User talk:Bruern Crossing

Welcome

Welcome!

Hello, Bruern Crossing, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are some pages that you might find helpful:

I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your messages on discussion pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically insert your username and the date. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or ask your question on this page and then place {{helpme}} before the question. Again, welcome! Aboutmovies (talk) 07:07, 23 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Garneddwen Halt

Your edit attempting to add photos does not seem to have worked. Please either fix it or revert to the earlier version. RGCorris (talk) 09:41, 8 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure why the photos are not displaying. They are present in Wikimedia Commons but are not linking from Wikipedia. I'm guessing there is maybe a propagation time from when they are uploaded to Commons to them being available to Wikipedia (it took a day for the commons search engine to be aware of them), although I can find nothing to this effect in the help files. It is of course possible I have made some error, but nothing strikes me as obvious. If pictures are still not displaying tomorrow I will revert. Bruern Crossing (talk) 15:03, 8 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Former railway stations in north Oxfordshire

I've now fixed 86.25.52.246's contributions by amending Banbury railway station and Adderbury railway station, and creating new articles for Milton Halt railway station, Bloxham railway station, Hook Norton railway station, Rollright Halt railway station and Chipping Norton railway station. That completes the stations of the Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway Kingham - King's Sutton section. However, the new articles are all rather formulaic. If you can add any individual details, complete with inline citations, please feel welcome! Motacilla (talk) 21:05, 16 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thankyou for the lovely history of Bloxham railway station! Please forgive me for taking the liberty of removing the 1958 Hook Norton landslide from the article and adding it to the Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway and Hook Norton railway station articles instead. Have you a reference for the landslide that you could cite? Alternatively, if you give me the date I may be able to find a news report in the archives of the Banbury Guardian.

I apologise for not having made any other contributions for north Oxfordshire lately. Last week I had my hands full rescuing the Watlington and Princes Risborough Railway article from a threat of deletion. It took me a whole day because I created the line diagram: a task at which I am very inexpert and slow. However, making the article good enough for the deletion threat to be withdrawn was worth it.

The Watlington and Princes Risborough Railway article was created by Pembroke Castle, who also tried to create a Hook Norton Ironstone Partnership Ltd. article. This too was tagged for deletion, and I didn't know about it until too late. There is a procedure for rescuing deleted articles. Do you have enough material about the Partnership quarry to rescue do it? Motacilla (talk) 11:50, 6 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your comments! I'm happy with your move of the landslide, it is of more relevance to the line as a whole than to Bloxham. Stanley Jenkins gives the date as August 1958 in his book on the Banbury Cheltenham, at present I can't find any other documented source. Photos taken at the time show it was a small obstruction that could easily have been cleared if the will was there. Since then more land has slipped and the blockage is now much bigger! Initially the line remained technically open, but blocked. I'm not sure if it was ever officially closed prior to the rest of the line. I'll try and find out but we may have to wait until William Hemmings produces volume 3 of his book for a documented source.

If you are able to rescue the deleted Ironstone Partnership article there is certainly enough material to create an article.

Well done on the Watlington and Princes Risborough article - I have a particular interest in the line as I have been involved with the preservation society for many years and am a volunteer fireman. Bruern Crossing (talk) 19:44, 6 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Oh my goodness! Do you know a character on the C&PRR called Danny Woodward? For several years I was one of his Central Line drivers at White City. How is he these days?

Bencherlite has left a helpful message on my talk page about Pembroke Castle's deleted Hook Norton Ironstone Partnership Ltd. article. Sadly it was a stub with only one sentence, without even the opening or closing dates of the quarry. As for the Hook Norton landslip, an inline citation to the relavant page of Jenkins' book should suffice. The landslip sounds like one of those flimsy excuses that BR ws reputed to use to abandon branch lines. Tradition has it that any tunnel with a leak in it or any bridge with a few cracks in it would do.

I'll be away from my PC for the next few days, enjoying a long weekend in the rain at a motorcycle rally. Let's see what fun next week brings! :o) Motacilla (talk) 00:52, 7 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I certainly do know Danny, thanks to him my railway kitbag, jacket, hi-vi etc are all ex-Underground! Haven't seen so much of him recently but I did run into him last year and he seemed the same as ever.

