Rail Or Road

[dwh]

My first recollection of pigeons was watching

The pigeon men of the time ringing and basketing the birds my dad drove the parcel wagons for BR and every week off I went with dad to pick up the baskets and drop them off at bishop station and watch. The porters etc

Load the train.

With all the furore about transporters and libs

I was wondering which was best road or RAIL ?

(For those that remember)

[andy Burgess]

My first recollection of pigeons was watching

The pigeon men of the time ringing and basketing the birds my dad drove the parcel wagons for BR and every week off I went with dad to pick up the baskets and drop them off at bishop station and watch. The porters etc

Load the train.

With all the furore about transporters and libs

I was wondering which was best road or RAIL ?

(For those that remember)

I cant remember what I had for lunch yesterday , yet have spoken to many who used to send by rail. from what ive been told , rail is the way to go .all organisations travelling in the same direction has got to be a big plus point in my book. non of this split feds syndrome and small libs to certain areas ??

[THE FIFER]

rail 100%, we even had our marking hut on the station, an old rail coach, marked then right into the train, was also first class for training, take to the station, pay and leave, porter puts them on the train to your destination, and the porter there libs them, and empty basket returned home

 

[andy Burgess]

rail 100%, we even had our marking hut on the station, an old rail coach, marked then right into the train, was also first class for training, take to the station, pay and leave, porter puts them on the train to your destination, and the porter there libs them, and empty basket returned home

 

they are currently re-building the old borders line with the railway , I think its to increase the tourist trade , wouldn't it be wonderful if it carried the doo,s for the the training and early races ?

[alex young]

In the early 60's,Edge Hill station in L'pool had about ten clubs marking on the platform.Friday nights were buzzing with all the banter,it's not the same now with just a few members left to load the transporter when it turns up.

[walterboswell59]

wee bit before my time but dont think it could come back as all the railway lines are covered in wires now think it was steam trains in those days not many wires around how times change and not allways for the better eh

[Guest TAMMY_1]

wee bit before my time but dont think it could come back as all the railway lines are covered in wires now think it was steam trains in those days not many wires around how times change and not allways for the better eh

 

:emoticon-0136-giggle:

[greenlands]

I can remember riding down to the local railway station,(now closed) on a horse and cart with the baskets loaded,great times.Better racing in those days,don't know if it was because the birds were going by rail or no BOP,less wires,less mobile phones and all the other unseen crap that floats about the atmosphere,and of course a lot better/ settled weather.

Here's the now not there local station.

[peter pandy]

I do believe you must be having a laugh at this subject especially if you ever had the privilege of watching Alex Ross's black & white 8mm cine films of rail liberations from the 50s. Yes it was the best mode of transport however when the carriages were shunted into a siding and the baskets offloaded along would come another train and stop in front of the baskets after it had discharged steam into them etc even on some occasions when liberations were taking place and the lucky ones would be scrambling about under wagons in their endeavour to get air borne then when they succeeded flew straight into a multitude of telephone wires or other passing trains, carnage was the result. Their was even on film where the liberations took place from the carriages 1 basket at a time and from first to last basket would take about 20 minutes. Aye they days were marvellous "NOT".

[greenlands]

So you recon racing's better now Peter,I don't think so, at least not flying into West Cumbria and it's been that way for a long time.I used to watch the Scottish birds being liberated at Maryport on the sea front,NO wires or anything else there.If there were bad liberation points where birds were being injured it should have been sorted there and then.

[walterboswell59]

:emoticon-0136-giggle:

true tam before my time i joined burnbank club age 13 and the birds were going by road then dont know when they stopped going by rail m8 so dont know if it was good or bad well done with your birds at blackpool they look the part where does the grizzles stem from

[Guest TAMMY_1]

true tam before my time i joined burnbank club age 13 and the birds were going by road then dont know when they stopped going by rail m8 so dont know if it was good or bad well done with your birds at blackpool they look the part where does the grizzles stem from

 

 

thanks Wattie,the grizzles come from a hen that was given to me as a young bird from Clockmans mate Ferry,the cock was a gift to Liz as a young bird from a friend of hers who specialized in distance racing,it has been a very lucky break with both of them, the hen in the photo has been the best racing hen I have ever had as she just got better every year over 500 miles and the cock is also showing a lot of promise

[walterboswell59]

thanks Wattie,the grizzles come from a hen that was given to me as a young bird from Clockmans mate Ferry,the cock was a gift to Liz as a young bird from a friend of hers who specialized in distance racing,it has been a very lucky break with both of them, the hen in the photo has been the best racing hen I have ever had as she just got better every year over 500 miles and the cock is also showing a lot of promise

what breed are they tam

[blackdog]

So you recon racing's better now Peter,I don't think so, at least not flying into West Cumbria and it's been that way for a long time.I used to watch the Scottish birds being liberated at Maryport on the sea front,NO wires or anything else there.If there were bad liberation points where birds were being injured it should have been sorted there and then.

