Wreck of the SS Rohilla, 1914 - Part Two

 

 First covered a year ago, here - http://electric-edwardians.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/wreck-of-ss-rohilla-1914.html , this date, 30th October, is the anniversary of the wrecking of the SS Rohilla. The Hospital Ship was then subject of an enormous RNLI rescue, and one of the Lifeboats involved is preserved, see here - http://electric-edwardians.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/william-riley-of-birmingham-leamington.html . This year I have some new photographs of the display at the superb Whitby Lifeboat Museum, including a new model installed in February 2012 showing the wreck of the SS Rohilla and one of the RNLI Lifeboats rescuing people from the ship

Ship's bell from the SS Rohilla

   

 Lifebelt from the SS Rohilla

Steam Tug 'Canada', 1903

This is a scale model of the steam tug 'Canada', built in 1903. 'Canada' was employed in towing barges and timber ships which unloaded at the Surrey Commercial Docks. She was also used by the Port of London Authority as part of the fire-fighting and salvage service

Star Commercial Vehicles, 1916

 

 Lovely advert for Star Commercial Vehicles of 1916, showing a delivery Lorry and a Royal Mail delivery van. The text for the Star 50cwt Lorry shown above states;

The illustration to the left is a Star 50 cwt Lorry supplied to a large Wholesale Cabinet Maker in the North of England, who writes; "This shows our usual Daily load on the 2 1/2 ton STAR we had from you a few months ago. WE GET 11 MILES TO THE GALLON carrying loads of this kind"

Damage to Cleopatra's Needle in London, 1917

 

 A visible reminder of the German air attacks on the UK in the First World War is the damage to one of the Sphinx's that flank Cleopatra's Needle at Embankment, London. On the night of 4th/5th September 1917, the first night time raid on London by German aircraft was taking place (not first raid, as the plaque says).

 

 Eleven Gotha G.V's set off to attack, however only nine attacked, only five of those hitting London, the others hitting Suffolk, Margate and Dover.

Nineteen were killed that night by the attack, and one Gotha went missing, presumably shot down by anti aircraft fire, but searches proved fruitless as nothing was found of it, despite apparently receiving a direct hit and diving towards the River Medway.

Just before midnight, one of four bombs intended for the nearby Charing Cross station hit the road just alongside the right hand (looking from the land, unless you happen to be taking a swim) Sphinx.

The blast and bomb fragments damaged the pedestal of Cleopatra's needle (it was having work done to it when these were taken in 2008 so not visible) and also the plinth of the right hand Sphinx. The sphinx also has chunks missing from its paws and side as testament to the raid.

As well as damaging the Sphinx and Cleopatra's Needle, a tram was hit by the bomb, killing two passengers and the conductor. The blast was so severe a whole was made in the road under which the circle/district underground line could be seen (this line was built using the 'cut and cover' method so was only a few metres under the surface at the most)

South Eastern & Chatham Railway Poster, 1907

South Eastern & Chatham Railway poster from 1907, advertising, in French, steam turbine powered boat services from Calais to Dover and Boulogne to Folkestone. A reproduction of the poster can be bought from - http://www.past-reflections.co.uk/calais_boulogne.html

Triumph Model A Motorcycle, 1914

This is a typical Triumph motorcycle of the late Edwardian era, fitted with a 550cc single cylinder engine. It was to be replaced in 1914 by the very similar looking Triumph Model H, which alongside the Douglas motorcycle was the most common British motorcycle of the Great War

Dennis Fire Engines, c1910

 

 This wonderful painting is from the front cover of a catalogue for Dennis fire engines and ambulances, circa 1910. For a fine example of what they were advertising, see this post with a 1912 Dennis Motor Fire Tender - http://electric-edwardians.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/motor-fire-tender-1912.html

North Eastern Railway Electric Locomotive No 1, 1904

Electric Locomotive No 1 in 2009 - the bufferbeam is the original one which had cracked, and has since been replaced as seen in the other photographs taken in 2012

