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News from the Bunk Line

March 2008: City of Truro to return to The Bunk Line

By kind permission of the National Railway Museum York, the Great Western Loco “City” class no: 3440 City of Truro is to visit the Cholsey and Wallingford Railway on Saturday and Sunday the 28, 29 June 2008.

Built at Swindon Works in May 1903 its most astonishing achievement was in May 1904 when hauling a train of ocean mails from Plymouth to London the magic “ton” was exceeded as the train descended a gradient at Whitball in Somerset reaching a claimed top speed of just over 102 mph.

The visit of this famous engine, will be the highlight of the year for our line. See our events page for more details. This visit has only been made possible by the kind permission of the national railway museum and the help of the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway.

March 2008: Permanent Way Progress

With Christmas over and done with, the busiest part of the year for the Permanent Way team commenced. On 5th January, we fastened a chain to one of our 08 shunters and attempted to move loco 803 to its new location along the headhunt at Wallingford. Our first two attempts to move this 90-ton monster resulted in the chain breaking with an audible crack. A more substantial chain was then found which completed the task satisfactorily. The next weekend saw us transport 60 tons of ballast, which was part of the 200 tons donated to us by Hansons, along the line to Cholsey. Our GWR ballast wagon (the dogfish) earning its keep for the day. The next few weeks saw us constructing the mechanical point operating mechanisms at each end of the loop. We have much of the equipment required to operate these points in the yard at Wallingford, but it has been there for many years and most of it is rusted solid. However, after a trip to the workshop at Manor Farm, where a liberal dose of Oxy-acetylene accompanied by some serious threats with some powerful tools the bell cranks, levers and fulcrums were soon moving again. At the time of writing, I can confirm that apart from a ground frame, we have all the equipment we need to make the loop operational. A ground frame has been found which is suitable, for our needs, only some transport has to be arranged.

April 2007: Ivor the Engine visits The Bunk Line

Over the Easter weekend, we were pleased to be able to host the UK's first official apprearance of Ivor the Engine. Ivor is a specially overhauled locomotive, that has been re-built to represent the favourite childrens character. Unfortunately, Ivor was not able to steam over the weekend. The good news is that Ivor is due to return to us in July, when he will hopefully be able to pull trains.

The picture shows Ivor at Wallingford station. Visit the gallery page for further photographs.

March 2007: Trackwork for Cholsey run-round loop completed

Thanks to the dedicated efforts of a number of volunteers, the trackwork for the run-round loop at Cholsey has now been completed. This will allow locomotives to run round their trains at Cholsey and mean that we no longer have to have a locomotive at both ends of the train.

The project was first begun about 10 years ago, but abandoned with the pointwork in the wrong place. The latest work has involved shifting the point about 8 metres closer the the buffer stops, without the aid of any mechanical plant. This was acheived by splitting the point into three sections, jacking it up onto some runners and pulling it! Once in place and packed, the track had to be fitted into place. Point locking gear and levers now need to be installed before the loop can be used.

You can find further pictures of the work carried out at Cholsey at the following website:

CWR Permanent Way Photos

July 2006: Summer Steam with GWR 813

After a late arrival, GWR 813 has made herself at home on The Bunk Line. She suffered a broken srping whilst in traffic, but this has been fixed by CWR staff allowing her stay to be extended. See the Events page for extra operating days.

See the gallery for furhter photographs

March 2006: 813 Confirmed for Anniversary Trains

Severn Valley Railway based GWR Saddletank No.813 has been confirmed as our visiting locomotive to haul our 25th Anniversary trains. It was hoped that 813 would arrive in time to haul our Easter trains, but this may not now be possible, due to urgent repairs. If completed though, she will be moved directly to The Bunk Line. 813 is likely to arrive at the beginning of May and stay until June. It may even stay longer, if it is available.

This is the third Great Western Railway locomotive to visit the Bunk Line in the space of a year. Our previous visitors; GWR Prairie Tank No.5542 and No.3440 City of Truro are pictured elsewhere on this site.

This locomotive is a six coupled 0-6-0ST Saddle Tank No.813 under the Great Western Railway numbering system but was built for the Port Talbot Railway & Docks in 1901. As Port Talbot Railway No.26it was put to work in Duffryn Yard & served in this capacity until 1908 when the PTR was absorbed into the GWR system.