 

 

birds used to come into maryport in a line stretching from grasslot up to elbra mate, if you didn't get a trap you were the bottom of the sheet, now if your lucky enough to get one, your waiting all day to get the rest and the day after if your lucky

[peter pandy]

So you recon racing's better now Peter,I don't think so, at least not flying into West Cumbria and it's been that way for a long time.I used to watch the Scottish birds being liberated at Maryport on the sea front,NO wires or anything else there.If there were bad liberation points where birds were being injured it should have been sorted there and then.

Lindsay I have never ever in the past been on a railway which was devoid of telephone wires and plenty of them running parallel to the tracks and I can recall sending by rail until our local station was closed in 1964 by Dr Beeching with the last occasion we were transported by rail in 1965 when all livestock carrying ceased with the closure of the livestock market. I am sure many fanciers in Central Scotland would have saw the films as Alex Ross visited many club nights showing them.

P.S. I did say earlier that rail was the best mode of transport however most if not all liberations were from the shunting yards.

[Guest TAMMY_1]

what breed are they tam

 

I wish I knew Walter then I would buy some more but knowing Ferry's birds I would almost be certain it would be from Mel Bell as he had lots of his birds,as I said the parents were just gift birds to both of us and we have struck it lucky with them paired together

[Guest IB]

Pigeon Train - don't bother reading the blurb, just scroll down to the first photo. All those railway vans will be loaded with panniers of pigeons. The knobly things on the roofs are ventilators. Caption says its Coatbridge 1964, maybes Coatbridge Central Station? We marked at Bellshill railway station, the panniers were taken by a railway motor over to Motherwell station where they were loaded to a train just like the one in the photo.

 

http://www.lnersvrcoachfund.org.uk/lner_70759_history.html

 

Certainly by 1966 we were conveyed by road lorry to race point.

[greenlands]

Peter,this is typical of the area I live in and they are putting more up at the moment.I'll take my chance with the railway stations and sidings.

[walterboswell59]

Pigeon Train - don't bother reading the blurb, just scroll down to the first photo. All those railway vans will be loaded with panniers of pigeons. The knobly things on the roofs are ventilators. Caption says its Coatbridge 1964, maybes Coatbridge Central Station? We marked at Bellshill railway station, the panniers were taken by a railway motor over to Motherwell station where they were loaded to a train just like the one in the photo.

 

http://www.lnersvrcoachfund.org.uk/lner_70759_history.html

 

Certainly by 1966 we were conveyed by road lorry to race point.

that would be bang on with the year i joined the club ian i was 13 in 1966 lanarkshire had its own transporter or lorry then

[THE FIFER]

you didnt lose many birds in the railway days, thats for sure,

[walterboswell59]

in those days who controled the race and who looked after the birds in a hold over did fanciers go with the birds or was this stuff all left to the railway just wonderd

[alex young]

in those days who controled the race and who looked after the birds in a hold over did fanciers go with the birds or was this stuff all left to the railway just wonderd

In Liverpool we had a chief convoyer and his assistant who both went with the birds.I used to time in for the assistant and look after his birds when he was away.

[walterboswell59]

In Liverpool we had a chief convoyer and his assistant who both went with the birds.I used to time in for the assistant and look after his birds when he was away.

thanks alex interesting so in the event of a holdover were the birds shunted into a sideing and the guys left with the birds till it was clear to lib then

[alex young]

thanks alex interesting so in the event of a holdover were the birds shunted into a sideing and the guys left with the birds till it was clear to lib then

Don't know Walter,the only info we got those days(before the mobile phone)was a notice in the pub window with the lib time on.

[walterboswell59]

Don't know Walter,the only info we got those days(before the mobile phone)was a notice in the pub window with the lib time on.

aye if you were fit to read alex eh lol bet there were plenty doos home before the doo men in those days