RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted June 27, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 27, 2013 Oh yesssss. That is the first blue, before they were white, then green then blue. I'm struggling with the location though, I thought it was Erskine Road at first, but the far wall is in the wrong place. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porcy Mane Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 (edited) Good find, Porcy. What a lovely pic that is. Pity the OP couldn't spell "Westoe", but there we go... Marj Marj...MARJ??? You've been at sea too long... Besides being a pain to navigate there's a few other sins on that site such as calling Dawdon Colliery, "Seabanks" (After the BR Signal Box). Suppose I'll have to tell them. Fantastic pix though... P Marj, I ask you! Tut tut... Edited June 27, 2013 by Porcy Mane Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkC Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 Marj...MARJ??? You've been at sea too long... Besides being a pain to navigate there's a few other sins on that site such as calling Dawdon Colliery, "Seabanks" (After the BR Signal Box). Suppose I'll have to tell them. Fantastic pix though... P Marj, I ask you! Tut tut... :jester: 'twas a mere trypping error... (Note to self - use your own lappy, not the office pooter with its dodgy keyboard, if you're in a hurry...) Just tidying up the last stuff before the freedom bird tomorrow afternoon! And yes, best to let the site owner know about the locations... Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacific231G Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 (edited) Jan '79 to December '82 for cadetship, End '85 for Seconds & April-Jul '89 for Chiefs. Mark Small world I was at South Shields Marine and Technical College as it then was for my phase 3 with British and Commonwealth in 1969-70 though I'd had pretty well decided to go to University for an engineering degree instead. The Tyneside Electrics had been replaced by DMUs by then but we were in a guest house in Ocean Road so I did get to see the Harton Electrics close up from time to time while walking to the college. I think only Westoe Colliery was open by then and you could clearly see it from Ocean Road with trains moving around but the Marsden railway had been lifted though many of the locals remembered it well. I'm not sure whether the riverside staithes were still in use or if all the coal went via the exchange sidings but I distinctly remember seeing the very distinctive locos passing under the road on a fairly sharp curve. It did seem strange to have the beach and funfair overlooked by a colliery but (and slightly OT), next door to that the South Shields Pier railway seemed to have only recently fallen out of use as there was still rolling stock on the fan of three sidings in the service yard at the landward end. No sign though of the sand railway that it had connected to and I didn't realise there had been more of that railway than the elongated Inglenook Sidings on the pier. Edited June 27, 2013 by Pacific231G Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted June 27, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 27, 2013 The staithes at Mill Dam and High Staithes were still in use then, 231G. I have a photo of the little Ruston actually on the pier, I think about 1975, it was the last time I saw it in action. I'll see if I have it scanned in this evening, bit OT though! As you may gather I'm a South Shields lad, I went to Riversdale for my Cadetship though! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkC Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 Mill Dam was definitely still in use in 1978 - I was staying at the Seamans' Mission and I can confirm that it was a very busy 24/7 operation then... Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkC Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 Small world I was at South Shields Marine and Technical College as it then was for my phase 3 with British and Commonwealth in 1969-70 though I'd had pretty well decided to go to University for an engineering degree instead. The Tyneside Electrics had been replaced by DMUs by then but we were in a guest house in Ocean Road so I did get to see the Harton Electrics close up from time to time while walking to the college. I think only Westoe Colliery was open by then and you could clearly see it from Ocean Road with trains moving around but the Marsden railway had been lifted though many of the locals remembered it well. I'm not sure whether the riverside staithes were still in use or if all the coal went via the exchange sidings but I distinctly remember seeing the very distinctive locos passing under the road on a fairly sharp curve. It did seem strange to have the beach and funfair overlooked by a colliery but (and slightly OT), next door to that the South Shields Pier railway seemed to have only recently fallen out of use as there was still rolling stock on the fan of three sidings in the service yard at the landward end. No sign though of the sand railway that it had connected to and I didn't realise there had been more of that railway than the elongated Inglenook Sidings on the pier. Small world again - I too was B&C. You will have mail... Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted June 27, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 27, 2013 Haven't scanned the pier loco slide, sorry - it's in the loft, which is still out of bounds post hip surgery! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacific231G Posted July 2, 2013 Share Posted July 2, 2013 The staithes at Mill Dam and High Staithes were still in use then, 231G. I have a photo of the little Ruston actually on the pier, I think about 1975, it was the last time I saw it in action. I'll see if I have it scanned in this evening, bit OT though! As you may gather I'm a South Shields lad, I went to Riversdale for my Cadetship though! Looking again at the tracks round there that makes sense. So the pier railway was still in use while I was there. Interesting as it looked derelict and I never saw any signs of life. Presumably by then it was just used if they wanted to get some material out onto the pier. I can't remember if the crane was still on the pier. I think that had its own third rail running on the wall presumably to give greater stability. