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Manchester ship canal railway


herman83
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12 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

Thanks Jim - I wonder if you're in any of the photos?

There are a lot more pictures of a 1970s BLS tour online here:

https://www.branchline.uk/album-new.php?id=365

 

I am definitely planning to model a few Highs with loaded with gricers for my MSC layout!

I'm somewhere in that lot on the 1974 tour. It was a good day out, sunshine as well (!) and a different perspective on the estate's railways - I was working for GEC at the time.

 

I suspect that I have some pictures of it as well, but they're well buried in the archives and yet to be scanned.

 

Jim

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On 02/04/2021 at 22:30, enz said:

From Google Earth, the wagons weren't there in June 2018, 23 wagons were there in Sept 2019, they were reduced to 21 wagons and a couple of gaps opened in the rake (so I assume shunted) in April 2020 and no change in the most recent image dated 2 June 2020. (The image copyright date is not the date of the image, by the way.)

 

Narrows the dates in traffic down somewhat. - E

I think these may have been some of the 'Cargowaggons', stored after Ford's Bridgend plant ceased operations.

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On 16/04/2021 at 21:29, Mol_PMB said:

I recently bought some original medium-format negatives on ebay and thought I would share the images here.

I don't know the original photographer I'm afraid; I think they date from the mid-1970s.

They feature a railtour in Trafford Park with 4002 and a fairly short rake of five steel highs. 

Well worth a close look for the variety of ladders used for getting in and out of the wagons, and the children messing around with one of them or wandering over the track.

There are some great classic gricer outfits and some impressive sideburns!

 

From an operational point of view, this train had no continuous brakes or indeed any brakes operable from within the train - the highs are vac-fitted but the loco only has air brakes.

There are several variants of steel high: two have Morton brakes and hence a tiebar between the axleboxes, one of these has the later body variant with a rib along the bottom of the sides and no curb rail. Two types of axleboxes are visible, one wagon has odd wheelsets with different axleboxes at each end of the wagon. Two of the wagons have reinforced doors while the others do not. And of course they all have different lettering styles.

4002_railtour_1.jpg.ad76148e2774561d4b64e4e867dcb32f.jpg

 

4002_railtour_2.jpg.0e454a714182f16fff07ee37fa1e1d4e.jpg

 

4002_railtour_3.jpg.6f02ead455c36e21877f523be6df6e08.jpg

The ones with the two bars across the doors were intended to carry Soda Ash from ICI in the Northwich area. The ones I remember were usually covered with traces of their load.

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52 minutes ago, Fat Controller said:

The ones with the two bars across the doors were intended to carry Soda Ash from ICI in the Northwich area. The ones I remember were usually covered with traces of their load.

Thanks, that's correct; they also had a sheet rail fitted when in use for Soda Ash.

Later (mid 60s?), many returned to merchandise traffic, retaining their strengthened doors but some losing the sheet rail.

Some of these were branded 'Empty to Manchester Ship Canal' for general merchandise traffic; there was apparently a shortage of suitable wagons at this time.

Here's an example:

https://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/bropenmerchandisesteel/e14c1d84c

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  • 4 weeks later...

The MFD toad is a diagram AA23, the last type of Toad built in the 1940s. 

The nearer one is an older vehicle, I think diagram AA15 as per the Hornby van you mention. 

I’m not sure if either of these are available in 7mm scale, though they could no doubt be modified from AA19. 

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  • 2 months later...

A couple of original negatives I recently bought on eBay; they appear to have been taken from on board a train on the MSC Railway.

They are dated 22nd May 1958. I do not know the name of the photographer.

 

Barton swing bridges, looking East:

MSC at Barton Swingbridges

Barton locks, looking East:

MSC at Barton Locks

 

 

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5 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

A couple of original negatives I recently bought on eBay; they appear to have been taken from on board a train on the MSC Railway.

They are dated 22nd May 1958. I do not know the name of the photographer.

 

I wouldn't assume they were taken from a train - traffic was infrequent and slow.  I don't think they worried much about trespassers, or even if they did I would have thought an employee on foot would have no problem taking photos.

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7 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

I wouldn't assume they were taken from a train - traffic was infrequent and slow.  I don't think they worried much about trespassers, or even if they did I would have thought an employee on foot would have no problem taking photos.


Its not that long ago that most Docks and Harbours were wide open and in places were almost footpaths!

 

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Today I went to pay my respects to the MSC 250t steam crane as it left the canal for the last time. 

The railway connection is that this floating crane lifted very many exported locomotives and other railway rolling stock onto ships in Manchester docks. 

It is being towed to Newcastle (its longest ever voyage) for conversion to a restaurant (must confess I can’t visualise that). Hopefully it will survive the voyage though I must confess the tugs were struggling to handle it once out in the Mersey. 

 

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1 hour ago, Mol_PMB said:

Today I went to pay my respects to the MSC 250t steam crane as it left the canal for the last time. 

The railway connection is that this floating crane lifted very many exported locomotives and other railway rolling stock onto ships in Manchester docks. 

It is being towed to Newcastle (its longest ever voyage) for conversion to a restaurant (must confess I can’t visualise that). Hopefully it will survive the voyage though I must confess the tugs were struggling to handle it once out in the Mersey. 

 

 No pictures?

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2 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

Today I went to pay my respects to the MSC 250t steam crane as it left the canal for the last time. 

The railway connection is that this floating crane lifted very many exported locomotives and other railway rolling stock onto ships in Manchester docks. 

It is being towed to Newcastle (its longest ever voyage) for conversion to a restaurant (must confess I can’t visualise that). Hopefully it will survive the voyage though I must confess the tugs were struggling to handle it once out in the Mersey. 

 

The real test will be getting it round the north coast of Scotland.

 

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15 hours ago, jim.snowdon said:

The real test will be getting it round the north coast of Scotland.

 

 

Oddly it is going South. It would actually just fit through the Caledonian Canal - the English Channel seems like the more difficult option considering the weight of shipping traffic there.

 

8 hours ago, David jennings said:

Do you know when the crane is due to reach the Tyne ? (I live in the north east and might go and watch !).

 

thanks 

I guess it will take at least a week.

You can track its progress here:

https://www.vesselfinder.com/

Search for the ship 'GT Victory' which is the tug towing it. Currently it is crossing Cardigan Bay.

 

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4 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

 

Oddly it is going South. It would actually just fit through the Caledonian Canal - the English Channel seems like the more difficult option considering the weight of shipping traffic there.

 

Could you get the tugs in the locks as well as the crane?

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3 hours ago, Gordon A said:

Has anything replaced her?

Not directly, the occasional heavy cargo lifts are usually done by road crane. The floating crane 'Lara 1' is usually based in the Mersey and has done some work in the ship canal too.

55 minutes ago, Michael Hodgson said:

Could you get the tugs in the locks as well as the crane?

Not at the same time. But then the same was true of big ships in the MSC, it's not a show-stopper.

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6 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

Oddly it is going South. It would actually just fit through the Caledonian Canal - the English Channel seems like the more difficult option considering the weight of shipping traffic there.

That's a surprise, although thinking about it, the distances involved may not be too different. It's also rather smaller than I was expecting - this is more what comes to my mind when traditional floating cranes are mentioned - https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205158305 .

 

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