In Colour
Collett ‘5MT’ 4-6-0 No 7820 Dinmore Manor gets away from Newport with 1O58, the 10.30am from Cardiff (General) to Portsmouth
& Southsea in June 1962. Over the years there were typically around three through
weekday workings between the Southern at Salisbury and the Western Region at Cardiff,
with southbound workings departing from Cardiff at 10.30am and 4.25pm to Portsmouth,
and 12.50pm to Brighton. In the return direction, trains departed from Portsmouth
at 9.30am, Brighton at 11am, and 5.35pm from Salisbury.
C G Maggs/Colour-Rail.com/BRW831
Salisbury developed as an important calling point on the L&SWR main line from Waterloo
to Exeter with connections to Southampton and Bournemouth, but was also host to a
Great Western branch from Westbury, which together with its associated movements is
the subject of this feature. The GWR Salisbury terminus adjacent to the L&SWR facilities
closed in 1932 but by then its usefulness had diminished as a service pattern had
emerged that saw trains running through, not only to destinations on the south coast
but also under the Bristol Channel to South Wales. Summer holiday traffic swelled
the number and BR regional boundary changes in 1950 moved the meeting point between
the Southern and Western regions from Salisbury to a point between Warminster and
Westbury and by default all of the trains on the line, be it local or cross-country,
became ‘inter-regionals’, although understandably, engine and crew changes between
the regions continued to be undertaken at Salisbury.
Traversing the connecting line of the former Great Western route from Westbury with
the L&SWR station at Salisbury, Collett 4-6-0 No 5975 Winslow Hall runs in with the 8.10am from Bristol (Temple Meads) in 1960. The weekday version
of this service terminated here but on summer Saturdays changed engines and ran through
to Portsmouth Harbour. Lines to the closed Great Western terminus are on the other
side of the signal box and it is apparent from the track layout in this view that
only two platforms in the SR station were directly accessible by WR trains. The light-coloured
buildings on the horizon above the rear of the train have replaced the GWR locomotive
shed, which closed soon after the line was transferred to the Southern Region in 1950
and thereafter the SR shed beyond the signal box on the left was a shared facility.
Britton Collection
The sun has emerged just after a heavy downpour as
