Returning to Grantham

[60129 GUY MANNERING]

Ian,
the other Through Platform was No. 5, the Lincoln Bay No. 1, and the Nottingham Bay No. 4, then Up Main No.2 and Down Main No.3 as I am sure you already know,but better than leaving you with another question to ask.
Regards, Derek.

[S.A.C. Martin]

Just to say a BIG thank you to 61070 - I have been driving myself mad trying to find a photograph of Happy Knight in the 1948-50 period and your photograph has confirmed a long held belief that it had the numbers on the front bufferbeam, but not the smokebox door!

I can rest easy as I can now model this for my next incarnation of Copley Hill.

[61070]

Looking at photos most of the trackwork is bullhead rail, except for the through running lines which is sections of flat-bottom rail. Does anybody know any different?
Ian

Now we're getting into some fine detail!

From the photos in my collection the only section of the main lines (up or down) through the station which was not formed of jointed track with flat bottomed rail by 31 August 1961 was the down slow to down main turnout just south of the platforms (though the down main line approaching it from the south was f/b). By early 1962 this turnout had been renewed in f/b rail. The turnout was still present in 1964 but by autumn 1965 it had been removed.

Many photos, for example:
taken on 18th April 1963 - returning-to-grantham-t3429s135.html (posted 23 May 2010)
and
of D9016 taken on 20th May 1964 - returning-to-grantham-t3429s555.html (posted 27 Mar 2011)
show two different types of rail fastening in use on the up and the down main lines.

By Feb 1966 both main lines through the platforms were laid in CWR, the down line having concrete sleepers.

Re. platform 5, a photo taken on 3rd Oct 1963 shows track with f/b rail leading out from the north end.

In The Grantham Journal throughout early months of 1962 there were regular announcements of of w/e closures and diversions, e.g.

(Friday) January 5th 1962 (page 4)
More Railway Repairs
Diversion of all main-line trains
Repairs to Stoke Tunnel, bridge reconstruction, installing more continuous welded rails and track reballasting will be carried out by railway engineers between Peterborough and Grantham this week-end.
This will again necessitate the diversion of all main-line trains between King’s Cross and the North in both directions, via Sleaford from 9.30pm tomorrow until 9.30pm on Sunday. Journey times will be extended by up to 60 minutes.
During this period main-line trains will not call at Grantham but will call instead at Honington to connect with special bus services to and from Grantham. Southbound passengers from Grantham should note that the buses provided will leave Grantham earlier than the normal advertised departure times.
The Alterations
Special arrangements have been made for passengers travelling on the Cleethorpes and Nottingham lines. Alterations, include:
8.15 a.m. King's Cross to Grantham - This train will terminate at Honington, where a connecting bus service will be provided to Grantham.
The 2.25 p.m. Grantham to Doncaster will start from Honington at 3.18 p.m. A connecting bus service will be provided from Grantham to Honington.
The 2.40 p.m. Nottingham (Victoria) to Grantham will be diverted to Honington, where it will terminate. Passengers for Grantham must change at Bottesford, where a special bus service will be provided. A connection will be made at Honington with diverted main line trains.
The 4.05 p.m. Grantham to Nottingham (Victoria) will start from Honington at 4 p.m. and stop specially at Bottesford. Passengers from Grantham should travel by a special bus service to Bottesford. Passengers from diverted main-line services will be able to connect at Honington with this train.
The 4.10 p.m. Grantham to King’s Cross will start from Peterborough (North) at 5.23 p.m. Passengers from Grantham to travel by the special bus service to Honington where a connection will be made for Peterborough (North) and King’s Cross. Passengers for intermediate stations to King’s Cross should change at Peterborough (North).

and on the same date:
Continuous Welded Rails Mean … A smoother ride
Journeys by train in the Eastern Region are becoming progressively quieter as more and more continuous welded rails are installed. To date 170 miles have been laid, and the figure is increasing week by week. On the East Coast main line, for example, one section 5¼ miles in length between Retford and Doncaster is now in use. To the rail traveller the obvious advantage of long welded track is the smoother ride, but it also effects considerable financial savings by eliminating track maintenance at the rail joints.

[61070]

Hello Roy and Ian - yes, Ken did tell us the name of the colliery near Doncaster but I can't remember its name at the moment either! I have Ken's address so maybe I'll drop him a line and ask.

