Craven Arms in the late 1970s / early 1980s

[SuspectUsual]

Something that came up in a conversation with my dad yesterday evening, that both of us vaguely remember but neither of us is sure of.

Does anyone know how the junction to the heart of Wales line was operated back then?

We both vaguely recall (or at least think we do) that trains to and from the branch had to operate the junction points and signals for themselves, from a little ground frame by the end of the platform. So any movement required an additional stop on the branch adjacent to the junction to set or reset (depending on direction) the points for the main line. There must have been communication with the signalman, but we can't remember seeing this

Is that really what happened then? Or are we misremembering? Or did we happen to be there when there was some kind of problem that resulted in a temporary change to ways of working?

 

[Tester]

Something that came up in a conversation with my dad yesterday evening, that both of us vaguely remember but neither of us is sure of.

Does anyone know how the junction to the heart of Wales line was operated back then?

We both vaguely recall (or at least think we do) that trains to and from the branch had to operate the junction points and signals for themselves, from a little ground frame by the end of the platform. So any movement required an additional stop on the branch adjacent to the junction to set or reset (depending on direction) the points for the main line. There must have been communication with the signalman, but we can't remember seeing this

Is that really what happened then? Or are we misremembering? Or did we happen to be there when there was some kind of problem that resulted in a temporary change to ways of working?

That sounds familiar to me.

 

[Gloster]

It looks as though from closure of Craven Arms Junction Signal Box in December 1965 to June 1986 the junction point at the south end of the station was worked by a Ground Frame. Thereafter it was worked from Craven Arms Crossing Box.

 

[SuspectUsual]

It looks as though from closure of Craven Arms Junction Signal Box in December 1965 to June 1986 the junction point at the south end of the station was worked by a Ground Frame. Thereafter it was worked from Craven Arms Crossing Box.

Presumably this was just seen at the time as an acceptable piece of cost cutting, where the additional time and hassle for each HoW service was worth the saving in manpower and infrastructure costs? Or was there some sort of event that caused it?

 

[Gloster]

Presumably this was just seen at the time as an acceptable piece of cost cutting, where the additional time and hassle for each HoW service was worth the saving in manpower and infrastructure costs? Or was there some sort of event that caused it?

I presume that it was just doing the job as cheaply as possible in order to keep the line running. Remember, the line had been proposed for closure before the Beeching Report: it is the only such line that is still open. So it was probably felt that money spent on it was likely to be wasted and spent the absolute bare minimum.

 

[SuspectUsual]

I presume that it was just doing the job as cheaply as possible in order to keep the line running. Remember, the line had been proposed for closure before the Beeching Report: it is the only such line that is still open. So it was probably felt that money spent on it was likely to be wasted and spent the absolute bare minimum.

Yeah, absolutely.

Strange how a fragment of conversation yesterday evening about an old summer holiday has led to this conversation and me wasting spending a couple of hours on YouTube watching old videos

 

[WesternLancer]

Yeah, absolutely.

Strange how a fragment of conversation yesterday evening about an old summer holiday has led to this conversation and me wasting spending a couple of hours on YouTube watching old videos

But remember in an era of fake news time spent checking the facts is time well spent.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

There were suggestions at one time that the secure and well locked up ex carriage shed at Craven Arms had a cornucopia of stored steam engines for strategic use in the event of a world war breaking out.

Turned out to a rake of various coaches as a "control train" - many of which went to good homes.