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Stanton

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Everything posted by Stanton

  1. Jordan, Yes, you're welcome to use the photos, which I took on 16th June 1976. Regarding the absence of the pipework for tandem operation, I suspect that they rarely worked in tandem at Clyde. Certainly the regular duties there should have been within the capacity of a single loco. However, the tandem connections were definitely used with the air compressor unit that Rustons supplied specifically to work with numbers 1 to 4 so that they could operate the slag ladles. In the Industrial Railway Society's quarterly journal, the Industrial Railway Record, issue no. 226 (September 2016), there is a photo of No.4 connected to that compressor. In the final years that unit seems to have been replaced by what I assume was a unit made at Clyde, with a compressor mounted on a flat wagon and using a DC electric motor, powered through an armoured cable connected to the 165DE's traction circuit (which was modified accordingly), and an air hose was also fixed to the loco's running plate. No.1 was fitted to operate that compressor, and probably No.4 as well. The Ruston tandem control pipework would have then been superfluous, and may have even been in the way, which would explain why it was removed. The control equipment would have been retained, so it would have been easy to reinstate the pipework, and remove the fittings for the electric compressor, which I believe is what happened when, or soon after, No.1 moved to Falkirk. When Clyde closed in 1978 No.4 was sent to British Steel's Shapfell Limestone Quarry where it worked for about 10 years. It was eventually scrapped by T.J.Thomson, Stockton, in September 1999. The original Colville's livery was green, but British Steel repainted them in their corporate light blue. If you are interested in the photo of No.4 with the Ruston compressor, back copies of Industrial Railway Record No.226 are still available at www.irsshop.co.uk/Records . You might also find issue No.219 (December 2014) of interest, because it has a 1978 photo of No.1 in almost the same position as mine, but with the electric compressor and showing the extra pipework on the running plate; there is also a photo of No.3 running under its own power over BR metals when moving from Glasgow to the SRPS, Falkirk in 1975. Thank you for saving these two, and I wish you well with their restoration. Five tandems went to Scottish heritage railways but the other three, including at least one that was donated free by British Steel, were subsequently scrapped.
  2. The rear cab door is because these were built for tandem operation, with control from either cab. They worked back to back, and the door allowed to driver to move between cabs, to whichever driving position gave the better view.
  3. Just to add a little to Jordan's comments. Colvilles bought a number of the tandem version of the 165DE for various of their steelworks in Scotland, including four in 1958 for Clyde Ironworks. The slag ladles at Clyde had a powered tipping mechanism, originally operated by steam and for which some of their steam locos had connecting pipework. So that the diesels could operate the slag ladles, but instead using compressed air, Rustons supplied an air compressor vehicle. The final two 165DE built for Clyde in 1963 were not equipped for tandem operation, but did include a compressor housed in a large casing in front of the cab so that they could operate the slag ladles directly. Possibly that was not very successful, or it was too expensive, because when Hunslet diesel hydraulics replaced the Rustons in the early 1970s they reverted to using a separate compressor vehicle. By 1976 only two Rustons were left, Nos.1 (421439) and 4 (423659), as spare to the diesel hydraulics, but by then the tandem equipment had been removed. The attached photos show No.1 at that time, in its final British Steel livery, and also with No.4 (and a compressor wagon), clearly showing that the rear pipework for tandem operation has been removed.
  4. Whilst it is true that Scottish industrial concerns tended to favour local builders there are hundreds of examples of English industrial steam locos, of all sizes, in Scotland, acquired both new and second-hand, and the biggest single supplier of industrial diesel locos was Ruston & Hornsby, of Lincoln. However, this photo was not taken at a Scottish industrial business, it is at a site being used as a military base in the middle of a World War. The War Office requisitioned locos from all over the UK and sent them wherever they were required. Of the four other locos at Invergordon, three were "Terriers" from the LBSCR in the South of England, and the fourth was the Hull & Barnsley loco shown in this photo, so it would not be surprising to see a loco from Co. Durham there as well. The cab has been extensively modified, although it does incorporate the original weatherboard (you can see the join in the upper cab front, just above where the safety valve lever enters). The lower side sheets may even be replacements fitted by Hawthorn Leslie, as they are of their pattern, and are shorter than the original I'Anson sheets, which stretched to the saddle tank. The cab steps are original, and provide the best indication of the builder. Offset steps were common on 19th century tender locos, but far less so on tank engines. Relatively few builders fitted them, but examples can be found from Beyer Peacock, Black Hawthorn, Robert Stephenson and Sharp Stewart, and also the North Eastern Railway (Gateshead works), and probably others as well. However, the only builder known to have fitted this cast pattern with the triangular cut-out was I'Anson. Taken in conjunction with the wheels and the other design features, I'Anson ticks all the boxes and any differences could be explained by alterations made during the course of what, by the date of this photo, would be a 40 year life span. It is a closer fit than any of the other builders suggested in this thread, although whether it is the South Moor loco, or another, possibly unrecorded, example is, I agree, open to question.
  5. The 0-4-0ST has all the characteristics of one built by Charles I'Anson & Co of Darlington. Some accounts say they built six locos between 1875 and 1881, but the Industrial Railway Society has only found definite proof of three. There is a good photo of one of them on page 119 of their Durham Handbook, Part 1 (2006). It has the same type of spokes, and with hollow dummy boss, as the Invergordon loco, small splashers with a sandbox between them, the same shape of saddle tank with a relatively tall filler, a slightly raised firebox with the safety valves mounted on it, and, most significant of all, identical cab footsteps. Of the three known locos, the most likely candidate would be that at South Moor Colliery, Stanley, Co. Durham. It was sent to Hawthorn Leslie for major repairs in 1903 and the oval worksplate on the cabside of the Invergordon loco, with wording fully across the middle and round the outer edges, is the same style that Hawthorn Leslie used until the early 1900s, so may be their rebuild plate (I'Anson plates were more circular and were engraved, not cast). The loco was disposed of by the colliery at an unknown date, so it may have been requisitioned by the War Office, or at least loaned to them. Quite a number of industrial locos were, but records aren't complete. It was probably becoming underpowered for the work at South Moor anyway - all their other locos were six-coupled. A new 16" Hawthorn Leslie was bought in 1912 which may have relegated the I'Anson to spare loco. The only photo I have seen of it at South Moor is in a general view of the Louisa Pit yard c.1910 (http://www.durhamrecordoffice.org.uk/article/11111?SearchType=Param&CatRef=D%2FCL+27%2F277&ImagesOnly=Y&ItemID=165086&ImageID=200027). It is poor quality, but you can see that sides have been added to the original weatherboard cab and there is what appears to be a toolbox alongside the smokebox. Both of those features can be seen on the Invergordon loco. Photos of I'Anson locos are very rare, so this is an interesting find. It is also the first known case of one being used outside the North East of England.
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