Ashley Hill : Ashley Down (1)

The Victorian Suburb

Come with fbb on a virtual ride on First Bristol's Route 70.

It has probably had three different liveries since the above was pictured!

The route will take you past Montpelier station (on the line to Severn Beach) which is unstaffed and, in recent years, has not looked its best.

It didn't look that good when it did look its best!

As you continue along Ashton Down Road, get ready to alight at the Sefton Park Road stop which fbb guesses would be known as "Muller Homes" to many an aged Bristolian.

That is because, opposite the stop, you will find the former orphanage developed by legendary Christian and Philanthropic George Muller.

His work was huge amongst the poor and deprived of Bristol.

Whilst the idea of massive orphanage buildings is no longer the modern way, the building still stands.

As you would expect from that far off age, the children were segregated, wore uniform and were highly disciplined.

His work was pioneering in its day.

But now you walk forward in the direction of the bus and you will soon spot a right hand turn  ...

Turn here and you would be walking down Station Road, which, surprise surprise, led to a railway station. But it was not called Ashley Down. Until 1964 you would find Ashley Hill station.

Notice that, in its early days, on the far (eastern) side of the station there is just countryside.

Of course, the building of this station contributed enormously to the development of its surrounding suburbs as it provided a quick ride into Bristol.

So housing was developed down Station Road with the left hand side of the thoroughfare being unchanged today.

Below, we see the development on the western side of the station seen from the platform.

The concept of "Express GWR Station" might have been a bit optimistic, but (above right) it did have a "Station Hotel".

The building is still there but now divided into flats.

It stood at the bottom of Lilstock Avenue.

Opposite the hotel, the station had two platforms, substantial station buildings and gained a footbridge.

In the above shot, the Station Hotel etc is off shot to the right and the fence (top right) is on the edge of the cul-de-sac end of Station Road.

There's still a fence there but undergrowth precludes a view of the line.

But it is there, honest.

And below are some of the girls from the orphanage awaiting a train to take them on an exciting excursion, perhaps to Weston-super-Mud, changing at Bristol Temple Meads.

Hmmm? Maybe not ideal beach wear, but perhaps they had their voluminous cozzies in their bags.

Tomorrow, fbb aims to put Ashley Hill station into its railway context.

===========================

With their fellowship meetings coming up in a week, here is part one of the quiz pages. The leaflet takes a glance at the somewhat obscure clean and unclean designation of the various animals as outlined in the Old Testament. The rules may seem obscure, but in the context of, say, 1200BC, they were a remarkably prescient guide to healthy eating.

The quiz is simple - just identify the alphabetical (and not necessarily biblical!) fruit and veg.

13 more tomorrow.

Puzzle Picture

Above are the platforms on the flyover at Bletchley. These platforms will open when the Oxford to Bedford via Bletchley service starts. The bus that accompanied the puzzle Picture was a United Counties VR terminating at Stony Stratford, a small town on the A5 which was originally far more important than the obscure village of Bletchley

=========================

 3 Days to Go 

 Next Ashley Down blog : Tues 1st Oct 

Sunday Variety

Stagecoach Stockport Switch Suspended

The cunning plan was to add all 170 electric buses to the Stagecoach fleet operated for Manchester's Bee Network. But it simply isn't going to happen for a good few years. The headline (above) quotes a "depot difficulty".

Here is the Stagecoach depot at Stockport, sheltering under the shadow of the famous railway viaduct.

A peep though the door reveals plenty of space.

Indeed, it appears that there is more than enough room for the depot to be used as a staff car park.

There are cars all around!

And there is still plenty of room. The depot has been rebuilt and is very good condition ...

... you couldn't even use the word "tired"!

GROAN!

So what is wrong with the depot?

Answer, nothing!

Those vehicles are being part-funded by the first round of the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas scheme via a successful bid led by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

Most recently it had been envisaged that the depot work in Stockport would be complete by Q3 2025. However, a report to go before the GMCA Joint Clean Air Scrutiny Committee on 26 September notes that “challenges to site availability” have pushed that back by at least a further three years.

In an indication of the scope of difficulty in finding a suitable location for large-scale battery-electric bus operation in Stockport, the report says that TfGM continues to work with Stockport Council to source one and that the new depot is expected to be operational no sooner than late 2028.

