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Morris & Griffin, Newport - works loco?


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This, I'll cheerfully admit is an idle question.

 

On the prototype questions sub-forum somebody asked what a Bachman one-plank wagon lettered to Morris & Griffin of Newport was actually used for. 

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/137054-pre-group-wagon-loads-for-single-plank-wagons/page-1

 

After much rummaging around, the said Morris & Griffin were found to the the proprietors of the Usk Chemical Works: 

 

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17&lat=51.5817&lon=-2.9809&layers=168&b=1

 

As you can see there's a fair amount of railway track in and attaching to the works, which strongly suggests that not only did they have at least one wagon but they must also have had a works loco [or two] to shunt it.

 

A Peckett would seem the obvious, although Avonside is also a possibility, if only because of the proximity to Bristol. Anybody able to identify it [or them] ?

Edited by Caledonian
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Apparently 100+ members have viewed this post but no additional information has been added, so being the curious sort I'm tempted to look for any additional information.  I've no personal knowledge of the area and the only source I have available is the Industrial Railway Society's handbook "Industrial Locomotives of Gwent" - still available on the society's website for a relatively modest sum considering the wealth of information contained within.

 

No locos are listed for Morris & Griffin or the Usk Chemical Works.  However I don't think the sidings serving the chemical works were extensive enough to justify their own locomotive so presumably any shunting required would have been carried out by the locomotives serving the adjacent Great Western Wharf.  This had four 0-4-0STs - a 1883 Hunslet (disposed of at an unknown date) and a 1889 Black Hawthorn (Scrapped in 1931).  These were superseded by two Barclays bought new in 1913 and 1925 which lasted until rail traffic ceased circa 1964. 

Edited by PGH
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Apparently 100+ members have viewed this post but no additional information has been added

 

I find I need to read a question on here before I am able to decide if I can answer it.

The question is about something quite obscure, and so far it seems fewer than 1% of the people who have viewed the post have any knowledge that they can impart.

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I find I need to read a question on here before I am able to decide if I can answer it.

The question is about something quite obscure, and so far it seems fewer than 1% of the people who have viewed the post have any knowledge that they can impart.

 

Yes, I agree, I normally read a question before I decide whether I can answer it.  Do some people know the answer before they read the question ?  My word, that must be clever, some kind of telepathy perhaps ?

 

The point about the 100+ was if nobody else has come up with the answer, perhaps somebody more familiar with the Newport Area, I should make the effort otherwise the question would probably remain unanswered, although the only info I could offer was from the quoted publication.

Edited by PGH
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Having had a look on the Britain From Above website ( https://britainfromabove.org.uk/ ) there appears to be no evidence of a locomotive in the works, despite a large amount of wagons dotted around. There are also some quite sharp curves in the works so it would be extremely unlikely to be anything larger than an 0-4-0 that undertook shunting. It's a very interesting little place though wtih plenty of scope for a small shunting layout.

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The link above,

 

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17&lat=51.5817&lon=-2.9809&layers=168&b=1

 

identifies the works as served by the  "East Usk Branch" albeit, when I rode the branch circa 1970 on the footplate of the Newport Power Station Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0ST '"Faraday" it was referred to by everyone we met as "Nettlefolds Branch".

 

I'm unaware of any loco owned / operated by "Morris & Griffin" - but I'll check my IRS Gwent Handbook.

.

If you are looking for an excuse to shunt the works, look across the River Usk towards the Pill area, and the Coomassie Street premises of Messrs A.R.Adams, Boilermakers and hirers of locomotives to industrial concerns.

.

Adams were a "sort of South Walian equivalent of Isaac Watt Boulton" and were hiring out locos until about 1980 (by then, ex-BR Cl.03/04 & Cl.11)

Edited by br2975
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