Station Name: GRANGE COURT JUNCTION[Source: Darren Kitson] old17.jpg)
An ever so slightly unkempt 4300 class 2-6-0 was caught about to come off the line from Hereford. The locomotive is unidentified although it could be No. 7318 which was running around so-stained around this time. The precise date is however unknown. The Hawksworth Corridor Brake Second carriage, which appears to be No. W853W, is host to a group on enthusiasts. The train is not thought to have been a railtour, rather a service train and the enthusiasts were perhaps just a small group of friends out for a last trip on the line. As mentioned elsewhere the Down South Wales line has been re-laid with flat bottom rail, bottom right, and this seems to have been done in 1963 when the goods yard closed and some of its track was removed. In this scene though, the once clean ballast is dirty so this photograph probably dates from not too long before the Hereford line and this station closed. The sign at the end of the island platform informed passengers they must not cross the line expect by means of the bridge. It is typical GWR with the more important words booming out in large font and other words in smaller font. There was another such sign at the end of the Up Hereford platform, here partly obscured by the locomotive. Here the sign and its post are quite clean but in the photograph taken from a train on 31 July 1964 the sign and its post were decidedly grubby, although this could possibly be put down to lighting conditions.
Photo from Jim Lake collection  On an unknown date but probably around 1960 going by the apparently recently whitewashed platform edge an unidentifiable 4300 Class 2-6-0 is ready to depart with a train from the Hereford line. The track crossing the running line ahead of the locomotive led to the Up side sidings, the points from the Down Main to Down Hereford line being hidden from view by the locomotive. The tender has a near full load of coal, perhaps indicative of the relatively easy amble along the line from Hereford with light trains. The fireman is looking down at the hose dangling from the footplate. The suggestion is the footplate has just been hosed down and the hose is being dangled to let it drain itself. This was done routinely to rid the footplate of coal dust although Grange Court station may seem an odd place at which to do this, especially to a passenger train with limited station dwell time. The locomotive may therefore have been working a goods train and with time to spare.
Photo from obsolete Grange Court Junction web site (2004 - 2012) court_old60.jpg)
Facing west from the Up Hereford platform circa 1960. As in other photographs, smoke stains on the footbridge above the Hereford tracks are conspicuous by their absence. The reason was the majority of trains on the Hereford line would pass beneath the footbridge with their regulators closed, unlike on the South Wales line, left, on which most trains, many of which were carrying coal and ore, thundered through without stopping. Towards the left end of the footbridge can be seen the banner repeater signals installed sometime around 1947. One feature this view shows and which is not evident in photographs from other angles is the 'dogleg' curve of the Hereford tracks at the west end on the station.
Photo from obsolete Grange Court Junction web site (2004 - 2012) old62.jpg)
A view facing west from the Down South Wales platform circa 1961. Until 1896 the camera would have been looking directly at the original West signal box. In front of the central bridge pier and barely visible is a sign informing passengers they must not cross the line at that point. These signs abounded at Grange Court but should anybody be unable to use the footbridge, such as if in a wheelchair or pushing a perambulator, a member of station staff, having checked signals to ensure no train was approaching, would escort such persons over one of the barrow crossings such as that seen here at the end of the platforms..
Photo from obsolete Grange Court Junction web site (2004 - 2012) old34.jpg) On 2 June 1962 Churchward 4300 Class 2-6-0 No. 6330 was caught by the camera with a Hereford train. This locomotive had just over three months left in service, being scrapped at John Cashmore's Newport yard soon afterwards. Cashmore had a reputation for scrapping locomotives fairly quickly after arrival. The company was one of many which took advantage of the mass ridding of steam by British Railways during the 1960s. It also dealt with quantities of diesel locomotives which were withdrawn in the late 1960s at its various yards, with Newport seeing off numerous diesel shunters and North British Type 2 main line locomotives. On the subject of diesels, the Gloucester - Hereford services was predominantly steam until the end although diesels did make appearances, most notably 'Hymeks' but photographs of them are rare such was the enthusiasts' obsession with steam during its final years.