No sooner, so could be later, much later

The Volvo BZL fleet intended for Stockport will instead be deployed from depots including Middleton – which Stagecoach operates under the second tranche of bus franchising in the city region – and Hyde Road and Ashton-under-Lyne. The latter two are currently outside the Bee Network but will move from Stagecoach to Metroline in early 2025 under the third tranche.

But there is still no explanation of the "problem" at Stockport depot.

One of fbb's correspondents has hinted (expertly) at the depot difficulty.

There is not enough electricity. The pipes delivering the electric to that part of Stockport are far too small to fill up 170 batteries overnight. The only way it could be done is to switch off the whole of the rest of Stockport overnight.

This would not be the most popular decision.

It will take at least until 2028 to upgrade the supply and, it seems, the National Grid is uneasy about spending the money.

Blog readers may remember a relatively recent BBC documentary which revealed that the UK has a shortage of generating capability and, even it extra power stations could be built in time, the National Grid would need massive investment to deliver said juice to where the chargers would need to be charging.

And that means more and bigger pylons ...

... and we know how popular they will be - and very expensive!

It's all going terribly well - as confidently predicted in this blog.

First Has Another Trainset ...

... with second-hand rolling stock!

The story so far:-

ORR will allow Grand Union Trains to run four return services a day between Stirling and London Euston, starting in 2025.

The trains would call at Larbert, Greenfaulds (for Cumbernauld), Whifflet (for Coatbridge and Airdrie), Motherwell and Lockerbie, and in England at Carlisle, Preston, Crewe, Nuneaton and Milton Keynes Central. 

Larbert, Greenfaulds and Whifflet would all gain their first direct services to London.

The company said it will use former Virgin Class 220/221 trains that are stored off-lease. 

Some publicity shows 225s from the East Coast main line ...

... but, pre take-over, Grand Union has said that it would use diesels because of, guess what, "power supply problems on the West Coast main line"!

First has not, so far, revealed what trains it will operate.

In the longer term, Grand Union aims to use electric or bi-mode trains, but added that “with current power supply being an issue on the WCML” it would use diesel power throughout the electrified route.

Grand Union was also planning to run from Carmarthen to London but this project appears to be stalled and is not included in the First Rail take-over.

More New Old Trains

Strange things continue to happen in the OO gauge model railway world. 

In the good old days, you either started with a Triang set ...

... or, if your parents were indulgent, you had Hornby Dublo ...

... and you grew the model from there.

Now it is much more toys for very old boys! 

Recently there has been an outbreak of real nostalgia models, dating from before the current crop of wealthy old biys were alive.

First Hattons announced their "Genesis" range of generic four and six wheel coaches in a plethora of ancient liveries.

These coaches were not models of any specific type, but acceptable examples which would pass muster for all but the most pedantic and specialist of modellers.

Then Hornby did the same.

fbb had intended to get samples of both, but Hattons sold out so quickly that he missed out! But Hattons ordered a second batch from the factories way out East. Then Hattons closed down but the "second batch" was taken over by Rails of Sheffield from whom fbb has ordered a sample due for delivery very soon. Well, the old miser has paid for it!

Both companies offered a huge range of liveries all available with optional internal lighting.

But fbb suspects that no more will be produced from either stable,

So expect a very belated contrast and compare in a future blog.

Then Rapido, well known for its eclectic range of very accurate (and very expensive) old-style models, announced something out of character.

They would be offering a truly huge range of "generic" bogie non corridor (suburban) coaches in oodles of different liveries. And they would come with lighting as standard.

Their video explains.

In a rush of financial resource from the pocket and blood to the head, fbb has ordered one. He will have to wait until later in 2025 for it to materialise, by which time he will probably have forgotten that he ordered it.

He doesn't pay for it until the model is in stock.

For comparison, here is the very first clerestory coach (pronounced "clear story" being the extra "storey" on the roof with clear glass to allow more light into the carriage) offered by Triang in the very early 1960s.

Back then we thought it was wonderful!

Two New UK Platforms ...

... but not yet open. A Puzzle Picture.

But where are they. A clue?

The bus is on route 395 to Stony Stratford.

