Station Name: SHIPSTON ON STOUR[Source: Darren Kitson]
Shipston-on-Stour Station: Gallery 2
1952 - 31 August 1962  The east side of the engine shed on an unknown date. A 1952 photograph, reproduced in these pages, shows the left hand shed door to have a missing section at its top and the general surroundings fairly overgrown. This view can therefore be assumed to be earlier. A lot of track components are scattered around the area.
Photo from Roger Griffiths collection 
Ex GWR diesel railcar No.W14W has arrived at Shipston-on-Stour with the Birmingham Locomotive Club railtour of the 24 May 1952. These railcars began to enter service from the 5th of February 1934 and although not the first such vehicles to enter service in Britain they were the first to enter fleet service. There were a total of 38 railcars of various designs which were highly successful apart from, that is, a tendency to catch fire, a fate which befell five of them. No.W14W entered service on the 23rd of March 1936 and was a 70-seater of the streamlined ‘Flying Banana’ style. She remained in service until August 1960 as did No.W13W. This pair was the last of the pre-war cars in service without ever apparently catching fire. The last of the ‘Razor Edge’ cars, introduced from 1940, remained in service until October 1962. Three have been preserved, ‘Flying Banana’ No. 4 and ‘Razor Edge’ Nos. 20 and 22. Back at Shipston, the horse landing\ dock had become a haven for wildflowers, suggesting it had not been used for its intended purpose for an awfully long time.
Photo from John Mann collection  This photograph is thought to have been taken from the rear cab of W14W as it departed Shipston-on-Stour (as opposed to the leading cab upon arrival). This tour was organised by the Birmingham Locomotive Club and ran from Birmingham Snow Hill via Stratford-upon-Avon and Honeybourne. After visiting Shipston-on-Stour it ran to Banbury via Kingham (reverse) and after a visit to Banbury shed, returned direct to Snow Hill. On the outward journey a stop was made at Kingham to pick up a pilotman for the Shipston branch. On the return he was dropped off at Adlestrop which would suggest that was where he resided.Photo from John Mann collection stour_old18.jpg) Much film was expended upon 2-4-0 No.1335 on Sunday the 31 August 1952. She is seen here running round her train at Shipston-on-Stour with two of the four carriages visible in the background. The occasion was a Stephenson Locomotive Society (Midland Area) - Shipston Branch Tour which was a straightforward Oxford - Shipston-on-Stour - Oxford affair but with half-day excursion tickets available by specified service train from Paddington, Birmingham Snow Hill and Worcester Shrub Hill. Note the rather crude headboard, seemingly held in place only by wedging it behind the number plate.
Photo
by Geoffrey Head
stour_old19.jpg)
Another view of No.1335 in the process of ‘running round’, on the 31st of August 1952; this time showing tour participants ostensibly watching the locomotive but in actuality largely chatting among themselves. There are at least two military personnel among the crowd for reasons unknown. It must have been a fine August day as not a single raincoat is evident; the raincoat then being all but obligatory uniform of the railway enthusiast! One would hope the tour participants did not trample on the gardens, left background. Such gardens, used mainly to grow vegetables, were a common sight at rural and some not-so-rural stations. This one came to me the wrong way round. I've flipped it.
Photo
by Geoffrey Head
stour_old21.jpg)
No.1335 in the process of running round her train at Shipston-on-Stour station throat. The siding in the foreground ran to the west side of the station site and served the gasworks among other things. No.1335 began life in 1894 as Midland & South Western Junction Railway No.11. She was one of 29 M&SWJR locomotives inherited by the GWR as a result of the 1923 Grouping, of which three were these small 2-4-0 tender types Nos.10-12 which became GWR and BR Nos.1334-6. The GWR reboilered them and in their original round-topped firebox form they bore a passing resemblance to certain Dugald Drummond designs. During March 1952 all three had been taken out of service and placed into store at Swindon. For this railtour No.1335 had been taken out of store and given a quick spruce-up but despite being given a British Railways shedplate (81D Reading) on her smokebox door, her tender still carried the G. W. R. initials. Locomotives 1334/5 were withdrawn on the 30th of September 1952 but No.1336 was for some reason not withdrawn until the 31st of March 1954,
Photo
by Geoffrey Head
stour_old22.jpg)
Another view of No.1335 in the process of ‘running round’ on the 31st of August 1952. There would however appear to have been a problem as a crew member is examining something along the running plate. Perhaps there was a problem with the reversing gear although by the time this photograph was taken the locomotive had already reversed. There is an official on the cab footsteps, perhaps the Stationmaster for whom it would have been unusual to have to turn out on a Sunday.