Going back to July when Ian (workev) asked about sources of locomotive coal, Ken Willetts has kindly responded to a note I sent him at Christmas. He remembers that locomotive coal arrived at Grantham from Yorkshire collieries including Harworth, Rossington, Maltby, Brodsworth and Denaby.

[61070]

Just to say a BIG thank you to 61070 - I have been driving myself mad trying to find a photograph of Happy Knight in the 1948-50 period and your photograph has confirmed a long held belief that it had the numbers on the front bufferbeam, but not the smokebox door!

I can rest easy as I can now model this for my next incarnation of Copley Hill.

I'm very glad to hear it's been of help. (Sorry if this appears pedantic, but may I just point out again here that the photo isn't actually 'mine' - it's one of several taken by an ex-Grantham footplateman who's agreed for them to be shared here.)

I've been following the thread about your book in the LNER Discussion section with interest, and I look forward to seeing 60533 feature there, if that's the intention.

[S.A.C. Martin]

Happy Knight is on my list of "maybes" for stories as I've found a few anecdotes about the engine in my research. Certainly it is a must as an "in the background" engine somewhere.

And of course, a must for my model railway of Copley Hill!

[StevieG]

Happy Knight is on my list of "maybes" for stories as I've found a few anecdotes about the engine in my research. Certainly it is a must as an "in the background" engine somewhere.

And of course, a must for my model railway of Copley Hill!

...And may I venture that if the loco's name is used in any 'The British Railway Series' story, it could be eminently more suitable than many others as, to a child it might sound jolly, inspire imagination and provoke conversation about a knight, and why he was happy?

[StevieG]

" I agree that the signalling equipment just under 60533 is a detonator placer. It looks the correct size for two machine dets, and has the necessary rodding to operate it. It is not very far from the facing points into the up slow, and could be a post Goswick fitting to provide some added warning if a train was going too fast. .... "

On balance of probabilities, I agree with the detonator placer theory.
The only alternative explanation that crossed my mind is that it could have been where rodding changed direction to go into the 'four-foot' to operate a Clearance Bar, but the visible rodding runs south, and I believe an Up Main clearance bar there would have been more likely to have been operated by North box. Also a simple change of rodding direction at that point would have merely required a crank that would not normally have needed any sort of cover.

As to why a detonator placer there, I have never known (proves nothing conclusively ) of one used to warn of excess speed (other than in the context of needing to get a train stopped in emergency, of course), and in that location there would barely be time for the footplate crew to react to the exploding detonators' warning before reaching the facing points mentioned.
I'm more disposed to the idea that, as I think from seeing other photographs, Yard box's home signals (i think that's the bottom of the main line signal's doll, with smoke deflector, in the photo's top right-hand corner) also included the Up Main Distant signal for South box, a det. placer could have existed for fog/falling snow working when it would have been used to warn drivers of the Distant being at Caution.
I believe that fogmen used to normally be stationed virtually at, or quite closely on the approach to, the signal they were 'fogging'. The position of the above-mentioned signal would I think, have made positioning a fogman in such a location relative to his signal, impossible safety-wise, and the visible rodding lends credence to any theory that there could have been a fogman's post somewhere just south of the platforms, with the common fogging machine (det. placer) operating lever placed there, operating it via the rodding seen [ A 'fogman' 'fogging' just one line or signal where he could safely base himself trackside at the required spot, would merely place detonators on the line by hand. Where such a safe position could not be established, or to allow one man to 'fog' signals on more than one line safely, enter the rod-operated magazine (like a 'cassette' of several detonators) det. placer ; the 'fogman's position also having, where necessary, repeaters (usually mechanical) of the signal(s) he was 'fogging', in the form of sliding vertical indicators or very miniature signal arms.]
I have known one location where a fogging machine for a stop signal was operated from the signal box by a lever in the main frame, but this was in an LNER box new in the mid-1940s, and was very rare AFAIK, so may have been a trial arrangement of some sort.

[Bryan]

Looking at photos most of the trackwork is bullhead rail, except for the through running lines which is sections of flat-bottom rail. Does anybody know any different?
Ian

Now we're getting into some fine detail!

