MGR hoppers on the WCML, late 60's?

[thohurst]

I'm very tempted to preorder some Accurascale pre-tops HAA hoppers. Would they have been seen on the electrified section of the WCML in the late 1960's? Haven't been able to find any photos of them under wires until the 70's. Cheers.

[McC]

If they were it will be in the Stoke/Stafford/Rugeley PS section I guess, but that would take some searching to find out

[08221]

MGRs used to work through Bletchley in short rakes heading to the Tunnel Cement works at Pitstone (near Tring) until the 1980s.

 

Haulage was 47s, 56s, 25s (rare but a great sound!!), 45s, 46 and 58s at various times.

 

Evidence of the long disused and disconnected sidings can still be seen!

 

 

Edited November 26, 2021 by 08221

[Rivercider]

39 minutes ago, McC said:

If they were it will be in the Stoke/Stafford/Rugeley PS section I guess, but that would take some searching to find out

That is the area I was thinking might be a possibility.

I don't know the area well, but my Baker rail atlas shows collieries at Silverdale and Holditch off the WCML, also Trentham, Hem Heath and Florence south of Stoke, as well as Littleton north of Woverhampton. A quick search on Flickr only shows MGR trains from the about 1975 onwards that I can find,

 

cheers

[Claude_Dreyfus]

I have seen photos of a pre-tops class 50 (408) on a Silverdale - Ironbridge MGR in August 1973. Not under the wires in that particular picture sadly (nor the later 1975 pictures of 50031 or 50022, the latter at Cannock Rd junction, Wolverhampton). Maybe not massively helpful in itself, but may point you in the right direction.

[Fat Controller]

I think you'd have to play with your time-frame; Ironbridge B opened in 1969, and Rugeley in 1970. These were the two main MGR-served power stations.

Prior to that, flat-bottom minerals (mainly 21-tonners) were the norm in North Staffs, feeding locations such as Meaford. A peculiarity of the area was that many of these wagons were owned by the CEGB, having been been built for the Midlands Electricity Authority; they were tipplers with neither side, nor end, doors.

[PenrithBeacon]

http://www.ltsv.com/w_profiles_hoppers.php

[Padishar Creel]

I have seen a pic of Kestrel on an MGR, I think in an old Modern Railways (which is tucked away on a cupboard), but not 'under the wires'

 

es grüßt

pc 

[thohurst]

Thanks all for the advice. Some food for thought. I think I'm pretty set on 1966' time-base wise, so most likely it seems HAA's wouldn't have been seen on this part of the WCML at the time? 

[Rivercider]

7 hours ago, thohurst said:

Thanks all for the advice. Some food for thought. I think I'm pretty set on 1966' time-base wise, so most likely it seems HAA's wouldn't have been seen on this part of the WCML at the time? 

Looking on Flickr I see one caption for Silverdale mentions the colliery was rebuilt during the 1970s, I suspect this would also include the rapid loading bunker for MGR loading to replace the MDVs,

 

cheers 

[slg]

1966 is too early for under the wires, this is the history info from Wikipedia on MGR trains

 

West Burton Power Station was used as a testing ground for the MGR system[1] but the first power station to receive its coal by MGR was Cockenzie in Scotland in 1966.[2] It was estimated at the time that the 80 MGR hoppers needed to feed Cockenzie would replace up to 1500 conventional wagons.[3]

A 1.2 GW power station, such as Cockenzie, receives up to 3 million tons of coal a year, whereas a larger 2 GW plant, like West Burton, up to 5 million tons per year. By the end of 1966 there were about 900 wagons carrying 53,000 tons a week to four power stations.[4] Power stations that were built to handle the new MGR traffic were Aberthaw, Drax, Didcot, Eggborough, Ferrybridge C,[5] Fiddlers Ferry and Ratcliffe, of which only the last is still open for traffic.[6] Many of the older power stations were gradually converted to MGR operation.

Merry-go-round operation was also adopted for the Immingham Bulk Terminal built in the early 1970s to supply iron ore to the Scunthorpe Steelworks from the Port of Immingham.[7]