In 1902, the North Eastern Railway took the decision to electrify the Tyneside suburban passenger lines in the Newcastle-upon-Tyne area to compete with the new electric tramways in the area which were having an effect on passenger numbers. At the same time, it was decided to electrify the Newcastle Quayside Branchline, a freight line which ran from the Trafalgar Yard at Manors station down to the sidings on the Newcastle Quayside, a short but very important line. The line included a steep curved tunnel down to the Quayside, which was difficult to work with steam locomotives as the steam and smoke had a major impact on visibility for the engine crews, and as well as that the sparks were easily setting alight to the straw used as packing in the wagons. As part of the electrification of the line, which had overhead wires at Trafalgar Yard and in the Newcastle Quayside Sidings and a third rail system like the Tyneside line for work in the tunnels where clearance was restricted, two BO-BO (meaning the wheel configuration was of a pair of bogies which had a central pivot to allow it to navigate tight corners, with each bogie having four wheels) electric locomotives were ordered on 15th December 1902 from British Thomson-Houston, with the frames and bodies built by Brush at Loughborough, Leicestershire to the 'steeplecab' design (meaning the cab is in the centre of the locomotive), similar to other electric locomotives built at the same time. British Thomson-Houston built the electrical components at their site at Rugby, Warwickshire.

 

The locomotives, built in 1904 and entering service in July 1905, picked up their power from shoes on the bogies which took the electrical current from contact with the third rail both in the tunnels and over the Tyneside suburban lines to the sheds at South Gosforth where the locomotives and the Tyneside electric stock were kept when not in use.

Originally the two locomotives were fitted with a large bow collector which was mounted on a wooden beam halfway across one of the sloping bonnets at either end of the locomotive which changed angle with the direction the locomotive travelled in, but in 1905, following tests at Trafalgar South Yard where they were to operate, this was changed to a pantograph on the cab roof  before they entered service in June of that year. The pantographs were extended when in use to make contact with overhead lines or pulled down to a flattened position when not in use when the locomotive was picking up electric current from the 'third rail' - this was especially important when travelling through the tunnels, where it would be damaged against the tunnel mouth if not pulled down in time! The locomotives went into LNER service when the North Eastern Railway was grouped together with other railway lines in the north eastern and eastern areas in 1923 and became known as the ES1 class (Electric Shunting 1), which they are best known as now. Both locomotives gave good service and were kept in use until 29th February 1964 when they were withdrawn, nearly sixty years after entering service. They were replaced by diesel locomotives but the line itself was closed in 1969 and is now virtually unrecogniseable. No 1 Locomotive was preserved as part of the National Collection, and is now on display at the National Railway Museum's outpost at Shildon, Durham, known as 'Locomotion', which interestingly is where the North Eastern Railway's freight line originated on it's way to Middlesbrough, opening in 1915. Electric Locomotive No 2 was apparently also planned to be preserved but this plan fell through, and it was scrapped in 1966. Locomotive No 1 is now in it's original North Eastern Railway colour scheme, representing not it's strictly original condition, but from 1905 onwards (just before entering NER service) with the pantograph on the cab roof

Great Northern Railway C1 Atlantic Locomotive, 1902

The Great Northern Railway, based in Doncaster and operating services along what is now known as the east coast main line from London Kings Cross Station, introduced the 'Atlantic' class Locomotive to Britain in the late 19th Century thanks to the Chief Locomotive Superintendent, Henry Alfred Ivatt. The 'Atlantic' consisted of the following wheel arrangement - 4 front, undriven wheels, four large powered wheels, and 2 trailing undriven wheels, known as 4-4-2. The purpose of the undriven wheels was to support the weight of the locomotive, and the extra two trailing wheels meant a larger, more powerful boiler could be fitted than that to the standard large passenger express design of 4-4-0. 

