Bewdley Down Yard
The Down Yard at Bewdley is located to the South of station, on the Down (West) side of the main line. It was formerly used for the loading and unloading of goods wagons before the closure of the line by BR. The yard is now mainly used by the Bewdley Carriage & Wagon Department for storage and repair of the SVR's collection of goods wagons, and for the restoration and painting of carriages, although the bulk of carriage repairs take place at Kidderminster.
Contents
In history
In common with the other principal crossing stations, Bewdley was provided with a goods yard and goods shed for the loading and unloading of goods wagons and temporary storage of goods. In 1864, two years after the opening of the Severn Valley Railway, Bewdley became the terminus of the Tenbury & Bewdley Railway. A 45ft turntable was installed in the goods yard by McKenzie, Clunes & Co, who also built a signal box between the Down platform and the goods yard to serve the new railway.[1]
By 1878 both the Tenbury and Bewdley and the Severn Valley Railways were part of the GWR. The Board of Trade Inspection in March 1878 prior to the opening of the Kidderminster Loop Line reported "There is a turntable at Kidderminster and trains will run through Bewdley (where the present turntable is being removed) to Woofferton".[2] (The Bewdley turntable was subsequently moved to the goods yard at Tenbury Wells - not Wooferton as is stated in some sources.). The Tenbury & Bewdley Railway signal box also became redundant around this time.
In preservation
The yard consists of two through sidings which are accessible from both ends of the station, as well as a number of miscellaneous sidings. No. 1 siding runs parallel to the Down Main and is mainly used to store the Demonstration Goods Train, as well as occasionally by locomotives assigned to Bewdley MPD or other rolling stock. No. 2 siding is adjacent to No. 1 and passes through the Goods Shed, where wagon restoration is carried out by the Wagon Department. The northern part of No. 2 siding and its headshunt provide access to a dock platform, formerly used for loading goods wagons, now home to three sales coaches.
The remainder of the yard is made up of several interconnected dead end sidings. These sidings include the Paint Shop, used to paint passenger and goods rolling stock. The yard is also home to a number of coaches that reside there permanently: GWR sleeper coach 2233 and Mark 3 sleepers 10569 and 10696 are used for staff accommodation at Bewdley, GWR wartime ambulance car 5804 serves as the SVR Apprentices group mess coach, and GWR 98 Full Brake which is used as a workshop and stores for spare parts.
Ruston and Hornsby 165hp Diesel Shunter 319290 is the resident shunting locomotive, being used as necessary to shunt rolling stock under repair. In January and February 2015, the yard was contracted to Severn Trent Water as a staging ground for repairs to the Elan Valley Aqueduct, which runs under the railway near Folly Point.
The restoration of GWR Large Prairie 4150 is has been ongoing in the yard since 1978, with a lack of funds and manpower since the 1980s resulting in slow progress. A new committee took over the 4150 Fund in 2007, and progress has recently been progressing at a steady rate.
There are plans to amend the track layout to eliminate the reverse move from the goods shed to access the paint shop, and instead to feed it from the back road and install a second track. It is hoped to re-clad the existing shop and have a second shed over a second track.[3]
Gallery
Bewdley on 6/10/1962, with the yard on the right.
GWR Wagon 102691 outside the goods shed.
The north end of sidings 1 and 2. The coaches in siding 2 are permanently resident sales coaches.
Equipment being loaded for Severn Trent Water in January 2015.
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See also
References
- ↑ Beddoes & Smith (1995) p. 27.
- ↑ Beddoes & Smith (1995) p. 42.
- ↑ Haynes, M., Bewdley Carriage Notes, SVR News No. 199 Autumn 2017, 39