Saturday, 13 January 2018

Camp Coaches at Blue Anchor

Yesterday I was very much on the 'looking forward to Summer' mode. Perhaps its the gloomy weather at the moment. Those who know me will know that I am a real enthusiast for the heritage and history of the West Somerset Railway. I first volunteered in 1983 when I qualified as a signalman at Blue Anchor. Those were much different days then, the railway has progressed beyond all recognition through the hard work and dedication of those who support it. So here is another picture that wraps all of that up together.
It is summer, we are at Blue Anchor and it is sometime in the late 1950s or early 60s. So all my themes wrapped up together. Blue Anchor had a single camp coach in 1952, two from 1957 and a third one from 1962 when the goods siding was extended to accommodate the extra vehicle. When I first started volunteering, I used to occasionally stay overnight in the coaches that are there now - it never seems quite as idyllic as it looks in this photograph! At least one of the vehicles is now being restored so that soon again you can camp at Blue Anchor.
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3 comments:

  1. RailWest13 January 2018 at 19:08

    Dare I say, certainly more idyllic than the current arrangement. Also visible are the Up and Down line automatic token exchanger posts, another lost facet of WSR heritage.

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    Replies
    1. Unknown13 January 2018 at 19:44

      I guess there's no spare originals left. Could new token exchangers by made and installed? As most trains stop at all stations, would they ever be used?

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    2. RailWest13 January 2018 at 19:56

      I would guess that WSR engineering could manage to make a couple :-) No obvious real use on a day-to-day basis (when did the manual posts at MD last get used?), but might be a nice 'side line' at a Gala for example -
      after all, we do run some 'non stop' trains occasionally. Clearly you would need the relevant bits on the locos as well, but the 2 x 7Fs would be ideal candidates. The posts were put clear of the station platforms for obvious H&S reasons, but IMHO the BA locations would be reasonably ideal for viewing.

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