A slightly cheeky picture quiz

[whole diary]

[IndustryInsider]

I have been using some spare time stuck indoors by going through my old catalogue of images, which I'd long since scanned in to my computer but now have the time to restore them as best as possible using Photoshop Elements.

There are a handful that I am either not 100% sure of the location or completely clueless, so I thought I'd see if anyone can confirm where they are taken!

Quality is not brilliant as they were taken on my Kodak Disc camera (Disc 4000 I think?), and all would date from the very late 70s through to the early 80s.  Grateful for any help!

[stuving]

My immediate thought for no. 4 was Waverley - near what's now P18, though the layout and roof have changed since then.

[SandTEngineer]

I think No.4 is Waterloo station.  The shunter is parked in one of the two non-electrified parcels platforms.  I also think I can see the window of the office I once worked at in the background, to the left of the shunter!  Also to the left of the shunter, the Cab Road/Yard can also be seen, which is in the middle of this drawing:

[stuving]

My immediate thought for no. 4 was Waverley - near what's now P18, though the layout and roof have changed since then.

One problem with that theory I can now see, having found a picture, is ... Waverley Bridge! I don't think that has been changed since then.  There's only so many ways to build a very wide station roof,  after all, so ... maybe it is Waterloo - like this bit?

[Electric train]

No 4 is Waterloo, if you zoom in you can see red facade on the concourse, the lift shafts

[stuving]

I've found a picture that matches no. 1 too - and it is Banbury. Steve Banks has a very thorough record of the "Banbury signal boxes", and this is the definitive image.

Now for the difficult bit - why is what's obviously a station clock so far off the end of the platform?

[IndustryInsider]

Thanks for Waterloo and that would make sense.  I don’t think I visited Edinburgh back then so that also helps to rule that out.

As for Banbury, I was pretty sure about that one but Stuving’s image confirms it.  I presume those clocks were for train crew as looking at other old pictures of the Banbury area they seemed to be fitted to other signals too.

Just the two tricky ones now!

[SandTEngineer]

I've seen the tower block in No.3 somewhere.  Is it SWINDON?

[DR7835]

I've seen the tower block in No.3 somewhere.  Is it SWINDON?

No, it was the old GPO^▸ (Government Printing Office, or possibly General Post Office - now referred to POT^▸ (Post Office Telecommunications) - depending on context)/BT office block in Great Western Road, Gloucester which was demolished many years ago.  Just above the roof of the tamper you can see the tower of Gloucester Cathedral.  The foreground is the site of Horton Road shed, see from Horton Road looking WNW.

Dave.

[grahame]

I've seen the tower block in No.3 somewhere.  Is it SWINDON?

No, it was the old GPO^▸ (Government Printing Office, or possibly General Post Office - now referred to POT^▸ (Post Office Telecommunications) - depending on context)/BT office block in Great Western Road, Gloucester which was demolished many years ago.  Just above the roof of the tamper you can see the tower of Gloucester Cathedral.  The foreground is the site of Horton Road shed, see from Horton Road looking WNW.

Dave.

Welcome to the Coffee Shop, Dave.  Thanks for that very clear placement.   You know Gloucester well 

[IndustryInsider]

No, it was the old GPO^▸ (Government Printing Office, or possibly General Post Office - now referred to POT^▸ (Post Office Telecommunications) - depending on context)/BT office block in Great Western Road, Gloucester which was demolished many years ago.  Just above the roof of the tamper you can see the tower of Gloucester Cathedral.  The foreground is the site of Horton Road shed, see from Horton Road looking WNW.

Dave.

Brilliant, thank you Dave.  And welcome to the forum.

[JontyMort]

Number 2 is definitely Wellingborough. The HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) is of course moving away from the camera towards Sharnbrook Summit.

[IndustryInsider]

Thanks all for confirming my suspicions regarding three of them and identifying the one at Waterloo.  Top marks!

[DR7835]

No, it was the old GPO^▸ (Government Printing Office, or possibly General Post Office - now referred to POT^▸ (Post Office Telecommunications) - depending on context)/BT office block in Great Western Road, Gloucester which was demolished many years ago.  Just above the roof of the tamper you can see the tower of Gloucester Cathedral.  The foreground is the site of Horton Road shed, see from Horton Road looking WNW.

Dave.

Brilliant, thank you Dave.  And welcome to the forum.

Many thanks. 

I spent many happy hours in my youth watching trains at Horton Road crossing gates (about 50 yards to the left of the viewpoint in the photo) in the days when they were manually worked by two crossing keepers and supervised by the adjacent Tramway Junction signal box!