As described in Part 1, you can find the passenger timings here and the freight timings here. The original notes appear in italics with minimal editing, followed by my recent comments attempting clarification. The numbers in brackets have been added to assist in locating entries.
Sedgeley Jn. Sat 29th December 1962
(1) The first two Down ‘Westerns’ are 3-sets.
(2) The LM Parcels goes Up with a Class ‘A’ headcode
(3) Walsall goes Up.
(4) Parcels goes down, with a red electric tail lamp on the right and a white light still lit on the left. (No headlamps on, of course).
(5) Walsall goes down.
(6) Dudleyport passenger goes down.
(7) Busy at 8.11 a.m. ‘Is Line Clear?’ from Horsley refused while we take the Local off Dudleyport, but then accept a ‘1-3-1’ off Horsley.
(8) We take a LE off Dudley, then offer him the Dudleyport local. The LE is a Stanier 2-6-0 with a Fowler tender, tender first to Great Bridge, reported as T39.
(9) The late ‘Western’ follows the light engine down.
(10) The parcels, 3H47, scoots by on the Up.
(11) Last Up ‘Western’ was ‘Swindon’; 8.0 a.m. was a different 3-set.
(12) T47 is offered on the up although the following Walsall has already departed.
(13) First the parcels comes off the Dudleyport branch with the 2-6-0 dragging one short, panelled LMS bogie parcels vehicle.
(14) T47 comes up ‘in the teeth of’ the Walsall, 44914 on the front priming badly with the young fireman at the controls. He rumbles past, the engine losing its feet occasionally, dragging 3 sheeted mineral wagons, 5 Conflats with cement containers, 1 sheeted mineral, 3 Conflats with cement containers, 2 sheeted wagons, 2 mineral wagons of coal, 2 open wagons, wooden, sheeted, one 20ton double side-door mineral wagon (empty), 2 more wooden sheeted wagons, 13 Midland Tar Distillers tank wagons of various designs, 1 low steel wagon, 1 open wagon, brake van and 42957 on the back (T39 on a banking turn).
(15) The Walsall comes Up right behind the freight and shortly returns to Walsall.
(16) T39 passes tender-first for The Port with 1 mineral wagon loaded with scrap, 2 4-wheel vans and a WR brake. Having detached, T39 returns from Dudleyport propelling one and the brake. He stands on the Up Main, holding up the Up Walsall, while the Parcels engine with one ‘BG’ goes down to Dudleyport. Then we get T39 away to Great Bridge allowing us to pull off for the Up Walsall.
(17) After a break, the Walsall comes up and the ‘Western’ goes down.
(18) ‘Western’ goes Up with the Parcels hard behind, 46456 with a BR bogie full brake and a panelled full brake, getting in a bit of difficulty. Having left its train at Dudley, the Parcels Engine returns light to Bescot.
(19) T65 is put on the block, reported as “31=45 Stourbridge” The train passes with 48514 slipping like mad at the front and the banker 48256 propelling almost the whole train on occasion. It’s a long train of coal with an LMS brake van at the rear. The crew on the banker have tied a bit of sacking across the cab side sheeting on the driver’s side as a ‘dodger’, to keep out the worst of the cold wind.
(20) The ‘Western’ goes up at 12.18 without a Line Clear (Thank you Dudley East!).
(21) T47 returns downhill on a long train of empties.
(22) 48478 takes an LMR brake down – reported as WR2.
(23) 48430 takes a long train of empties – WR1 running out-of-path with an LMR long-wheelbase brake van painted in Bauxite.
(24) Following the Down Local, T65 rushes past with a long train of ‘Pools’ for Norton Junction with a WR brake van (although he’d earlier gone up with an ‘LMS’ brake van).
(25) Dudley had suggested running T65 in front of the local but in the end the passenger was despatched first.
(26) The Up Western is a single car ‘Bubble Car’ dragging (and multipled with) half a twinset.
(27) ‘WR2’ (8V06) comes up with about 25 Slack. 48478 is on the front and 48256, working well, is banking.
(28) The Up Walsall is right behind 'WR2' and is slowed but not stopped.
(29) The 3.0 p.m. Down to the Western is the half twinset and Bubble Car.
(30) T63 comes up with 6 Dudleys, a ‘H.D. Brake’ (whatever that is) and a BR Standard Brake (the Banker had no tail lamp).
(2) Because of poor communications, we first pull off for the DMU Walsall direction but eventually sort it out and send the DMU to Dudleyport.
(3) The Walsall local goes Up, followed by a Western 3-car DMU.
(4) 48680 goes down at 8.06 a.m.
(5) The Dudleyport local makes its way back to Dudley, followed by the Walsall Parcels.
(6) The Parcels comes from Dudleyport very late.
(7) 45146 (the engine off T39) goes down.
(8) Anxious to get the Up Parcels moving, we incorrectly turn the Parcels Up the Loop before the Up Leamington has come to a stand. Oops!
(9) The parcels is 43112 tender first with one 4-wheel Fruit Van, two 4-wheel vans, one Long Wheel Base Van and one 4-wheel van – no accommodation for the Guard!
(10) The Up Walsall is 56158 at 9.03 and he goes Down at 9.13.
(11) 56160 is the Up Walsall at 9.19, Down at 9.27.
(12) The Walsall is followed by a light engine happily toddling along two and a half hours late for Wolverhampton via Dudleyport!
(13) The ten o’clock Down is a 3-car set.
(14) 56160 appears again at 10.16 on the Up Walsall.