 4 Days to Go 

 Next Ashley Down blog : Mon 30th Sept 

Saturday Variety

Remembering Semmering!

During his recent researches, fbb came across a short black-and-white film reporting on the electrification of the mountainous railway line. The commentary was all in German and the technical terms were too much for fbb. But some of the pictures were fascinating. 

The film begins with some shots of the railway being built between 1848 and 1854,

The sobering thought is that all the construction was done without the benefit of modern machinery amd without a single computer. They did have slide rules which appeared in the 17th century when you could blame John Napier for inventing logarithms [Weren't they fun at school?] ...

... and mechanical calculators. fbb still has his father's slipstick. He used to take it into IT lessons when being a supply teacher. Hidden in a wrap of brown paper, the question was, "What sort of computer is in this bag?" The kiddies were amazed!

Even so, the physical skill needed to turn numbers into a viaduct, building it with very little mechanical help is almost unimaginable.

The film doesn't obviously say when the line was electrified but fbb guesses either just before or just after WW2. Most shots show the poles to hold the catenary; but of particular interest to fbb were the pictures of steam hauled trains.

A close look reveals that they were all double haded with two small locomotives.

Might that be, thought fbb, because the bigger locos wouldn't go round the corners? 

One freight train pictured in the film had two at the front and a third engine at the back. 

But here is a puzzle picture from the film.

What is being built here?

Answer at the end of this blog/

And a sleek diesel unit bumbled out from one of the tunnels.

Very art deco, very 1930s.

Popular Pounds Park Provision

In 2021 fbb blogged about a change in Sheffield bus routes consequent on the closure of one of the more popular city centre bus stops. The replacement was very much "round the back by the bins".

"Fear not," quoth the City Council, "we will be turning that car park into a "landscaped public open space" and providing state of the art bus shelters with real time information, armchairs and central heating. It will be wonderful".

Well, with just what the weary Sheffield shopper needed after a busy morning of retail therapy, Pounds Park opened last year.

Instead of a "public open space" it morphed into a children's urban adventure park, and very popular it is with the kiddies, fbb is told.

It has just been announced that the Council has agreed to spend £914,000 on the long promised "transport hub". So about five years late, then.

fbb guesses that it might be ready in 2025 but a year's slippage is always a possibility.

Quite how you can spend half a million smackers on three bus shelters and some real time displays is totally beyond fbb's understanding.

And why bother anyway, as hardly anyone uses the stops on Rockingham Street as they are so awfully inconvenient.

Maybe the Council has designs on getting King Charles to formally open the three bus shelters?

Today's Triang Toy Train!

Triang renamed itself as Hornby in the late 1960s and recently the company has been making much of the 70 years heritage of the Margate HQ that houses the company's long history.  These "retro" models can sell well and, boy, does an ailing Hornby need as much dosh as it can possibly wheedle out of the paying public.

So the above box represents today's take on the Triang R2X trainset from 1958. There was a very similar R2 set and fbb is unsure of all the differences.

The R2 had different electrical equipment.

Essentially the consist was one Jinty 0-6-0 tank loco and two maroon coaches. Here is the loco back then ...

... and now.

And here is a coach, then ...

... and now.

The track then was Mark 2 grey based ...

... with the modern version being far more realistic.

The trainset as a whole is much better than in 1958 ...

... and it beats inflation, being about three times the price after adjustment for the changing real value of the pound.

Ashley Down's Birthday

Sounds like a lower tier footballer or a very minor music star.

There is a Birthday, a 0th birthday!

In fact it is a new railway station in the Bristol area; a re-opening to be precise.

A full blog is planned for Monday.

Hydrogen Hopes?

Despite difficulties in obtaining economic and non-polluting hydrogen, the desire for such power in public transport is growing. In an attempt to frighten us all, some wag blogged about this topic recently and included this well known picture.

fbb is fairly certain that modern vehicles store their hydrogen in strong (and heavy!) tanks, not the canvas bags of the Hindenbirg.

And we have had plenty of experience in storing some equally highly inflammable fuels, both in bulk and in vehicles. It is a spirit made from "rock oil"  a k a "petroleum".

Semmering Puzzle

It is the beginnings of an electrical sub station!

 5 Days to Go 

 Next Variety blog : Sunday 29th Sept