Photo from obsolete Grange Court Junction web site (2004 - 2012) Photo from obsolete Grange Court Junction web site (2004 - 2012) old67.jpg)
In about 1962 a short coal train approaches Grange Court on the Up South Wales line. The locomotive cannot be identified either by name or number. In the far centre background it is just possible to make out Church Lane level crossing and its keeper's cottage, the latter being still in existence today.
Photo from Rick2E's Flickr Photostream old63.jpg)
In September 1963 4300 Class 2-6-0 No. 6394 saunters away from Grange Court bound for Hereford. The train is the typical three-carriage set with van which latter is in this case a BR Mark I BG (Brake Gangwayed). The signal which is 'Off' on the left was the Down Hereford Starter, the Advanced Starter being the seemingly oddly sited example further along and mentioned in another caption. The white quadrant behind the arm of the signal nearest the camera is a Sighting Board, used to aid signal sighting by drivers at locations where there might be a distraction of some sort or where visibility was generally poor. The diamond shaped plate on the signal post indicated track circuits or more correctly "Rule 55 does not apply". Plenty of in-depth information about this is available online should anybody be interested. No. 6394, looking a little tatty in this view, was another locomotive not built at Swindon. She was a product of Robert Stephenson & Co., Darlington and was new in Novermber 1921. She remained in service until 15 June 1964 and where she was scrapped remained a mystery at the time of writing.
Photo by John Wiltshire from Peter Brabham's Flickr photostream old24.jpg) As a train from Hereford departs Grange Court we get a glimpse of the method used by the signalmen to collect the single line token from Longhope off the locomotive crews. At far left is a GWR net type tablet catcher which appears from photographs to have not been in situ for very long and rarely used. The locomotive is out of sight due to already being on the curve connecting into the Up main line, the third track from the left, the first two being sidings. The date is 24 April 1964.
Photo from obsolete Grange Court Junction web site (2004 - 2012) court_old28.jpg)
The rather cleaner forecourt side of the station building photographed on 26 January 1964. There are gates either end leading directly to and from the Down main platform, the primary purpose of which would have been parcels, sundries and Royal Mail traffic. Should any personages from Northwood Green wish to use the station it was necessary to cross the railway by the the road bridge, walk a short distance south and then effectively double back along the station approach road seen here in the foreground. The approach road also provided access to the goods yard and stationmaster's house. Grange Court, which of course predated the railway, had and still does have an access road further south along Grange Court Road. Parked outside the station are what appears to be a Ford Zephyr Mark III and a Mini Mark I. The Ford has a trailer attached which seems too small to be of much use although of course it would depend upon what exactly its owner wished to transport; something which would be objectionable inside the car no doubt.
Photo
from obsolete Grange Court Junction web site (2004 - 2012)
old35.jpg) This is one of two similar scenes showing trains departing for the Hereford line and photographed from the north side of the line, this one dating from April 1964. The locomotive is an unidentifiable 4300 Class 2-6-0, coupled behind which is a GWR ' Siphon H' van. Only two passenger carriages are visible but this was likely the usual three-car set with the third hidden from view by the curvature of the line through the station.Photo from Jim Lake collection old36.jpg)
In April 1964 4300 Class 2-6-0 No. 6346 pauses with a Hereford train which includes a van as was often the case. At the time of the photograph No. 6346 had just been transferred to Gloucester Horton Road shed, on 13 April to be precise which would likely explain why she carries a freshly painted shedplate on her smokebox door. Shedplates were usually but not always removed from locomotives being transferred away, then given a spruce-up before being fitted to another locomotive transferred in. No. 6346 was not around to see the end of Grange Court station and the Hereford line, being withdrawn in September 1964 and subsequently scrapped at John Cashmore's Newport yard.
Photo from Jim Lake (2004 - 2012)
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