Paddington to Penzance that did not stop at Westbury station the lines to and from are on the left. Notice that all the single arm home signal posts in this image are all on the ‘wrong’ side of the track they control due to various sighting issues.
Keywords: 50013 13.30 London Paddington-Penzance 1B32 Fairwood Junction

47510, 10.48 Penzance-London Paddington (1A41), The Cornish Rivera, Fairwood Junction
47510 is seen passing over Fairwood Junction taking the Westbury cut-off with the 1A41 10.48 Penzance to Paddington, the fabled ‘Cornish Riviera’. I suspect that on the day my spotting companion and school friend Duncan Copeman, who is seen standing trackside on the left of the image, and I would have been a little disappointed that this working did not produce a class 50 as was more usual. I saw this locomotive just under a year earlier at Crewe Works open day having sustained under-body fire damage. Unfortunately, this pyrotechnically challenged loco. was ultimately withdrawn, numbered as 47713 when it suffered another blaze, this time in the engine compartment in July 1988. Following this, it was cut-up at Vic Berry’s Leicester yard during 1990.
Keywords: 47510 10.48 Penzance-London Paddington The Cornish Rivera 1A41 Fairwood Junction

46012, up light engine, Fairwood Junction ST849512
On the fairly long walk back to Westbury station from Fairwood Junction, we paused at an overbridge as something had been pegged on the up line for the station. After short wait, 46012 appeared running light engine. This image again shows the devastation caused by Dutch elm disease that completely changed the appearance of the landscape in this part of the West Country.
Keywords: 46012 up light engine Fairwood Junction ST849512

50044, unidentified Paignton-London Paddington working, Westbury North
Not a great quality image but one that I have included because of its interest. I am standing on some derelict land to the immediate east of Westbury station in the spot where the PSB is now located. It shows 50044 ‘Exeter’ leaving the station with an unidentified Paignton to Paddington working. The image also shows the magnificent but rarely photographed (from this angle) down home gantry with the corner of Westbury North signal box to the far left. Three of the posts on the gantry have permissive arms and route describers. These allow drivers to pass the main signal at danger and also describe the route that has been set for example ‘platform 2’.
Keywords: 50044 unidentified Paignton-London Paddington working Westbury North

Images 1-22 of 22 displayed.