Six times upon a time, six long long times ago, there was a train. But where?

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Reading in to copyright ... https://www.dacs.org.uk/knowledge-base/factsheets/copyright-in-photographs ... and I think that most pictures taken before 1945 are now copyright free.   And if anyone can explain the detail and the rest in less than 1000 words, please do so.   That means I think I'm OK to post these and ask you where they are:

1.


2. Paddington - Oxenhutch and Ellendune


3. Kensington, Addison Road (now Olympia) - SandTEngineer


4. Exeter Central - MVR S&T^▸ (Signalling and Telegraph), was justdarkbeer


5. Taunton - eightonedee


6. Abbotsbury station - Bradshaw

[bradshaw]

6 Abbotsbury station c1908

[Lee]

Probably completely wrong, but i thought 1 might be Bromham and Rowde Halt.

[johnneyw]

Is 1 what was meant by the boat train! 😉

[grahame]

Probably completely wrong, but i thought 1 might be Bromham and Rowde Halt.

It isn't .... no. 1 is a picture which, when you'll know, you'll have a wry smile.

[Red Squirrel]

2. Apparently when Charles Collett heard that Nigel Gresley was building a pacific for the GNR, he said "What did that young man want to build it for? We could have sold him ours!"

[eightonedee]

Would 5 be a photograph taken at the beginning of the famous weekend in 1892 when the last of the broad gauge was removed?

[ellendune]

1.  There was a flood at Corsham in the 1930's I think. 

[MVR S&T]

4. Exeter Central?

[SandTEngineer]

3.  Kensington, Addison Road (now Olympia).

[grahame]

I have marked up the three places identified correctly on the original post - thank you gentlemen. and indeed Abbotsbury was labelled as "Edwardian" so c1908 is indeed the right circa.

No. 1 - a well known flooding location, but not the ones named so far.

No. 5 - was stated as a date a couple of year away from the gauge change, rather being a station rebuild

No. 2 - yes, it's the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) pacific 

I note the (now deleted) post which reflected and enhanced my initial comments about taking care of copyright.   I have taken what I believe to be reasonable steps to check this set of images and be clear by many years in each case but it is a minefield and should anyone come back and tell me that any specific image shouldn't have been used, my posting is open to edit. The pictures here are 'just for fun' and there's no public interest case in posting them as we could have argued for the 153s parked up round the back at Eastleigh ten years ago, when trains were full, standing and recently shortened  (but I did have photographers's permission and encouragement).

[martyjon]

I did think No 1 was on the long abandoned line which ran from the Bristol and Exeter line at Durston to join what was the newly constructed at the time the photo was taken Cogload Junction cut off on the Somerset levels between East and West Lyng which is not far from Burrowbridge which is a notorious flood spot regularly closing the Burrowbridge to East Lyng road.

[martyjon]

2.  Yes the buffer beam 111 gives it away as The Great Bear, the only Pacific Class GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) built and with its route availability its not Marlow or Portishead but more likely to be Swindon or Paddington or Birkenhead(Woodside) might just fit into the thread heading.

[grahame]

To clarify ... "the long long time ago" is when the pictures were taken;  all three remaining locations are still very much open.   There's not much of the background visible in the picture of "The Great Bear" but it's a scene I look at and can say I very much recognise.  The other two are more difficult; so many people in picture five that it's hard to see whether layout and features very, very familiar to members were there at the time, and picture no. 1 has you guessing along the right lines of "where floods?"

[jamestheredengine]

2. The only place I can think of with that configuration of windows/arches is Bristol Temple Meads. Thought it was curvier than that though...