The Atlantic design was further improved by Ivatt in December 1902 by enlargening the boiler from a 4 ft 8 in diameter to 5 ft 6 in. These photographs show the first 'large' GNR Atlantic, 251, the first of 94 of this class of large boilered C1 Atlantics. Initially there were some teething troubles, but after these were solved they served succesfully hauling the heaviest passenger express trains on the Great Northern Railway, although they were mostly replaced by larger locomotives in the 1920's. They continued to serve on lighter express trains, with 17 of them entering British Railways service in 1948. 251 was earmarked for preservation, and was retired in 1950. It was restored into it's original Great Northern Railway livery, and is seen here at Barrow Hill Engine Shed near Chesterfield, Derbyshire in April 2012

The Red Lion Hotel, 1907

Rebuilt at the Crich Tramway Museum, Derbyshire, is The Red Lion, originally located in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. The Red Lion is a typical Edwardian pub/hotel, with the pub on the lower level and hotel above. The Red Lion existed since the early 19th century, however between 1900 and 1907 the facade was rebuilt to the very popular late Victorian/Edwardian style as seen here, made of Terracotta and Faience, with the rest of the building as brickwork. The very distinctive Terracotta frontage can be still be seen on Pubs around the UK, however many more were either demolished or rebuilt with a more modern frontage.

The Red Lion faced demolition in 1973 to make way for the A500 road, however it was dismantled, stored in a field, very slowly restored and cleaned brick by brick from 1986 by a Mr Soper, and in 1990 started to be rebuilt at the Tramway Museum, and reopened in 2001. Although the interior isn't completely period as it serves as a modern restaurant and pub for museum visitors (although unfortunately wasn't open when I visited), the frontage is a very fine example of an Edwardian pub

Watch 'St Kilda, It's People and Birds', 1908

 An extract of a 1908 film showing nature on St Kilda - uploaded to Youtube by the British Film Institute

Cardiff Works Tram 131, 1905

Cardiff 131 is a rare survivor of the Edwardian electric tram boom - it was purpose built as a maintenance vehicle, and not designed to carry passengers. The centre of the body contains a large water tank used for cleaning the tracks, and also a rail grinder for ensuring they are of the correct profile. It was also used for driver training before new drivers were let loose on passenger carrying vehicles, which of course were more important and couldn't be spared both in terms of their value and workload for training new drivers

Great Eastern Railway G58 Goods Locomotive, 1905

The G58 class of Goods locomotives were designed by James Holden for the Great Eastern Railway and introduced in 1905. The wheel arrangement is 0-6-0, meaning the only wheels for the locomotive are the six powered wheels coupled together, with a tender for water and coal behind. The 0-6-0 wheel arrangement was very popular for steam locomotives through most of the history of steam locomotives on British railways. They were similar to the earlier 1900 designed F48 class but had a superior Belpaire firebox, shown by the more square topped part of the boiler closest to the cab, and following the success of the G58 design, the 60 earlier built F48 class were rebuilt to G58 standard. As well as the 60 rebuilds, 30 newly built G58's were built, including this sole survivor, 1217, built in the first batch of G58's in 1905, which worked up until 1962 and then was preserved as part of the National Collection. It is preserved in the 1923 onwards livery of the London & North Eastern Railway with it's newer number of 8217. It is seen here on a very wet sunday at the Barrow Hill Engine Shed near Chesterfield, Derbyshire in April 2012

Rover 8hp Coupe (Lambert & Butler Motors, 6 of 25)

This is 6 of 25 in Lambert & Butler Motors Series of Cigarette Cards, issued in 1908. From the back of the card;

"This shows one of the well-known Rover Cars, the 8hp Coupe, a car which has a considerable vogue amongst doctors and other professional gentlemen. The car is famed for the simplicity of its construction and for its reliability. In the Tourist Trophy Race of 1907, termed the blue riband of the motoring world, the Rover won easily, defeating the cream of British and continental cars"

Durkopp Charabanc, c1907

This is a period advert from The Motor Car Emporium Ltd, of Addison Road North, Holland Park Avenue, London. The Motor Car Emporium was a dealer in Durkopp and de Dion Bouton vehicles, specialising in commercial vehicles. This advert shows a Durkopp charabanc as supplied to the North Eastern Railway, able to 'carry up to 32 passengers and 1/2 ton of cargo'

Watch Suffragette Trafalgar Square Riot, 1913

This news clip from 1913 shows a procession of Suffragettes in London's Trafalgar Square which apparently led to a riot in Whitehall, resulting in Miss Sylvia Pankhurst being led away by Police