GWR pagoda platform shelter explained
The archetypal Pagoda Platform Shelter was a distinctively-shaped corrugated iron structure used by passengers waiting at railway stations in Wales and southern England.
Origins
In Britain Pagoda shelters are associated with the Great Western Railway (GWR) who introduced them in 1907 and erected a patchwork of them across their network. They were manufactured by an outside supplier and delivered in kit form. They could therefore be assembled offsite, delivered on standard well wagons and craned into position,[1] [2] or assembled onsite, according to circumstances.
The GWR opened its first "Haltes" on 12 October 1903, anglicising the name to "Halt" in 1905. They were prime candidates for Pagoda shelters, but the market was crowded: finance, tradition, knowledge, skills and materials to hand meant that some lines had pagodas aplenty, some one or two and others none at all. The Bala to Ffestiniog Line in upland Wales, for example, had six halts erected at remote, virgin sites between the World Wars, and had pagoda shelters, but,, and had shelters with other designs.
Opening halts and standardising cheap to install and cheap to buy infrastructure in the face of competition firstly from trams, then buses and ultimately cars overlapped with other initiatives such as the railmotor.[3]
Spread
Pagoda shelters were generally associated with branch lines, but many were erected next to regional arteries and some were erected next to main lines; being an example on what was and remains a high speed route out of .
Specifications
Although they were renowned for their shape, their greatest virtues were their cost, simplicity and durability, coupled with the fact that the GWR "took them seriously". They were built to precise working drawings with materials to exact engineering specifications. The example installed at the remote, for example, had a roof made of "No. 18 SWG Galvanised 3 inch Corrugated Sheeting [...] with a floor of specially prepared timber."
Suitability
Many small halts used wooden platforms on a timber frame, rather than masonry or earth. The pagoda shelter could be used for these because of its light weight.[4]
Platform configurations
A pagoda shelter was typically provided for each platform, as, for example, at . As the halts where they were used were mostly on single-track lines, there was only one shelter, though had only one platform with two pagoda shelters.[5] Stations such as and Ruislip Gardens with two platforms, had two, one on each platform,[6] as did . [7] [8] and had two platforms but a pagoda shelter opposite the masonry station building only. Perivale Halt had several on each platform.[9] Defiance Halt (later Defiance Platform) had one on each platform initially, but two more were added to the Up platform during the station's life.[10] had three platform faces with a pagoda shelter only on the most southerly.
Variations
Most pagoda shelters were simple structures with one doorway leading into one room. At, however, the station building was a "Pagoda Building", with three doors and four windows facing the platform and rooms inside for different purposes.[11] still has a pagoda shelter which used to incorporate a "lean-to" staff cabin at the Aberdyfi end.[12] The lean-to appears to have been incorporated into the overall building since it was de-staffed. The shelter differs from most pagodas in that it is either built of or clad with timber.[13]
Although the standard pagoda shelter measured 20feet by 8feet, they could be erected to different dimensions, occasionally at the same location, such as .[14]
Uses
The shelters were mainly used by passengers waiting for trains, but at least two - at and - were "Pagoda lamp huts", whilst one at was a shed.[15] and each had a "Pagoda bike shed". Pagoda huts existed next to Weymouth Junction signalbox,[16] and in station goods yard,[17] neither was for passenger use. A Pagoda shelter was erected at right angles to the track next to the down platform at, unsigned and painted black; research continues into its purpose. It was still there in 1989, 28 years after the station closed and long after all other buildings had been demolished.[18] [19] [20]
Other railways' pagoda shelters
The GWR did not have a complete monopoly of pagoda shelters;, and on the former LSWR branch near Bodmin in Cornwall had one each, and the Highland Railway had at least one, at the remote Borrobol on its main line to Wick. In the USA Pagoda shelters were adopted on a grand scale by at least one railroad.[21]
The present
By 2015 a few, such as, survived in ordinary use. Some survived on preserved railways and others have been erected as new builds on such lines[22] [23] At least one has been rescued from a derelict site and installed on a preserved railway, at on the West Somerset Railway.[24] The shelter and other platform furniture at have been preserved, but not the railway.
Most, however, have been demolished, either to be replaced with a more modern structure, as at, or demolished along with the station, as at, or obliterated along with the line and station, as at Mount Hawke and Goonhavern Halts.
References
Sources
-
- Clemens . Jim . North Wales Steam Lines (DVD) . 2003 . 1959 . B&R Video Productions . . The Jim Clemens Collection No.6 . Vol 79 .
- Coleford . I. C. . Martin . Smith . October 2010a . By GWR to Blaenau Ffestiniog (Part One) . Railway Bylines . 15. 11 . Irwell Press Limited . . 1360-2098 .
- Coleford . I. C. . Martin . Smith . November 2010b . By GWR to Blaenau Ffestiniog (Part Two) . Railway Bylines . 15. 12 . Irwell Press Limited . . 1360-2098 .
- Fenwick . Keith . Michael . Peascod . February 2021 . Carlisle in August 1905 . Cumbrian Railways . 13 . 9 . Cumbrian Railways Association . . 1466-6812 .
- Book: Green . C.C. . North Wales Branch Line Album . 1996 . 1983 . . . 978-0-7110-1252-3 . registration .
