Object identification on old victorian line

[AB1876]

Hello everyone, First time poster here.
I have an interest in a Victorian era branch line called the Alcester Branch. You can read more about this line here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcester–Bearley_branch_line but in short, it joined the competing Midland Railway and GWR lines on a single track line opening in 1876. The branch line was barely profitable and suffered from the emergence of the motor vehicle, making it easier to move goods and freight. The line closed during both world wars with the operators probably being thankful due to the lack of profit being made on it - the closure was just an inevitability. It opened again during the war to transport Coventry workers from their relocated factory in Great Alne. It was used to store crippled wagons until its full closure in 1951. I believe the land was sold off by the British Transport Commission in around 1961. The track therefore was taken up between 1951 and 1961.Sections of the line are walkable today and I have recently been taking walks on it on the odd weekend. I have come across some items along the line but I'm just not educated enough on this subject to make an identification. I would be grateful for any help on the below objects.



Out of all the items this looks most likely to have been part of a railway track


Some kind of concrete post - possibly to carry cables?


This object stuck out. It had been put in the ground for some reason. Repurposed from the railway or just an old fence post from the farm?





Like the previous object it had been put in the ground and really stuck out. It certainly looks like a piece of rail track. It would be great to get this ID'd.

 

[D6130]

Photos 3 & 4 are lengths of old Great Western Railway broad gauge "bridge" rail (pre-1892), which have been repurposed as fence posts. Photos 5 & 6 are lengths of standard gauge "Bull Head" rail, which have probably been similarly repurposed.

 

[Gloster]

First one looks like a base to which cranks or wire pulleys were attached for signalling purposes.

 

[AB1876]

Photos 3 & 4 are lengths of old Great Western Railway broad gauge "bridge" rail (pre-1892), which have been repurposed as fence posts. Photos 5 & 6 are lengths of standard gauge "Bull Head" rail, which have probably been similarly repurposed.

Thank you for this valuable information.


I am now slightly confused in that the book, Alcester Branch (Jenkins + Carpenter) is informing me that the line was opened with a "standard-gauge" so that would explain the length pictured in Photos 5 & 6.
Which leaves the question of when or where the broad gauge "bridge" rail came in. As this was a pre-1892 track but we know the line was open with a standard gauge. It is known that the track was lifted during the first war and re-laid in 1922 "The line was relaid as cheaply as possible with secondhand permanent-way materials. The re-opened branch was laid with inside-keyed bullhead rail".


There is no reference to the broad gauge "bridge" in the book so this is intriguing.

 

[Gloster]

Thank you for this valuable information.


I am now slightly confused in that the book, Alcester Branch (Jenkins + Carpenter) is informing me that the line was opened with a "standard-gauge" so that would explain the length pictured in Photos 5 & 6.
Which leaves the question of when or where the broad gauge "bridge" rail came in. As this was a pre-1892 track but we know the line was open with a standard gauge. It is known that the track was lifted during the first war and re-laid in 1922 "The line was relaid as cheaply as possible with secondhand permanent-way materials. The re-opened branch was laid with inside-keyed bullhead rail".


There is no reference to the broad gauge "bridge" in the book so this is intriguing.

As they had a lot of surplus bridge rail, the GWR used it all over their network for fence posts, etc. It doesn’t have to have come off the Alcester branch: it could come from anywhere where the GWR had had broad-gauge tracks and, after the track where it had been was lifted, sat in a store until needed somewhere else, like the Alcester branch. There are still bits of broad-gauge rail all over the place, including at other locations that never saw broad-gauge trains.

 

[AB1876]

As they had a lot of surplus bridge rail, the GWR used it all over their network for fence posts, etc. It doesn’t have to have come off the Alcester branch: it could come from anywhere where the GWR had had broad-gauge tracks and, after the track where it had been was lifted, sat in a store until needed somewhere else, like the Alcester branch. There are still bits of broad-gauge rail all over the place, including at other locations that never saw broad-gauge trains.

That makes sense. I had wrongly assumed that the track, next to an abandoned line, must have been part of the line and I think I've backed up the argument that the bridge rail was just, as you say, surplus from GWR used as a fence post because there's no evidence of that line ever using broad-gauge track.

The other giveaway is the length of the track and these makeshift posts are much shorter than what they would have been on the line (30ft+ I am led to believe).

 

[Gloster]

That makes sense. I had wrongly assumed that the track, next to an abandoned line, must have been part of the line and I think I've backed up the argument that the bridge rail was just, as you say, surplus from GWR used as a fence post because there's no evidence of that line ever using broad-gauge track.

The other giveaway is the length of the track and these makeshift posts are much shorter than what they would have been on the line (30ft+ I am led to believe).

I presume that pieces were cut to suitable lengths once in the store‘s workshops after being delivered there following track lifting. Much easier to load a series of 6’ to 8’ long bits of pre-shaped fence posts onto a wagon and then drop them off where they were needed than to take a long length of rail and the heavy-duty cutting tools there.

 

[ThirteenArches]

If anyone's into old rail, pop down to Caen Hill locks below Devizes, or Semington on the Kennet & Avon Canal. By the upper locks, and just by the former former junction with the Wilts & Berks canal, the fencing is made up of old fishbelly rail. I don't know where that came from; the GWR never used it, two early 1820s/ 30s railways near Bristol did - the Bristol & Avon, and the Avon & Gloucestershire (the Dramway), but the latter was subsumed controversially by the Midland Railway, and I think the former just died out. The GWR owned the K&A, but maybe just bought the rail as scrap.

