Friday, 30 June 2017

Messerschmitt ME 109 WW2 Bullet Holes Truro Station Footbridge 2017

WW2 Messerschmitt Bullet Marks, Truro Station

photo of bullet mark damage from ww2 air raid at truro station cornwall
Bullet indentations on exterior footbridge panel          Photo: Charles Moorhen
 


                 


During World War Two At around 7:30 on the evening of Thursday the 6th August 1942, Truro railway station, Cornwall, came under attack from a lone German Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter aircraft - better known as the Messerschmitt ME 109.


The physical results of this terrifying incident can still be seen in one of the east-facing side panels of the platform footbridge spanning the tracks where two bullets slammed against the bridge metal; one almost penetrating it.


photo of Messerschmitt ME bullet indentations inflicted on Truro station footbridge, England, during WW2 air raid.

                       Bullet indentations on interior of Truro station footbridge panel                                            Photo: Charles Moorhen



Truro Railway Station footbridge across platforms 1 and 2 containing World War Two German bullet marks

               Bullet holes on Truro footbridge panel just above platform roof gutter on right    Photo:  Charles Moorhen     



At the time of the attack the mail train from Penzance to London was standing in the station, and it is widely believed that it was the presence of the train which momentarily distracted the attention of the German pilot away from his main target - the city of Truro itself.

As the ME 109 flew on towards Truro, to join the raid which killed 14 people and resulted in the injury of another 100, it left behind two fatalities and a number of wounded.



Messerschmitt ME 109



Those who died were railway worker, Mr. P. Williams, 52, and postman, Mr. E. Pentecost, 41.


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While on the subject of Cornish railways and WW2, it is worth noting that many children were evacuated by train to Cornwall at some point during the years of hostilities.

Here are just two brief examples:

On Friday the 1st September 1939, 544 evacuee children and their teachers arrived at St. Austell station, Cornwall, on the 6:30 from Paddington, London, on Evacuation Train No.103.
On the 3rd September 1939, an evacuation train with the identification number 116 painted across the front of the engine boiler, brought 230 children and mothers to Truro station from Acton, London, to be billetted in Truro and the surrounding area.


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Wednesday, 28 June 2017

Photo Class 450108 Desiro South West Trains EMU Brookwood Station 2014

Class 450108 EMU Brookwood, Surrey

photo of class 450108 in orange blue and red livery of South West Trains electric multiple unit at Brookwood station, UK
Desiro Class 450108 EMU
Photo: Charles Moorhen



South West Trains Class 450 450108 third-rail electric multiple unit, is seen at Brookwood station operating a stopping service to London Waterloo on the afternoon of Sunday the 29th June 2014.


Class 450108 commuter train was built between 2002 and 2006 and allocated to Northam (Southampton) EMUN.

Class 450108 unit coach numbers are as follows: 63708  66858  66808  63758.

Although it was a Sunday I saw a fair amount of Class 450 and Class 444 EMU activity on the line - but no freight.  

It was my first trip to Brookwood station, although I passed through it many times as a boy in the 1950's behind a variety of Southern Region steam locomotives on my way to Basingstoke for my school holidays.  





Apart from the absence of smoke-stained Southern Railway green paint, not to mention equally smoke-stained railway staff, it seemed as though it had hardly changed a bit.

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Brookwood station features elsewhere on this blog under the title, Brookwood Cemetery Station and the London Necropolis Funeral Railway.  
The blog post makes for interesting reading if you are partial to a bit of unique railway history.



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Tuesday, 27 June 2017

Night Photo Class 172344 London Midland Trains DMU Leamington Spa 2016


Night photo of London Midlands Trains DMU class 172344 Turbostar diesel multiple unit at leamington spa station England 2016.
Turbostar Class 172233 DMU
Photo: Charles Moorhen




London Midland Trains Class 172 344 'Turbostar' DMU photographed parked up for the night at bay platform 1, Leamington Spa station, on the 23rd August 2016.


Class 172344 commuter train was built between 2010 and 2011 and allocated to Tysley TMD (Birmingham).

Class 172344 unit coach numbers are as follows: 50344  56344  79344.

An ideal warm summer's night for photographing a variety of trains.

Another London Midland Trains Class 172/3 DMU, (172 345) can be seen on a separate blog page by clicking here



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Photo Class 153366 Super Sprinter DMU Train Bletchley Sidings 2015



Class 153366 Sprinter Unit, Bletchley
Photo of London Midland City Train Class 153366 diesel multiple unit 2015

Photo: Charles Moorhen
 

London Midland Trains one-car Class 153 366 diesel multiple unit photographed on the carriage sidings at Bletchley in 2015.


Class 153366 commuter train unit was built between 1987 and 1988 and allocated to Tysley TMD (Birmingham).

It was hit and miss as to whether I would be able to get this shot at all.  The sun had almost set when I spotted the dmu as I drove past the sidings.  Added to that I needed to weave between trees while stumbling through a mass of undergrowth strewn with brambles.

Although not my best railway photo by a long chalk, I did at least manage a half decent record of Class 153 153366 which I hadn't seen before.
 
The sprinter Class 153 diesel multiple units were built by Leyland Bus between 1987 and 1988 as two-coach units before being converted to single-car units in 1991/92 by Hunslet-Barclay. 



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The rail franchise run by London Midland Trains has, from the 10th December 2017, been taken over by West Midlands Trains part-owned owned by Abellio.
 

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Other Class 153 DMU Photos: 
 London Midland Class 153 364 DMU Night Photo at Bedford


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Monday, 26 June 2017

Photo Super Sprinter Class 153370 GWR DMU Enters Truro 2017


Class 153370 'Sprinter' Unit, Truro
Photo of GWR super sprinter class 153370 diesel multiple unit entering Truro station 2017
Photo: Charles Moorhen



Single-car Class 153 153370 Super Sprinter DEMU, based on a Leyland bus chassis, in GWR green livery, enters Truro railway station, Cornwall, operating a late afternoon commuter service in mid-June 2017.

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The sprinter Class 153 diesel multiple units were built by Leyland Bus between 1987 and 1988 as two-coach units before being converted to single-car units in 1991/92 by Hunslet-Barclay.

Class 153370 was allocated to Exeter St. Davids.
Class 153370 unit coach numbers as follows: 57370.

A 'grab-shot' that very nearly didn't happen as I was totally unaware this diesel multiple unit (strange name for a single-car train) was approaching!


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Other Class 153 DMU's:

Class 153 366 DMU at Bletchley 2015
London Midland Class 153 364 DMU Night Photo at Bedford



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