A sight very rarely seen in railway circles – Barry Bull dropping a slice of cake. A very tasty piece of gateau by the look of it – the look on Barry’s face says it all!!
Good splat, eh??
We all know how clean Barry keeps the floor in the museum but we believe that he resisted the temptation to carry on with his snack – although it was replaced on the plate!!
Barry not only wiped the floor, but even polished it with his knees!!
Arriving home – but not under its own horse-power…..Donated by Earl Lanesborough, Swithland Hall, Leicestershire in the 1960s, going first to Hednesford and then Chasewater.
Its most recent use at Swithland having was as a residence for a few laying hens.
Placed on long-term loan to Shugborough Museum in the 1970s as they could provide covered accommodation. The loan was renewed in 1995.
Returned in very good condition to Chasewater Railway September 1st 2014.
When in for repairs it was normal practice for the LMS to remove old company (in this case, Midland Railway) plates and replace them with LMS ones. The LMS didn’t exist until 1923.
Horse-Drawn Parcels Van
Still in LMS livery and painted in the company’s crimson lake colours, horse-drawn van No.4990 is outside Craddock’s shoe factory, 18 September 1952. Wolverhampton’s railways thrived on the sheer quantity of goods traffic emanating from the town and nearby Black Country. As ‘common carriers’ however, they were obliged to carry anything from heavy plant to small parcels, the latter requiring delivery from the goods yard to the customer, usually by lorry, or as in this case, by horse-drawn van.
The van not looking too happy at the Hednesford Depot
Posted in Museum Exhibits, News
Tagged Aldridge, Bloxwich, Brownhills, Burntwood, Cannock, Chasewater Railway Museum, Cheslyn Hay, Delivery Vehicles, Great Wyrley, Heath Hayes, Hednesford, Lichfield, Midland Railway horse-drawn parcels van, Norton Canes, Old Railway Lines, Pelsall, Shugborough Museum, Staffordshire, Walsall, Walsall Wood, Wolverhampton
We recently paid our first visit to the Midland Railway Centre at Butterley, and after our first train ride it was a most enjoyable day. I had heard the the Midland Royal Saloon had been restored there and was delighted to find it looking quite superb.
It was withdrawn from service in 1963 and was purchased by the Railway Preservation Society and taken to Hednesford. The RPS had discussions with Derby Corporation, after which the vehicle was placed on a long term loan for eventual display at the Midland Railway Centre, Butterley
Here are three photographs of it, the first while just out of service, the second at RPS headquarters at Hednesford and the third fully restored at Butterley.
The carriage is in the museum – not Godfrey!!
Also at the centre is the beautiful loco – Princess Margaret Rose
Preserved Midland Classic bus 74 (WDA_4T) 1979 Leyland Titan B15, Wythall Transport Museum
This vehicle was at Chasewater Railway for repairs to the engine, gear box, electrics, etc., etc., etc. (As the King of Siam once said!).
It has now left Chasewater fully renovated by the resident engineers
Pic by Godfrey Hucker
The 28th production Titan, it was part of the early batch built by the British Leyland subsidiary Park Royal Vehicles in Park Royal, London (later ones were built at Leyland’s expanded factory in the Lillyhall Industrial Estate, Workington). It’s one of the very few Titans that were not built for London Transport as part of their dual door T-class, instead being delivered new to the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive, the local authority operator covering the West Midlands conurbation.
WMPTE took it as part of a batch of 5, (reg. WDA 1/2/3/4/5T), and numbered them in the series 7001-5. Unlike the London buses, it had a single door layout giving 47 seats upstairs, 26 down, and used a smaller destination blind box (the intended standard size being visible in the bodywork’s otherwise standard panelling). It also used four vertical blinds for the route numbers, on the front, side and rear, instead of the London designed blinds. The staircase was also further forward, meaning they didn’t have the small window on the lower deck over the driver’s side wheel arch. While at WMPTE, 7004 wore at least two versions of their blue and cream livery, having been repainted at Walsall works in 1982.
