wagonman
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Everything posted by wagonman
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Theoretically there is absolutely nothing to stop them – indeed that is pretty much what they are already doing, or at least saying they will do. Most of the checks and balances supposed to constrain such behaviour have been neutralised, or were never more than theoretical constructs – for instance the Monarch could refuse to sign such legislation but in reality never would. So, be afraid, be very afraid. Or better still be very angry. Richard
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The Winford Iron Ore & Redding Co Ltd had something like 70 wagons at its peak in the late C19. There was also a rather obscure outfit called the Somerset Hematite Co which operated wagons in the late 1870s. I can see no reason to believe the half dozen Easter Iron Mines wagons were intended for anything other than carrying iron ore in some state or other. Otherwise why would they be marked "Empty to Milkwall S&W"?
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Or consult someone who has a copy of the book... The last blast furnace in the Forest (at Cinderford) closed down in 1894 so these wagons, built in 1911, would not have carried pig iron. The relevant spin off was the mining of iron oxides (ochre and red) for use in the paint and dye industries – the same trade was pursued in Somerset by eg The Winford Red Co, so these wagons would probably have carried calcined ore (in bags) to the Midlands – at least until the company went bust in 1924. The South Wales Iron Masters are also known to have imported ores from the Forest, though probably not after the turn of the century. That said, the Westbury Iron Co did operate wagons that were specifically for carrying pig iron. Unfortunately I don't have the dimensions – I would assume low sided though later 7 plank wagons were officially described as 'coal and pig iron'. Richard
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There were definitely some D299s on the WC&PR – probably used for loco coal as there was very little merchandise traffic. Col Stephens operated a few small ships up to c1930 so the coal could have come by sea to the jetty at Wick St Lawrence. Coal for the Clevedon Gas works came by rail via the connection at Clevedon. No D299s involved in that traffic!
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Where's the 'heartbroken' emoji when you need it. That is the sort of thing that happens all too frequently where family, or even business, records are concerned. Maybe there could be a law about offering such things to a local archive before they are chucked – would probably have to wade through a lot of rubbish to save the good stuff though.
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Yes, the GWR had its own gas works which also supplied the GWR 'village'. Don't forget that Swindon was still using gas for much of its street lighting – the original reason for building gas works as domestic consumers came later. The switch from lighting to cooking/heating came later still. How many customers were private and how many commercial is difficult to quantify at this remove. Not entirely convinced of the usefulness either.
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Here is a bit of number-crunching I did for the Swindon United Gas Co: "A few statistics may be of interest: in 1908 the Swindon United Gas Co carbonised 10,286 tons of coal, and used 165,000 gallons of oil and 1,300 tons of coke. From that they produced 126,447,000 cu.ft. of coal gas and 50,962,000 cu.ft. of water gas. Their 8,718 consumers used 140,630,500 cu.ft of gas and the 741 public lamps 905,500 cu.ft. There were some fifty miles of gas main. On average a ton of coal would produce about 10,000 cu.ft of coal gas. Water gas was produced by passing steam over very hot coal or coke and was a way of boosting the hydrogen content of ‘town’ gas. It was also used in the commercial production of ammonia. Swindon United added up to 28% water gas to their supply."