(15) The Up ‘Western’ is a single unit, trailing half a twin.
(16) ‘47’ comes up with 48769, cement opens, loaded Plate wagons, coal and sundries, LMS Brake and T39 banking, the whole train going very slowly. As he goes away from us, the train engine whistles and opens up but as the rear of the train passes the box, the Banker’s still just plodding along.
(17) 48515 at 10.58 is the engine off the ‘Cuckoo’, heavily frosted up at the front end.
(18) The following Western is a single car DMU.
(19) The 11.0 Walsall is 56160 again.
(20) On the Down, T39s engine is tender first with five Brake Vans, six Single Bolster wagons, two Mineral Wagons carrying turnings, a Bolster wagon and LMR Brake.
(21) T65 goes Up with a ‘Black Five’, a mixed train with coal wagons and a brake van carrying a tail lamp. (not sure why the tail lamp is commented unless it means tail lamp but no side lamps).
(22) The Up Parcels is a 2-6-0 tender first with one Long Wheel Base 4-wheeler and two ‘BG’. Sedgeley Jn. Sat 26th January 1963 (1) The Derby – Bristols comes Up at 7.2 a.m.
(2) The ‘Cuckoo’ is still in the Up Loop at Dudley and WR3 is held at Great Bridge.
(3) T65 runs downhill with 55 empties. No sign yet of the Parcels Engine.
(4) 48725, with a tiny ‘Fowler’ tender, backs gently Down at 7.40.
(5) The Down Dudleyport Local is a Western 3-car set.
(6) The Down Walsall at 8.12 is the 7.37! (Up?).
(7) WR3 comes Up from Great Bridge and goes Up the Loop, 48424 blowing steam, frozen power station slack, LMS piped brake, banked by 48725 with worn motion clanking away.
(8) The Up Western is Diagram ‘105’.
(9) Our somewhat late Parcels Engine follows – 2-6-0 46421 with a full tank of water [presumably slopping everywhere] bustling Up to Dudley to pick up his guard.
(10) The 8.30 Down ‘Western’ is the 3-car unit which worked the Dudleyport service earlier and labelled Diagram ‘345’.
(11) Up Parcels goes by at 8.58 with two 4-wheel vans, one Long Wheel Base van, one BG and another Long Wheel Base van.
(12) 310 goes Down – he’s just coming round the corner as we get the home off.
(13) T47 goes Up with 48734, 34 for Round Oak, 7 for Stourbridge a BR Brake Van with a spare tail lamp because 44714 off T39 is banking. [The tail lamp of the main train should have been removed to indicate to signalmen that there was a bank engine]
(14) The Walsall Parcels follows Up and comes to a stand. We draw him up to the box at 49, then get him away to Dudley.
(15) Engine on the Down is T39.
(16) The ten o’clock ‘Western’ is a ‘Swindon’ 3-set.
(17) Diagram ‘310’ goes Up behind the Walsall at 10.21.
(18) Down engine at 10.44 is 61018, off the ‘Cuckoo’!
(19) 48410 (balanced drivers and modified for WR) takes a dozen wagons (including two BBC loaded with steel) and a BR Brake Van downhill.
(20) The 11 o’clock DMU is diagram ‘310’. We didn’t get the distant off for him because Dudley East seems to be forgetting to send ‘Section’ for Down trains, for some unknown reason.
(21) 48255 goes Up with vans, Conflats, scrap, coal, vans, coke and an LMR Brake painted Bauxite and 48529 (T63) banking.
(22) The parcels is offered to Dudley on the Up Main but he takes it ‘Permissive’up the Loop (2 pause 4 pause 2) although it sounds more like ‘4 pause 2’. The train is two 4-wheel vans, a ‘Siphon’ and a BG. He goes up the loop ‘Under the Warning’.
(23) The late-running Walsall follows up the Main.
(24) The ‘8F’ off T63 returns downhill, light engine, passing the up Walsall.
(25) The next Up freight is accepted permissive up the Loop (this time we get ‘2 pause 4 pause 2’) after just coming to a stand at our Home. It’s 48259 with three mineral wagons of scrap, one mineral wagon with coal, three plate wagons, two tube wagons, two vans, private owner coal [?] and an SR brake van.
(26) The Down ‘Western’ is cancelled and a ‘1-4’ freight is put on the block. It’s the engine off T47, scurrying to Bescot with about 15 on, including loaded bolsters.
(27) The following ‘Western’ is diagram ‘302’ and, like most of the ‘Westerns’ today, is a 3-car DMU.
(28) ‘WR2’ passes with 48450 (another ‘Westernised’ class 8) and a WR ‘Gondola’ Brake Van.
(29) Meanwhile, diagram ‘310’ goes up at 12.27.
(30) The Parcels Engine passes on the Down for Bescot, with T63’s engine right behind.
(31) The second Up ‘Western’ is a 3-car DMU, made up of two ‘Swindon’ driving cars sandwiching a WR suburban DMU trailer.
(32) The 1 o’clock Down is Diagram ‘310’.
(33) The Up ‘Western’ at 1.18 p.m. is a single-car DMU, diagram ‘108’.
(34)48265 (off T65) nearly comes to a stand behind.
(35) The 2 o’clock down is diagram ‘108’.
(36) The Up ‘Western’ is diagram ‘310’.
(37) ‘WR1’ goes Up, 48410 with power station slack and an SR brake, banked by T63.
(38) The following Walsall is stopped for a while.
(39) The following ‘Western’ (the single unit, diagram ‘108’) is slowed.
More Notes follow in the next part of this series.