 

[alxndr]

If anyone's into old rail, pop down to Caen Hill locks below Devizes, or Semington on the Kennet & Avon Canal. By the upper locks, and just by the former former junction with the Wilts & Berks canal, the fencing is made up of old fishbelly rail. I don't know where that came from; the GWR never used it, two early 1820s/ 30s railways near Bristol did - the Bristol & Avon, and the Avon & Gloucestershire (the Dramway), but the latter was subsumed controversially by the Midland Railway, and I think the former just died out. The GWR owned the K&A, but maybe just bought the rail as scrap.

Maybe we should start a thread for "rail furthest from its origin." I wonder if anyone can beat the doorstop sided wedge of GWR bridge rail I rescued from a skip and brought to Scotland as a memento of my time working on the Western.

 

[John Webb]

Photos 3 & 4 are lengths of old Great Western Railway broad gauge "bridge" rail (pre-1892), which have been repurposed as fence posts. Photos 5 & 6 are lengths of standard gauge "Bull Head" rail, which have probably been similarly repurposed.

I think it more likely the 'Bull Head' rail was used to support some form of sign or notice. If it had been used for fencing I think there would be more holes?

First one looks like a base to which cranks or wire pulleys were attached for signalling purposes.

I'd agree with that suggestion. Possibly a set of point rod compensating cranks?

 

[Bevan Price]

Photos 3 & 4 are lengths of old Great Western Railway broad gauge "bridge" rail (pre-1892), which have been repurposed as fence posts. Photos 5 & 6 are lengths of standard gauge "Bull Head" rail, which have probably been similarly repurposed.

Photos 5 & 6 may have been used as supports for mileposts. Lengths of old rail were sometimes used for that purpose.

 

[D6130]

Photos 5 & 6 may have been used as supports for mileposts. Lengths of old rail were sometimes used for that purpose.

Indeed....or - given the length of the sections of rail shown - perhaps they had been used as mountings for 'Beware of Trains" or "No Trespassing" signs?

 

[WesternLancer]

I think it more likely the 'Bull Head' rail was used to support some form of sign or notice. If it had been used for fencing I think there would be more holes?

A bit like this SR example pictured here near Redhill - not the best illustration but you can see the sign (remains of) plus the bullhead rail used to mount the sign on

Tho holes in the rail in the OP are probably at the spacing for the fishplate bolts to join to the next rail - did they have the idea to ensure the signs had bolts fixed at a point where previously drilled fish plate bolt holes would fit? Would certainly make less work when erecting signs if you could save effort drilling more holes!

Off The Rails

This old Southern Railway sign (well half of it anyway), which looks to be mounted on a piece of old bullhead rail, now looks to be steadily overtaken by nature, plus a few cobwebs too. The sign is at the western end of a footpath at the north end of Redhill station, which leads to a footbridge...

www.flickr.com

This old Southern Railway sign (well half of it anyway), which looks to be mounted on a piece of old bullhead rail, now looks to be steadily overtaken by nature, plus a few cobwebs too. The sign is at the western end of a footpath at the north end of Redhill station, which leads to a footbridge that spans the railway.

Hello everyone, First time poster here.
I have an interest in a Victorian era branch line called the Alcester Branch. You can read more about this line here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcester–Bearley_branch_line but in short, it joined the competing Midland Railway and GWR lines on a single track line opening in 1876. The branch line was barely profitable and suffered from the emergence of the motor vehicle, making it easier to move goods and freight. The line closed during both world wars with the operators probably being thankful due to the lack of profit being made on it - the closure was just an inevitability. It opened again during the war to transport Coventry workers from their relocated factory in Great Alne. It was used to store crippled wagons until its full closure in 1951. I believe the land was sold off by the British Transport Commission in around 1961. The track therefore was taken up between 1951 and 1961.Sections of the line are walkable today and I have recently been taking walks on it on the odd weekend. I have come across some items along the line but I'm just not educated enough on this subject to make an identification. I would be grateful for any help on the below objects.


View attachment 176460
Out of all the items this looks most likely to have been part of a railway track

View attachment 176461
Some kind of concrete post - possibly to carry cables?

View attachment 176462
This object stuck out. It had been put in the ground for some reason. Repurposed from the railway or just an old fence post from the farm?

View attachment 176464

View attachment 176465

Like the previous object it had been put in the ground and really stuck out. It certainly looks like a piece of rail track. It would be great to get this ID'd.

View attachment 176466

A great set of pics there - thanks for posting!

 

[AB1876]

Looking through old photo's of the line via the book (Alcester Branch) I can see one photo taken very close to where the 5 + 6 were taken on the opposite side of the track with exactly the same bull-head post with a sign right at the top saying "WHISTLE". The sign would have been facing trains approaching from Bearley towards Aston Cantlow and therefore the overbridge and the Halt which I approximate to be between 500-600 metres from said sign. I will upload the photo shortly.

Looking through old photo's of the line via the book (Alcester Branch) I can see one photo taken very close to where the 5 + 6 were taken on the opposite side of the track with exactly the same bull-head post with a sign right at the top saying "WHISTLE". The sign would have been facing trains approaching from Bearley towards Aston Cantlow and therefore the overbridge and the Halt which I approximate to be between 500-600 metres from said sign. I will upload the photo shortly.