Photo
by Geoffrey Head
stour_old20.jpg)
By now No.1335 has coupled to the train ready to depart for Oxford and the locomotive proudly shows off her tender's faded G. W. R. initials. The chap spoiling the photograph in the right foreground has something in his mouth. Is it a pen or a 'roll up'? If the latter, it is a rather large one.
Photo
by Geoffrey Head
stour_old26.jpg) Another view of No.1335 ready to depart back to Oxford on the 31st of August 1952. Passengers clambering in and out of carriages not at a platform were a very common sight on railtours and officialdom did not bat an eyelid. No photographs have come to light showing this railtour immediately after it arrived at Shipston-on-Stour but we can assume the usual practice at a branch terminus was followed; the locomotive stopping short of the points for the runround loop before being uncoupled from the train which in this case was formed of four 57ft Collett corridor carriages. It is therefore likely only one carriage stopped alongside Shipston's quite short platform as the first photograph of this railtour, above, would seem to confirm
Photo from John Mann collection stour_old23.jpg)
Another view of No.1335 ready to depart back to Oxford on the 31st of August 1952. With the severe speed limits in place on the Shipston-on-Stour branch and the need for train crew to operate level crossing gates, this train took over an hour to travel from and to Moreton-in-Marsh. This was a distance of 8 miles 75 chains, and journey time was roughly the same as the branch goods train. Locomotives nos. 1334 -6 had been built by Dübs & Co. of Glasgow and carried that company's diamond shaped works plate on the forward splashers but in all these photographs the works plate, on one side at least, appears to have been missing. The Queens Park works of Dübs & Co. was taken over in 1903 by the North British Locomotive Company who continued to use the Dübs diamond shaped works plates albeit modified to show their own details.
Photo
by Geoffrey Head
 A few moments later and No.1335 can now be seen in the distance. The points, left, have already been reset and the tail lamp placed on what is now the rear of the train. There were never any signal boxes on the branch and points were operated either by local lever or via ground frames; there were two of the latter at Shipston-on-Stour. By 1952 the track in the passenger station area had become quite weedy as can be seen, compared to elsewhere on the site, indicative of infrequent traffic and on-the-ground staff movements.
Photo from John Mann collection  Shipston engine shed seen here during the visit of the 31st of August 1952 railtour. Part of the train is visible in the right background with enthusiasts surging towards it for, no doubt, yet more photographs of the locomotive. Fortunately somebody had the foresight to pause and photograph the shed. The angle is slightly deceiving; the shed and the running line were at this point on a roughly north - south axis, the track at right foreground curving away in south south-west direction. This was the siding serving the gasworks etc. The shed was single-ended and had an internal length of 42ft, width of 16ft and contained a pit 30ft 9ins long. Originally there was a well and water tower at the shed's north end and towards its west side. The water tank was originally of 3,000 gallons capacity, later changed to a 2,000 gallon capacity tank. The shed closed on 20 November 1916 and the track removed the following year, as described elsewhere and with locomotives taking on water at Moreton-in-Marsh. What appears to be a length of guttering is propped against the end of the shed. A photograph of the shed taken by W. A. Camwell in August 1936 shows the assumed length of guttering to have been present at that time albeit leaning against the shed door. Perhaps it was used to prop the door open on windy days.Photo from Roger Griffiths collection
|
Home Page