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Ballachulish branch presflo traffic


Argos
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I am just about to build my first presflo kit for future layout based on the Callander and Oban.

 

The Presflos carried Alumina from Burntisland in Fife out to Ballachulish for unloading onto wagons to be delivered to the aluminium smelter in Kinlochleven.

 

Whilst there are plenty of photos of the wagons most are indistinct.

There looks to be writing on the side but no photo I've found is clear enough to read.

 

(lovely colour photo half way down the page http://www.45163.co.uk/Archive.html )

 

Most of the BR presflo fleet seemed to carry the word "Cement" but this would obviously be inappropriate for alumina, or where the general fleet wagons used?

Or were the wagons labelled specifically for this flow (and if so what did it say?).

 

Thanks

 

Angus

Edited by Argos
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Hi Angus,

 

There's a nice album of photos of the BACo Burntisland plant online, which includes a shot of a Presflo there on 9 April 1964 , and it looks like the lettering is "Presflo Alumina", with the first word spaced over the top row of four "panels" between the main side stanchions, and the second word spaced over the second row, one letter per "panel".

 

There's also a nice detail shot of the Presflo roofs, a shot of an ICI caustic soda tank on the same day, and an LNER-era shot of the wooden hoppers in use before the Presflos.

 

No excuse not to post a photo of the completed wagon now :-)

 

Regards

Graham

 

 

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On 23/03/2020 at 21:49, Argos said:

Whilst there are plenty of photos of the wagons most are indistinct.

There looks to be writing on the side but no photo I've found is clear enough to read.

 

There seem to have been some variations of lettering for the alumina Presflos. Good photos are not easy to come by. Here are a couple:

 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/61633-fort-william-in-1972/&do=findComment&comment=786771

 

https://www.railscot.co.uk/img/23/922/

 

You can see how I've tackled the problem here, based on what references I could find:

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/118922-kylestrome’s-4mm-workbench-–-scottish-malt-distilleries-ltd-no4/&do=findComment&comment=3580891

 

David

Edited by Kylestrome
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While we're on the subject of Ballachulish and alumina, the biggest mystery to me is how the alumina was transported from the presflos in the goods yard to the smelter in Kinlochleven? After considerable searching, I still haven't managed to find any pictures of unloading facilities or any kind of road transport.

 

David

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Hi David,

 

It was by truck. I'm sure I've seen a photo of a road tanker in the yard a Ballachulish ready to load.

 

I think it's in a magazine.

I'll try and find it tomorrow

Edited by Argos
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10 hours ago, Kylestrome said:

While we're on the subject of Ballachulish and alumina, the biggest mystery to me is how the alumina was transported from the presflos in the goods yard to the smelter in Kinlochleven? After considerable searching, I still haven't managed to find any pictures of unloading facilities or any kind of road transport.

 

David

Unloading facilities would be minimal. No fixed installations, just a compressor, which could be a towable one or  lorry-mounted . This, and and any lorries used, would only be present when unloading operations were in progress. The lorries themselves might be specially built tankers, but could be ordinary tippers, sheeted. Prior to the development of powder tankers, Blue Circle had done this for cement.

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21 hours ago, Argos said:

It was by truck. I'm sure I've seen a photo of a road tanker in the yard a Ballachulish ready to load.

 

I think it's in a magazine.

I'll try and find it tomorrow

 

Nope, looked through all the pictures I could find of the branch and can't see it so it may have been a figment of my imagination.

Sorry!

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Looking at the other end of the line (Burntisland), I worked there in the days when the bauxite was transported from the harbour to the works by road.  As mentioned before you took in your washing, moved your car off the main road & closed your windows.  Talk about cowboy drivers, the roads & everything else on the route ended up brick red from the dust.  Not a tarp in sight.  If it was raining, the town looked like a wild west set, with red mud everywhere.  If I could, I tried to avoid going there when the ships were in.  I don't know what the alumina was like to transport in an open lorry.

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1 hour ago, duncan said:

Looking at the other end of the line (Burntisland), I worked there in the days when the bauxite was transported from the harbour to the works by road.  As mentioned before you took in your washing, moved your car off the main road & closed your windows.  Talk about cowboy drivers, the roads & everything else on the route ended up brick red from the dust.  Not a tarp in sight.  If it was raining, the town looked like a wild west set, with red mud everywhere.  If I could, I tried to avoid going there when the ships were in.  I don't know what the alumina was like to transport in an open lorry.

 

Go to North Blyth it is rather like having fine white sand blowing everywhere.

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  • 1 year later...

Apart from the scenic appeal, the aluminia traffic caught my eye. There's no need for a big unloading sight, especially taking up room on a small layout. Was going to run as a separate loaded train and even a Ballachulish version of the "Killin school train" to give extra train's to run.

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