AberdeenBill Posted November 21, 2018 Share Posted November 21, 2018 Hi all, When a (mostly steel) wagon or coach was cut up, how small (or light) would the bits be (maybe ready to feed into an electric-arc furnace)? How was the engine block of a diesel dismembered? Thanks, Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arun Sharma Posted November 21, 2018 Share Posted November 21, 2018 Many engine blocks of diesels - especially class 08s weren't cut up. Many were sold intact for use in boats. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin_m Posted November 21, 2018 Share Posted November 21, 2018 (edited) Doesn't that depend where it is and if there is a convenient furnace to hand how big a piece it can take at once? I read somewhere that sometimes the odd scrap-carrying wagon would go in with its load. Edited November 21, 2018 by Edwin_m Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted November 21, 2018 Share Posted November 21, 2018 Doesn't that depend where it is and if there is a convenient furnace to hand how big a piece it can take at once? I read somewhere that sometimes the odd scrap-carrying wagon would go in with its load. They were certainly divided into body and underframe by the electro-magnets in our scrap bay; however, the sides had to be cut to get them into the charging bucket Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted November 21, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 21, 2018 I have photos of wagons being cut up at Ellesmere Port, the pieces were put into a lorry and taken to Liverpool docks for scrapping. Here's a pile of Tope / grampus and dogfish ready for loading into the lorries to go and meet their maker in Liverpool 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TravisM Posted November 21, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 21, 2018 Most petrol and small/medium diesel engines can be compressed providing it’s empty of fluids and internals. You have to remember that it’s only the outer casings are solid but cylinder blocks, gearboxes etc are basically hollow and when they go into compactor, they squash right down. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickham Green Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 I read somewhere that sometimes the odd scrap-carrying wagon would go in with its load. ........... and the Chinese steelworks knew / exactly what to do with their steam locos when they dieselised their rail operations. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted November 22, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 22, 2018 Many engine blocks of diesels - especially class 08s weren't cut up. Many were sold intact for use in boats. Not 350hp engines from 08s (which were hefty lumps) but the 204 hp engines from Class 03 and 04 which were in any case basically a small marine engine. Many of them made their way from redundant locos into fishing boats. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chris p bacon Posted November 22, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 22, 2018 The WLA has a Maybach MD655 which came from a Jersey scrapyard, IIRC it was used to power a crushing/cutting machine after its life on BR. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 The smaller the better, especially for arc furnaces. It is, however, a balance between the cost/difficulty in breaking something up and the extra time/fuel required to melt down a large, solid lump. It’s also got to be small enough to get through the furnace door/mouth. You would get an 08 engine block in most furnaces, whether you’d want to is a different question. Engine blocks are cast iron. That is a relatively brittle metal and can be smashed to pieces given a sufficient pounding. Scrap breaker at Margam/Port Talbot used for breaking up iron castings, slag balls etc. by dropping a steel ball from a great height. Small explosive charges have also been used in the past to shatter large lumps of metal. . 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Johnster Posted November 22, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 22, 2018 Now, operating that would be a job I'd pay to do! Scrap being fed into the Tremorfa works in Cardiff seems to be fairly small pieces, and nothing is recognisable as what it was originally; it looks as if it has been shredded as well as crushed. I don't know much about this aspect of steelworking, but I would imagine that different furnaces have different requirements in terms of the size and shape of the feed material. On the other hand, a conveyor is used here, and that may have some influence on matters as well! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Saunders Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 Now, operating that would be a job I'd pay to do! Scrap being fed into the Tremorfa works in Cardiff seems to be fairly small pieces, and nothing is recognisable as what it was originally; it looks as if it has been shredded as well as crushed. I don't know much about this aspect of steelworking, but I would imagine that different furnaces have different requirements in terms of the size and shape of the feed material. On the other hand, a conveyor is used here, and that may have some influence on matters as well! The scrap yard across the road that supplied them was Birds Fragmentisers hence the BF prefix on the internal scrap carriers! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
black and decker boy Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 A lot of the larger scrap yards the dispatch by rail have shredders. I’ve been in the depot at Saltley when the shredder and conveyor system were working. Ground up metal and rust dust blowing into your face isn’t pleasant. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
great central Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 At McIntyre's at Beeston they take pretty much all the remnants of cars from this area. There's often lorries piled high with flattened body shells seen heading in that direction, others with engine blocks. There's a shredder which processes the metal to small pieces, seen as a massive pile alongside the railway line until it's cleared into a train. It must be said though that not all goes out by rail I don't think, it seems to be if the scrap is destined for export. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall5 Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 Not 350hp engines from 08s (which were hefty lumps) but the 204 hp engines from Class 03 and 04 which were in any case basically a small marine engine. Many of them made their way from redundant locos into fishing boats. Being Gardners (8LW?) they were, indeed, very popular. When the Kirkby Industrial Estate railway closed their 04 lookalike Drewry's were sold to a scrapyard on the Dock Rd. where they were dismantled and the engines exported to Hong Kong to be fitted into Chinese Junks. It was a great shame as these locos were 'like new' having latterly only been run once a week. Ray. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
br2975 Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 Now, operating that would be a job I'd pay to do! Scrap being fed into the Tremorfa works in Cardiff seems to be fairly small pieces, and nothing is recognisable as what it was originally; it looks as if it has been shredded as well as crushed. I don't know much about this aspect of steelworking, but I would imagine that different furnaces have different requirements in terms of the size and shape of the feed material. On the other hand, a conveyor is used here, and that may have some influence on matters as well! . "Fragmentised" is the word your looking for John. . More commonly referred to as "frag" . Larger bits do get through, I was told of an SSA wagon derailed in the old scrap bay after a wheelset struck an engine block lying in the four foot. It was re-railed quietly, but word got out and some excrement was distributed by a revolving air circulating device. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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