Bruern Crossing (talk) 21:04, 16 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Stations on the Witney Railway

Rsloch has created articles for Yarnton railway station, Eynsham railway station, Witney railway station (goods) and Witney railway station. I've added a "disused rail" box to each article and made some amendments to the Eynsham railway station article. I'm not sure of Rsloch's implication that the East Gloucestershire Railway took over the old Witney Railway terminus in Witney, but I haven't checked the facts on that one so I haven't disputed the point. Neither Rsloch nor I has written South Leigh railway station yet. I've never seen a picture of South Leigh when it was open. I guess the station had only one platform but I know very little of what else was there and I have no very substantial reference works in which to look it up. Any further erudition or references you can add to stations on the Witney Railway could be most welcome! Motacilla (talk) 22:37, 22 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks - I've made a few small additions to the Eynsham page and will look at the others. I don't know if the EGR took over the old Witney station - logically I would have thought it would have remained the property of the Witney Railway but in the absence of any hard information to that effect it is probably best left for the moment. Bruern Crossing (talk) 21:34, 24 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway

Wikipedia has two separate articles about the OW&W Railway: "Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway" and "Oxford-Worcester-Wolverhampton Line". I have proposed their merger and on the latter's talk page I've initiated a discussion that has attracted comments from two other editors. If you have a view on the topic it would be great to have your comments. Motacilla (talk) 12:30, 24 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Stations on the East Gloucestershire Railway

Rsloch has created articles for the former stations at Brize Norton and Bampton, Carterton, Kelmscott and Langford Halt, Lechlade and Fairford. I've amended and expanded some details in each article. My 1976 Ian Allan Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer says "Kelmscott and Langford Platform" rather than "Halt". Have you any sources that can verify which it was? If it should be "Platform" I could move the body of the article to a correctly-named page and leave a WP:Redirect on the old page. All the articles lack book references: have you any that you could add? Thankyou for all your contributions: always good quality stuff! Motacilla (talk) 21:32, 9 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I can find no evidence that it was ever a Halt. Timetables which list "Cassington Halt" have just "Kelmscott & Langford". My understanding is that on the GWR a Halt was unstaffed wheras a Platform did have staff, such as a porter or booking clerk, but came under the control of an adjacent stationmaster. In Stanley Jenkins book he says "...the new station was originally called Kelmscott & Langford Platform, (later shortned to Kelmscott & Langford)" So, Platform - Yes, Halt - No.Bruern Crossing (talk) 20:39, 10 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Three texts to consider for this branch:

Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (1988). Branch Line to Fairford. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 0-906520-52-5. {{cite book}}: |first3= missing |last3= (help); Missing pipe in: |first3= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Jenkins, Stanley C. (1985) [1975]. The Fairford Branch - The Witney & East Gloucestershire Railway". Locomotion Papers (2nd ed.). Headington: Oakwood Press. ISBN 0 85361 316 8.
Waters, Lawrence (1986). Oxford. Rail Centres. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1590-2.

Careful examination of two photos in Mitchell & Smith (chapter is titled "Kelmscot & Langford"), and two others in Jenkins p.99, shows neither suffix on the station nameboard, but a double T on "Kelmscott" (contrary to Mitchell/Smith chapter title). These photos show rather more buildings than you'd expect on a Halt. Consider, for example, halts such as Appleford, Shipton on Cherwell and Tackley, described in Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2003). Didcot to Banbury. Western Main Lines. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 1 904474 02 0. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

Also: on p.74 of Jenkins there is a track diagram stating "Platform"; on p.148 there is a poster from March 1962 which lists all the stations on the branch; the only Halt stated as such is Cassington; and on p.57 the Working Timetable Appendix instructions for working the branch have special provision for Cassington Halt, but no other Halt.

I would suggest the article title should be "Kelmscott and Langford (railway station)" --Redrose64 (talk) 14:20, 13 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I was lucky enough to see the buildings at Kelmscott before they were demolished. They were a larger version of the "pagoda" often used at halts, clearly this was a staffed station. I've never come across this type of building anywhere else, perhaps once again the Fairford branch was being used by the GWR to try out a new idea. Although it seems that Kelmscott & Langford did briefly have the title "Platform" I would agree with you that the best title for the article would be Kelmscott and Langford railway station. Bruern Crossing (talk) 11:51, 15 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The extra-large pagoda buildings are shown in most of the photos that I examined (see comments above and below), but I didn't remark on them because I didn't consider them to be unusual! Admittedly, apart from these, I've only ever come across the "normal" size pagodas.