It was sold to a Backworth Colliery, Northumberland where it was again renumbered as No.12 & remained there for the next 33 years. As steam was replaced by diesel, older locos were withdrawn in the late 1950's & early 60's with 813 lasting until the summer of 1967. .

The loco arrived at the Severn Valley Railway in November 1967. Since that time much loving care & a good deal of money has been spent keeping 813 in its present condition. .

Visit trackbed.com for more information. Visit Sharpo's website for some more photos of 813 on the Severn Valley Railway.

March 2006: Crossing Replaced- All in a days work

The hard work of 15 volunteers saw Winterbrook Crossing replaced in just one day.

This massive task involved completely stripping out the existing rotten wooden crossing and entirely replacing both the deck and sleepers. This couldn't have been acheived without some machine power, in the form of Dave and Tom Buckingham's Vintage JCB.

The photograph shows the completed crossing. See more photos of the days work by clicking here.

February 2006: Vintage Tractor Power helps with Permanent Way

Dave and Tom Buckingham's 1960s Fordson Major has been lending a hand with the permanent way work near Cholsey. The vintage tractor is still going strong and has been employed to provide the permanent way team with power for their tools.

The generator, that provides the power, can be seen mounted on the back of the Tractor. Anyone who has seen our "toad" brakevan will know that it is not as tidy as this. It has been touched up with the aid of the computer!

December 2005: 5542 hauls Santa Specials

West Somerset Railway based Praire Tank No.5542 visited the Bunk Line to haul our 2005 Santa Special and Carol Trains. 5542, in GWR livery made an (almost) authentic site hauling our three Western Region British Railway Mark 1 coaches.

5542 is seen here between Wallingford Station and the bypass level crossing on 4th December 2005.

5542 was built in 1928 for £3602, as part of Lot 251, also preserved from this Lot is elder brother 5541, now based on the Forest of Dean. Together with 5541 it was first allocated to Gloucester entering traffic on 2/8/28, then over next 33 years was based at Bristol, Taunton, Newton Abbott, It was last based at Taunton on 21/8/57, when it was transferred to Westbury, where it spent its remaining years before being finally withdrawn from Westbury on 8 /12/61 after having run 987, 429 miles. It was sold to Woodhams in February 1962. After 14 years in Barry 5542 was sold to the West Somerset Railway Association. In 1979 a Taunton based group of active W.S.R. supporters formed the 5542 Fund to save and restore it for use on the West Somerset Railway.

See the 5542 Ltd. for more information and our gallery page for photos.

November 2005: GWR Praire Tank for Santa Specials

West Somerset Railway Praire Tank No.5542 is to visit the Cholsey and Wallingford Railway this Christmas. 5542 will haul Santa Specials on 3, 4, 10, 11, 17 and 18 December. Following the visit of City of Truro in the summer, this is the second GWR loco to visit the line this year. 5542 is a typcial Great Western branch line loco, hence it is authentic to see it running on The Bunk Line. It is planned to shunt the train at each end of the line so as to avoid the need to have a diesel loco attached to the rear of the train.

The above photograph shows 5542 at Bishops Lydeard, West Somerset Railway on 08th August 2003. Photo: Tim Cowen. See more steam pics at http://www.steampics.com/

Other 5542 links:

West Somerset Railway

5542 Ltd.

June 2005: City of Truro Visits The Bunk Line

The visit of this famous engine, which was the first machine to break the 100mph barrier back in 1904, must rate as one of the highlights of our small society’s history. Dave Goodenough and his team worked extremely hard to make this happen and we must not forget that it could not have taken place at all without the magnificent efforts of Colin Greenop and his permanent way gang over the winter to bring the track up to a suitable standard.

3440 arrived on Wednesday the 16th of June on two massive low loaders and was unloaded in the pouring rain. Thursday proved to be a fine day and a great deal of effort was spent by the loco crews cleaning the loco and generally getting things ready. At the end of the day 3440 was lit up to warm through ready for the test runs the following day. On Friday the weather really warmed up heralding the start of a three day heat wave. 3440 took our Toad brake van up to Cholsey for a clearance test, becoming the first tender engine on the branch since Burton Agnes Hall in 1969. BBC South Today filmed the run for an excellent slot which went out later that evening.