- Book: Hawkins, Mac . LSWR West Country Lines: Then and Now . Grange Books Ltd . 1999 . . 978-1-84013-322-6 .
- Book: Karau, Paul . Great Western Branch Line Termini: v. 1 . 978-0-902888-89-0 . Littlehampton Book Services Ltd . . 1977 .
- Book: Leigh, Chris . A Railway Modeller's Picture Library . 1995 . . 978-0-7110-2392-5 . CN 3218 .
- Book: Leigh, Chris . GWR Country Stations:2 . 978-0-7110-1438-1 . . . 1984 .
- Book: McCormack . Kevin . Jenkins . Martin . Britain's Declining Secondary Railways Through the 1960s . Pen and Sword . 2016 . . 978-1-47386-0-292 .
- Book: Mitchell . Victor E. . Smith . Keith . Bala to Llandudno: Featuring Blaenau Ffestiniog . Country Railway Routes . 2010 . Middleton Press (MD) . . 978-1-906008-87-1 .
- Book: Mitchell . Victor E. . Smith . Keith . Barmouth to Pwllheli . Western Main Lines . 2009 . Middleton Press . . 978-1-906008-53-6 .
- Book: Mitchell . Victor E. . Smith . Keith . Didcot to Banbury . Western Main Lines . 2003 . Middleton Press . . 978-1-904474-02-9 .
- Book: Reade, Lewis . 1983 . Branch Line Memories Vol 1 . . Atlantic Transport & Historical Publishers . 978-0-906899-06-9 .
- Book: Rear . W.G. . Williams . M.F. . The Cambrian Coast Railway . Scenes from the Past: 4 . 1988 . Foxline Publishing . . 978-1-870119-03-0 .
- Book: Robertson, Kevin . 2004 . 1999 . Odd Corners of the GWR: From the Days of Steam . . Sutton Publishing Ltd . 978-0-7509-3458-9 .
- Saunders . F.J. . B.W.C. . Cooke . February 1962 . Western Branch Trains . . 108 . 730 . Tothill Press Limited . . 0033-8923 .
- Book: Southern . D. W. . Bala Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog . Scenes from the Past, Railways of North Wales . No. 25 . 1995 . Foxline Publishing . . 978-1-870119-34-4 .
- Book: Vaughan . Adrian . A Pictorial Record of Great Western Architecture . 1977 . OPC Railprint . 978-0-902888-22-7 .
- Wells . Jeffrey . Michael . Blakemore . June 2016 . The Opening of Railway Halts 1930-1935 . Back Track . 30 . 6 . Pendragon Publishing . .
Further material
- Book: Clarke . R. H. . An Historical Survey of Selected Great Western Stations: Vol. 2 . 1986 . Oxford Publishing . . 978-0-86093-015-0 .
- Book: Norris . John . Beale . Gerry . Lewis . John . Edwardian Enterprise . 1987 . Wild Swan Publications Ltd . . 978-0-906867-39-6 .
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Installing Northwood Halt's pagoda shelter . SVR .
- Web site: Northwood Halt's pagoda shelter . Bewdley Station .
- Web site: Railmotors and halts with pagoda shelters . Bygone transport .
- Web site: Pagoda shelter at Rodmarton Platform . Bygone Transport .
- Web site: Pagoda shelters at Bilson Halt . Archive images .
- Web site: Pagoda shelters at Radipole Halt . Disused Stations .
- Web site: Harlech's pagoda shelter . Britain from Above (free login needed to zoom) .
- Web site: Pagoda Shelter at Harlech . BBC .
- Web site: Perivale Halt . lurs .
- Web site: Defiance Halt . Bruce Hunt . 5 October 2016 . 5 October 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161005202800/http://www.brucehunt.co.uk/Defiance%20Halt.html . dead .
- Web site: Pagoda building at Kelmscott and Langford station . The Fairford Branch .
- Web site: Pagoda building and lean-to at Penhelig . RCTS . 12 October 2016 . 13 October 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161013081349/http://www.rcts.org.uk/features/mysteryphotos/show.htm?serial=9&img=66-56-18 . dead .
- Web site: Pagoda building and lean-to at Penhelig . Geograph .
- Web site: Pagoda shelters at Dawlish Warren . Francis Frith .
- Web site: Pagoda shed at Witney station . The Fairford Branch .
- Web site: Pagoda hut at Weymouth . Disused Stations .
- Web site: Pagoda hut at Hagley . Disused Stations .
- Web site: Blaenau to Maentwrog Rd by DMU in 1989, Part 4 . YouTube at 1min 44 sec .
- Web site: Pagoda building on Festiniog station . Archive images .
- Web site: Pagoda platform building at Festiniog station after closure . RM Web .
- Web site: Pagoda depots in Delaware . My large scale . 11 October 2016 . 23 April 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160423102401/http://gold.mylargescale.com/scottychaos/DLW-Pagoda/index.html . dead .
- Web site: Pagoda shelter at Glyndyfrdwy . Honda Wanderer .
- Web site: Pagoda shelter at Lawley Village . Telford Steam Railway . 3 August 2017 . 4 August 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170804023705/https://telfordsteamrailway.co.uk/event/official-opening-of-lawley-village-station/ . dead .
- Web site: Pagoda shelter at Doniford Halt . Yahoo .