Anyway, whilst looking for more photos of K&L station signs, I think I may have found the origin of Rsloch's misconception about Halt - see Simpson, Bill (1997). A History of the Railways of Oxfordshire. Vol. Part 1: The North. Banbury and Witney: Lamplight. p. 181. ISBN 1 899246 02 9. It was virtually an unmanned Halt with the familiar 'pagoda' shelter. Now, whilst Wikipedia is not a place for personal attacks (I hope I'm not about to violate WP:NPA), I am afraid that I have issues with Bill Simpson's works in general - it's difficult to get very far without tripping over problems with spelling, punctuation or grammar; there are also sentences/paragraphs which suddenly skip topic, only to return again later. I suspect self-publication of the books in question (the publisher's website shows ten titles, every single one with Bill Simpson as sole or co-author: "Lamplight Publications". Witney. Retrieved 18 July 2009.) - so is it possible that no professional editor was involved? I don't doubt his enthusiasm for the topic, but if there are textual errors, how can we be sure that there are not also factual errors? Consequently I am afraid that I never cite Simpson as a source, unless either (a) it's a photograph, or a direct reproduction of a timetable, notice or similar; or (b) other works agree.

The same work (pp.170-171) shows photos of Cassington Halt, where the word "Halt" is clearly visible. --Redrose64 (talk) 09:21, 18 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Watlington & Princes Risborough Railway

I understand from User:Motacilla that you might be able to get photos of the stations at Bledlow Bridge and Wainhill Crossing? I've just finished off the articles on a number of WPRR halts and any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Lamberhurst (talk) 20:00, 31 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Apologies for taking so long to reply. I have now located a 1991 picture of the Halt, shortly after restoration. I've added this to the Wainhill page. I will search further, but don't think I have any pictures of Bledlow Bridge.Bruern Crossing (talk) 20:01, 17 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks - would you happen to know whether Bledlow Bridge can be accessed from the road? Lamberhurst (talk) 07:52, 24 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Yes it can, the original steps are still there. Not sure if the gate at the top is locked or not - I suspect not.Bruern Crossing (talk) 11:34, 24 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks again. One final question - do you know whether the (concrete) steps leading down from the B4009 Watlington Road to Hill Road at grid ref SU715973 are the original steps for Lewknor Bridge Halt? Lamberhurst (talk) 21:45, 24 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I've consulted a friend who knows the area better than me and his belief is that these steps were constructed after the Halt was demolished.Bruern Crossing (talk) 12:10, 2 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hello again

Hi - not heard much from you over the last few months. How's it going? You might like to know of the proposed WikiProject Oxfordshire. --Redrose64 (talk) 18:14, 14 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Oxford Meetup 6

Hi Bruern; I'm guessing from your handle, and the railway station articles that you edit, that you live somewhere in West Oxfordshire. Have you considered attending one of the Oxford Wikimedia Meetups? They're now happening every month, on the first Sunday, so the next one has been provisionally scheduled for 7 July 2013. A page has been created about the sixth Oxford Meetup; please sign up if you think that you are able to attend - if the date or venue are unsuitable, please comment at its discussion page.

Please spread the word to anybody else who you think might be interested. The next UK meetups are at: London, 16 June; Manchester, 22 June; and Coventry, 7 July. --Redrose64 (talk) 15:47, 5 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, it was pointed out to me that 7 July 2013 collides with Coventry 8, who have a prior claim to the date. Since nobody has (yet) claimed 14 July for any UK meetups, I have decided that Oxford 6 should be held on 14 July 2013, and not 7 July as previously advertised. In this way, those who wish to attend both may do so. I hope the revised Oxford date is convenient for you; and if it isn't, why not give Coventry a try? --Redrose64 (talk) 15:48, 15 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

" Assume typo. Can't find any definition of "shuttered" other than the literal one"

-- DanielPenfield (talk) 10:37, 23 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks Daniel. I see from your third example that the usage is "chiefly North American" which is probably why I had not encountered it before.Bruern Crossing (talk) 11:19, 23 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

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Oxford meetup January 2019

Hi, I see that you are editing again. Have you considered attending a Wikipedia meetup? There's one in Oxford on 20 January 2019. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 11:33, 27 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]