Having successfully passed the clearance test, two complete round trips were made with the coaches to practice the planned shunt and release procedures. In order that 3440 could haul its trains in both directions it was necessary to employ a ‘shunt and release’ operation at both Cholsey and Wallingford. This entails the use of a shunter to pull the carriages out of the station allowing the train engine to enter a siding so the shunter can push the carriages back into the platform and the train engine can come back on for the return journey. We had successfully employed this method working during the visit of pannier tank 9466 some years ago but because it involves propelling the train, passengers cannot stay on board during the shunting.

At Cholsey First Great Western staff were on hand to supervise the crowds working with CWRPS station staff. In the afternoon the train carried the Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire and so was entitled to carry the four lamps of the royal headcode, another first for us. After the last public train had terminated at Wallingford, 3440 again took the Toad to Cholsey, this time to exchange whistles with 6024 King Edward II which ran through Cholsey with a main line special, a fitting end to the day.

Sunday saw further fine weather and 8 more packed trains and then it was over, except for the loco crew who had to return in the week to load 3440 back onto its low loaders ready to move on to the next railway on its busy tour.

March 2005: Sponsor A Sleeper Scheme Launched

Taken from "The Bunk" Spring 2005.
In order to raise funds for vital permanent way work, a “Sponsor a Sleeper” fund has now been launched. We are asking every member, and anyone else who feels able to help, to dig deep and sponsor a sleeper. We are asking for a donation of £10 or more, which will sponsor a single sleeper in return for which you will receive a certificate.

You can participate in the scheme, either by calling into the railway shop at Wallingford Station, or by writing to the following address:

Sponsor a Sleeper
5 Hithercroft Road
Wallingford
Oxon
OX10 9GQ

This scheme is vital to the future of our heritage railway.

Would you like a genuine GWR railway cast iron chair? Normally used to attach the rail to the sleeper, they make an excellent outdoor doorstop, or can be used to weigh down anything in the garden. A donation of £3 is asked per chair. Please leave a message on the 24hr message service or call into the shop if you are interested.

February 2005: Major Permanent Way Works Begin

Taken from "The Bunk" Spring 2005.
An inspection of the permanent way at the end of last year revealed that the track-work requires significant upgrading if we want to continue to run trains in the future. The worst affected section is on the Cholsey side of the Winterbrook Lane crossing, where some components of the trackwork date from the 1930s. Spot re-sleepering took place here about 5 years ago, however, the older sleepers have since deteriorated such that they require replacement.

The inspector felt that it was vital to have a plan in place and some of this work completed in time for the start of the season in 2005. With this in mind, the troops, or anyone willing to help, were mobilised after Christmas to begin the huge task of re-laying the track.

Since January, there has been a team of people, toiling away every weekend out in the bleak conditions of Winterbrook Curve. A number of wooden and steel sleepers were spot re-sleepered in the first couple of weeks. This involves digging individual sleepers out of the ballast, jacking up the track and removing the sleeper. This is then replaced with a new sleeper and the track re-aligned. It sounds simple, but can be back breaking work and is very time consuming.

The fact that there were more bad sleepers than good in a number of panels, combined with the prohibitive weight of the concrete sleepers, meant that a different technique was then employed. It was decided that it would be more efficient to remove the track entirely, remove the ballast, lay new concrete sleepers and then re install the rails. Due to the weight of the concrete sleepers, this is not a task that can be completed by hand. Thankfully, Tom and Dave Buckingham were able to lay their hands on a forklift/ shovel. With the aid of this, an efficient operation was established, whereby the machine was employed to shovel up the ballast and to lower the concrete sleepers into place.

Excellent progress has been made and over 200 sleepers have now been changed in this way. A further consignment of sleepers has now arrived and has been taken by train down to the works site. There are about 600 sleepers that will need changing in the not too distant future, so there is plenty more work to be done. If you don’t have a bad back and would like some exercise in the fresh air then please give us a call.

April 2004: Points Moved for New Yard

December 2003: Winter Visitor for Santa Specials