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Cambridge Gasworks construction railway


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I am sure there is another thread on the general topic of gasworks railways, but I can't find it. 

 

Here is the perfect prototype for a continuous-run standard gauge industrial railway, tight radius curves, and ideal for a cakebox-type layout.

 

image.png.c6091358b9063f91a0acffd2cc149c84.png

 

Now lets look at the source, which is here. Its a fascinating 10-minute lecture by Dr. Gordon Davies about the construction of a gasometer at the Cambridge University & Town Gas-Light Company in the 1920s. Basically a circle of railway track was laid around the site for the gasometer and a steam crane was used to lift and build the steelwork for the large gasometer.  The crane can be seen in one photo and there is a curved turnout, its not clear where this short siding led, the steelwork would have been loaded onto a small wagon which the crane then shunted into position. 

 

The slides and notes by Dr Davies, a volunteer at the Cambridge Museum of Technology can be located here, acknowledging the source.  https://www.balh.org.uk/ten-minute-talks  The pdf is here: 

https://www.balh.org.uk/_resources/presentation/ten-minute/time-lapse-transformation-of-an-industrial-skyline.pdf

Notes: https://www.balh.org.uk/_resources/presentation/ten-minute/time-lapse-transformation-of-an-industrial-skyline-notes.pdf

 

Many of the photos are from the National Grid Gas Archive which is probably worth a look. You can even watch the webinar and see the gasometer being built!

 

I recall visiting the then Cambridge Gasworks Museum, now the Museum of Technology, back in 1982 when I lived there. There is a short cable-hauled narrow gauge tramway for ash removal which is operational for display now. The gasworks has a wharf on the River Cam and originally the coal came in by barge and presumably tar out the same way. 

 

It was not directly rail-served but there was a gasworks siding off the GER mainline, shunted by a Sentinel loco 'Gasbag' (now preserved) and coal reached the gasworks via a wagon tippler, hopper and lorries running the short distance to the gasworks. I dont know if they were Sentinel steam lorries and the workslist is too long to check! The full story and photos of the rail operation are here: http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/c/cambridge/index22.shtml

 

A modeller could of course cheat and connect the railway direct with the gasworks. The gasometer was preceded by one which blew up spectacularly in 1869.

 

Dava

 

 

 

 

 

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Fascinating.

 

But, I think you might be getting mixed-up regarding the museum with the ash disposal tramway, which was originally a sewage pumping station with boilers fired by domestic rubbish. Its got some really huge gas engines, as well as the steam engines.

 

Etched into my memory, because on my one visit I went into the wrong gate in the car, and in reversing out managed to run over a huge iron casting hidden by long grass, ripping the drive shaft on the RHS of my car to pieces! It cost many hundreds of pounds to get fixed.

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Kevin,

 

You're right, the gasworks and pumping station were next to each other alongside the river. The museum is in the pumping station and the gasworks site has long been redeveloped. Its 38 years since I visited on my bike!

 

Dava

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 16/09/2020 at 18:37, Dava said:

I am sure there is another thread on the general topic of gasworks railways, but I can't find it. 

 

Here is the perfect prototype for a continuous-run standard gauge industrial railway, tight radius curves, and ideal for a cakebox-type layout.

 

image.png.c6091358b9063f91a0acffd2cc149c84.png

 

Now lets look at the source, which is here. Its a fascinating 10-minute lecture by Dr. Gordon Davies about the construction of a gasometer at the Cambridge University & Town Gas-Light Company in the 1920s. Basically a circle of railway track was laid around the site for the gasometer and a steam crane was used to lift and build the steelwork for the large gasometer.  The crane can be seen in one photo and there is a curved turnout, its not clear where this short siding led, the steelwork would have been loaded onto a small wagon which the crane then shunted into position. 

 

The slides and notes by Dr Davies, a volunteer at the Cambridge Museum of Technology can be located here, acknowledging the source.  https://www.balh.org.uk/ten-minute-talks  The pdf is here: 

https://www.balh.org.uk/_resources/presentation/ten-minute/time-lapse-transformation-of-an-industrial-skyline.pdf

Notes: https://www.balh.org.uk/_resources/presentation/ten-minute/time-lapse-transformation-of-an-industrial-skyline-notes.pdf

 

Many of the photos are from the National Grid Gas Archive which is probably worth a look. You can even watch the webinar and see the gasometer being built!

 

I recall visiting the then Cambridge Gasworks Museum, now the Museum of Technology, back in 1982 when I lived there. There is a short cable-hauled narrow gauge tramway for ash removal which is operational for display now. The gasworks has a wharf on the River Cam and originally the coal came in by barge and presumably tar out the same way. 

 

It was not directly rail-served but there was a gasworks siding off the GER mainline, shunted by a Sentinel loco 'Gasbag' (now preserved) and coal reached the gasworks via a wagon tippler, hopper and lorries running the short distance to the gasworks. I dont know if they were Sentinel steam lorries and the workslist is too long to check! The full story and photos of the rail operation are here: http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/c/cambridge/index22.shtml

 

A modeller could of course cheat and connect the railway direct with the gasworks. The gasometer was preceded by one which blew up spectacularly in 1869.

 

Dava

 

 

 

 

 

Regarding the movement of coal from the Coldhams Lane siding to the gasworks. My late stepfather, who had many jobs apperently, said that he used to drive the lorries on that run. He said they were steam powered.

The Sentinel loco, Gasbag, was not named as such until after preservation.

 

Stewart

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