4941 1959-08-22 Clink Road Junction near Frome
Down Milk empties at Clink Road, near Frome.
View NE, towards Westbury. (Just ahead of the train the Frome-avoiding line to Blatchbridge Junction commences).
This is probably the Kensington - Plymouth Milk empties, returning tank-wagons to various Milk Depots in the West Country which supplied a large proportion of the Capital's needs - before the age of motorways. The locomotive is 4-6-0 No. 4941 'Llangedwyn Hall' (built 7/29, withdrawn 10/62).
Peter Kerslake adds "This formation of milk empties returning down to Cornwall via Plymouth would by far have exceeded the load of filled wagons from the previous day and is doubtless formed from more than one fully loaded working, the weight difference between loaded and filled wagons being considerable.
The afternoon loaded milk train was always double headed from Plymouth to Newton Abbot with a "County" being a favourite for that duty from Plymouth, and additional fully loaded tank wagons would be picked up on the London bound run at such places as Totnes where there was an important creamery adjacent to the main line station."