Siphon C

History

In the period of the layout milk traffic on the Great Western was carried Siphons, 4 or 6 wheeled passenger rated vehicles with open slatted sided to aid air flow to keep the milk cool. The first vehicle to be built for milk traffic on Hallatrow is a Siphon C (GW diagram 08 & 09). The only difference between the two diagrams was that the 08 were 8' 0" wide and the 09 were 8' 6".

Construction and numbering details:

                  Diagram 08  Lot 1125 18 built in 1907, nos. 1524-42
                                       Part Lot 1133 4 built in 1907 nos. 1515-18
                  Diagram 09  Part Lot 1133 6 built in 1907 nos. 1519-24
                                       Lot 1162 12 built in 1909 nos. 1503-14
                                       Lot 1183 20 built in 1910 nos. 1482-1501

For more details about Siphons C's can be found in the HMRS book 'GW Siphons' by J N Slinn and B K Clarke. A hand written note added to the caption against a photo of no. 1503 in the book states that it was taken in September 1920 after the fitting of handholds in the doors and that the vehicle was b built without them in 1909. An email to an a Great Western web forum confirmed the dates the handhold were fitted and that the vehicles in Lot 1183 were built with handholds.

Milk Traffic

In the early photos of Hallatrow there are always lots of milk churns and in 'Through Countryside & Coalfield' it quotes figures for milk traffic over the branch in 1925. For Hallatrow it quotes over 7000 churns. The milk was sent either to London (via Frome) or to Cardiff (via Bristol). All this traffic had gone by the mid-1930 as Express Dairies took over collection direct from the farms by road.