This bus usually resides at The Transport Museum, Chapel Lane, Wythall, Worcs, B47 6JX, and is at the Chasewater Railway for welding repairs to the chassis, the engine having been previously overhauled by Chasewater Railway’s engineers.
Although not a museum exhibit, this vehicle is a noteworthy addition in the Heritage Centre.
It is a Leyland Fleetline bus with a Gardner 6LX engine, and the original body – MCW DD. Fleet No.1956
It is now a single decked bus, having been converted from double decker by West Midlands Travel at the Green Lane Depot, Walsall in 1994, and is in WMT livery. This was a project for training mini-bus drivers to learn single deck operation, and there was a surplus of double deckers at the time.
The first is a rubber stamp – marked ‘Brownhills LMR 7’ – and it’s not very often that we see something quite so local!
This was given to the Museum by Colin Marklew of Brownhills and came from the Brownhills Station goods yard off the Pelsall Road. Many thanks Colin.
Photo taken from Brownhills bridge looking towards Pelsall
The next item is a cast iron sign ‘Private’ given to the Museum by David Townsend from Wednesfield, who has helped us in the past – thanks again David.
This was found in the burned out remains of Essington Wood sjgnal box.
Finally – a reminder of the latest book from the Cannock Chase Mining Historical Society – ‘Cannock Old Coppice Colliery’ (Hawkins Colliery 1875 – 1960)
Now on sale in the Museum – Price £10.00
Posted in Museum Exhibits, News
Tagged Aldridge, Bloxwich, Brownhills, Burntwood, Cannock, Cheslyn Hay, Great Wyrley, Hazel Slade, Heath Hayes, Hednesford, Lichfield, Norton Canes, Pelsall, Staffordshire, Walsall, Walsall Wood, Wolverhampton
The latest addition to be installed on the platform at Brownhills West Station is a bench in memory of Roger Shenton.
Roger worked as a volunteer at Chasewater until his sudden death in December 2012. This bench stands as a tribute to the many hours he gave to the Railway over the years.
Rest in peace Roger and Thank you.
Posted in News
Tagged Aldridge, Bench, Bloxwich, Brownhills, Burntwood, Cannock, Chasewater Railway, Chasewater Railway Museum, Lichfield, Norton Canes, Pelsall, Photographer, Roger Shenton, Walsall, Walsall Wood, Wolverhampton
This book, featuring Chasewater Railway, will be on sale in the Chasewater Railway shop. These details were sent by a good friend of the Chasewater Railway Museum, Ian Pell, who had some involvement with the book.
Already over the line
In Hednesford Park waiting for the crane to catch up!
In situ – shame it had to be boarded up – for now…
Hednesford No.1 Signal Box in busy days with West Cannock Colliery Sidings behind it. – Pic Chasewater Railway Museum Collection.
SIGNAL BOX – Network Rail have advised that the relocation of the signal box will take place this coming Sunday 16th Feb. (Strong winds permitting)
The lifting operation will take place from approximateley 7am when the box will be lifted from its brick base and over the railway lines onto a trailer located at the rear of the new supermarket development. After securing the signal box to the trailer and derigging the crane both vehicles will then drive along Victoria Street and Rugeley Road to enter the car park adjacent to the tennis courts.
The crane will reverse down to the pavilion followed by the trailer and after setting up the crane the signal box will be lifted over the pavilion into its new location. The offloading should start around midday dependant on progress of the first part of the operation.
The Rugeley Road car park will be closed most of the Sunday until the relocation has been completed and the crane and lorry have left site.
Any further changes will be advised
Our curator, Barry Bull, has been collecting again – this time a series of booklets published by the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers.
The booklets contain the substance of a series of educational lectures prepared for students under the auspices of the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers.
There are thirteen booklets in all and comprise the complete set. As there are three signal boxes at Chasewater Railway, these booklets will hopefully contain useful information.
Also collected, three ‘Dapol’ O Gauge model wagons.
A 5-plank wagon of the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Co.
An 8-plank wagon of the Metropolitan Railway Carriage and Wagon Co.
and a 7-plank wagon of the South Wales & Cannock Chase Co.
We have also got a photo of a wagon from this company as new.
Chasewater Railway Museum 