From the photos in my collection the only section of the main lines (up or down) through the station which was not formed of jointed track with flat bottomed rail by 31 August 1961 was the down slow to down main turnout just south of the platforms (though the down main line approaching it from the south was f/b). By early 1962 this turnout had been renewed in f/b rail. The turnout was still present in 1964 but by autumn 1965 it had been removed.

Many photos, for example:
taken on 18th April 1963 - returning-to-grantham-t3429s135.html (posted 23 May 2010)
and
of D9016 taken on 20th May 1964 - returning-to-grantham-t3429s555.html (posted 27 Mar 2011)
show two different types of rail fastening in use on the up and the down main lines.

Under 9016 the track is BR 1 spikes from the look of it and on the other road looks like Mills clips.
Spiked track mainly laid mid late 50s and can still be found on the network but suffers from lack of grip on the spikes in the sleeper.
Almost impossible to tamp as when you clamp on the rails and lift the rails will lift but the sleeper stays in the ground. They cannot be used in CWR.
Thankfully we have none on the NYMR and I would hope never in the future.
Mills clips not to bad but soon lose grip so you will hear them rattling in the baseplate. Considered as being the forerunner of the current Fastclip design.

[strang steel]

Repairs to Stoke Tunnel, bridge reconstruction, installing more continuous welded rails and track reballasting will be carried out by railway engineers between Peterborough and Grantham this weekend.
This will again necessitate the diversion of all main-line trains between Kings’ Cross and the North in both directions, via Sleaford from 9.30pm tomorrow until 9.30pm on Sunday. …
During this period main-line trains will not call at Grantham but will call instead at Honnington to connect with special bus services to and from Grantham.

Well, I learn something every day.

So those diverted trains would have used Barkston North curve to/from the main line. I never knew they ran the bus connection from Honington. I presumed that Sleaford was the main change station.

Thanks for adding another correction to my dodgy memory.

[cambois]

Thanks Stevieg
I have never come across machines used for fogging, but I can see your point about safety. That said it would still require access to the track if the dets went off, but that would be less frequent than having to take them off every time the distant came off.

Certainly an interesting detail

[StevieG]

Thanks Stevieg
I have never come across machines used for fogging, but I can see your point about safety. That said it would still require access to the track if the dets went off, but that would be less frequent than having to take them off every time the distant came off.

Certainly an interesting detail

These are not a subject on which I have hands-on knowledge or can quote expert chapter and verse, but, nationally, I believe that there was more than one type of magazine detonator placer/fogging machine available and in use, and I don't know if what we see in the photo is one of them, though it does look bulkier than the ubiquitous standard non-magazine type once found on passenger lines outside almost every signal box for signalman's use in emergency (in which the twin dets. needed replacing immediately if exploded).

With magazine types, I think the fogmen just had to keep watch on their signals or their repeaters, and use the lever(s) to take the dets. off the rail every time the signal cleared and put them back when it returned to Caution or Danger.
I don't know how many dets. the magazines could hold, but they would only need attending to for replenishment when all their dets. had been used : So, hopefully, not that often, unless at a Distant signal that Drivers often, or always, encountered at Caution.

[S.A.C. Martin]

Happy Knight is on my list of "maybes" for stories as I've found a few anecdotes about the engine in my research. Certainly it is a must as an "in the background" engine somewhere.

And of course, a must for my model railway of Copley Hill!

...And may I venture that if the loco's name is used in any 'The British Railway Series' story, it could be eminently more suitable than many others as, to a child it might sound jolly, inspire imagination and provoke conversation about a knight, and why he was happy?

An interesting angle that.

[2512silverfox]

Happy Knight's mum was Happy Morn and dad was Columbo - if that helps?

[61070]

Well, I learn something every day.

So those diverted trains would have used Barkston North curve to/from the main line. I never knew they ran the bus connection from Honington. I presumed that Sleaford was the main change station.

Thanks for adding another correction to my dodgy memory.

I've just edited the earlier post to show the complete report and more detailed arrangements, as printed in the paper. Similar arrangements were notifed on Fridays 12 and 19 Jan and possibly subsequent dates (I didn't copy all these notices, being quite similar). By 23 Feb (1962) the diversions had moved north, with Newark being the station served by buses and main line trains diverted via Lincoln between Grantham and Retford.