Somerset and Dorset Combe Down question

[whole diary]

[Mark A]

Thinking of the Bath end of Combe Down Tunnel, what's the rectangular concrete thing sitting to the right of the trackbed between the portal and the little viaduct please?

(The contractors who put down the surface for the Two Tunnels Route wanted to remove it, among other things, in order to create a turning place for construction vehicles there. We very much asked them to retain it unscathed, along with other stuff, e.g. the sandbox(?) some little way beyond the bridge there, and Devonshire Tunnels telephone pole with its particularly fine mountings for 'Terminating pots'.)

Mark

[grahame]

Guess - a concrete Grit / Sand bin as would have been made at the Southern Railway's concrete works at Exmouth Junction.   I have looked through my old picture in that cutting, but don'e have one so that must remain just a guess.

[grahame]

Guess - a concrete Grit / Sand bin as would have been made at the Southern Railway's concrete works at Exmouth Junction.   I have looked through my old picture in that cutting, but don'e have one so that must remain just a guess.

And reviewing in the light of day, my guess was probably wrong because you mention the sandbox as a separate item.  Do you have a picture?

[Mark A]

I'll look out a better one, but it's on the right here: photo from 2015.

Mark

[infoman]

Could it be a horse water trough?

[JayMac]

Possibly the foundations of the hut seen in this image.

[ChrisB]

looks likely

[stuving]

Or hidden behind it. The shape appears in OS^▸ (Ordnance Survey) maps in 1902, and is last seen (with a building next to it) in 1950. The tank may have had a roof, or higher sides, but I guess it was most likely for locos that had run short coming up the hill.

[Mark A]

Thanks for this. Yes, marked 'Tank' on that map. If anyone would like to meet the other building, its remains were thrown down the embankment, so, there, you can enjoy the sight of BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)* bricks. Wear a mask though, as it looks as if the asbestos roof is down there too.

Mark

Oops, this evaded the site's TLA^▸ (three letter acronym) translator. Bath Brick Company.

[Mark A]

Possibly the foundations of the hut seen in this image.

Such an enigmatic photo. On the left, the telegraph pole or its successor is still to be found, thrown down the embankment. Of the half dozen or so surviving members of the run of poles in Lyncombe Vale, one has recently fallen (at Ketley's bridge) and from the tangle of ivy that brought it down, a damaged insulator menaces passers by (photo below).

To be able to find timber relics of the line brings this very close in history - it's a material that has vanished from the majority of archaeological sites. A couple of years before work on the Two Tunnels route started, two railway historians visited to record the trackbed as it was, one, an ex S&T^▸ (Signalling and Telegraph) man from the north east, was quite moved at the sight of these relics.

These carried the wires that allowed the workforce to regulate the traffic, six days of the week but particularly on those summer saturdays when long distance trains would present themselves to use the single line section there, occasionally bringing wayward timekeeping to the table.

Now, there was a book that journalled the summer Saturday trains over an entire day. Does anyone know its title please?

Mark

[PhilWakely]

Now, there was a book that journalled the summer Saturday trains over an entire day. Does anyone know its title please?

Could it be this one?

[TonyN]

The Concrete bin is most likley to store chippings for measured shovel packing next to the lengthmans hut.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kVUqqsSN54

LMS^▸ (London Midland Scottish - 1923 to 1948) training film showing how it was done.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Thanks, TonyN. 

I just love those clipped English accents in the commentaries for such films. 

[Mark A]

Now, there was a book that journalled the summer Saturday trains over an entire day. Does anyone know its title please?

Could it be this one?

Thanks for this, and that will be it. At least, I think it is. The one I recall, I thought it concentrated solely on Bath Junction to Midford but I may be wrong. Anyway, Libraries West has a single copy and I'll check it when it arrives.

Mark

Mark