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted July 3, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 3, 2013 Mm, the last time I saw the pier railway run, the crane was in use, then it was scrapped shortly afterwards - a friend actually tendered to scrap it but didn't win the contract. My slides are out of reach for now, I must try to dig them out when I'm able. It's a guess (the slides should be dated) but I'd say the crane went in 1977 or 8. It had two rails of it's own, one was up on the wall on the south side of the pier thus giving it an odd lop-sided look! It was a great surprise to me to see the railway in use, as the rails were in such a terrible state, delaminating and rotten, I suppose it was running on concrete half the time. The loco was at Embsay, not sure if it still is. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium keefer Posted July 24, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 24, 2013 apologies if this has been posted already, colour pic of 26500 working off the OHLE at manors in 1963: http://www.flickr.com/photos/64518788@N05/7845539836/in/set-72157629788008172/ 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porcy Mane Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 Not sure if we,ve had this before but some Cine Film on you tube of the Harton Electrics during their white period. it's the Sept 1968 Durham Coast railtour with 4472. Looks like BR kept all of the NE region joiners busy for a while fitting out all those 13t opens with benches. (Or did BR keep a rake of them for railtour duty?) Thanks to axlebox Duncan for the link. Porcy 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted September 5, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 5, 2013 Woo! At the first de-training scene (with the tower in the background) they were about 200 yards from the young NHN! Crammed with memories there. I bet they had the riot act read when they went down Erskine Road bank - the scene with the girders over the top - as the wires are easily within touching distance! They occasionally used to set 21t hoppers full of wet coal on fire as the wires dragged on the load........600v DC. They had to be live as the diesels couldn't get down there, they were too tall. Even electrics 11 and 12 were too tall, the 13-15 version had lower cabs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatB Posted September 6, 2013 Share Posted September 6, 2013 Great film. It's remarkable seeing how much Tyneside had changed in the 17 years between that footage and my arrival there. Particularly worrying given that that seemingly impossibly long time is as nothing compared to how long ago my arrival in 1985 now is . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium keefer Posted October 1, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 1, 2013 the prototype thread about hellifield shed, where preserved locos were stored in the '60s, has a pic of 26500/1: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/76767-large-shed-on-down-side-at-hellifield/&do=findComment&comment=1176198 a new one of harton no.15 on robertcwp's flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/robertcwp/9980261816/in/set-72157603648772112/ (photos of 3 other harton locos precede this one) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted October 5, 2013 Author Share Posted October 5, 2013 back to the Tyneside 3rd rail units.... http://www.flickr.com/photos/95062750@N04/10101399954/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/95062750@N04/10101470126/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/95062750@N04/10101356474/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/95062750@N04/10101385875/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/95062750@N04/10101381805/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/95062750@N04/10101535835/ 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertcwp Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 A couple more Harton electrics: Harton-ER_Westoe_No9 by robertcwp, on Flickr Harton-ER_Westoe_No2 by robertcwp, on Flickr 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium ArthurK Posted October 8, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 8, 2013 I can recommend Alan Young's book "Suburban Railways of Tyneside" (ISBN1-871944-20-1). This has lots of photographs of the Electric traction north and south of the Tyne throughout its lifetime. Also the their successors though the diesel era and the Tyneside Metro system. The rear cover has a colour photo of the 1920s stock. Pity it is BR green but there are plenty of B&W as well. Arthurk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Louch Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Slightly off thread - couple of snaps of 'Crocodiles' used as shunt engines in South Africa bear a passing similarity to the Tyneside versions. Were they from the same builders? South Shields.....Many a day spent on the blocks in Middle Docks, Redheads and Tyne Dock Engineering......! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted October 8, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 8, 2013 They do have an AEG look about them, like No.9. Middle Docks, oh yes, and my Dad served his time at Redheads..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
298 Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 From memory, those SAR locos were originally designed by Metrovick, the Westoe locos are from Siemens, AEG, Kerr Stuart, and EE. I am convinced that one of the reasons why early electric locos are perceived to look the same was because they didn't have time to evolve and so designers might have copied the same simple shape that had proven design features. But the key "family features" on locos from that era actually have alot of commonality with contemporary steam locos, early Baldwin locos had cabs of the same profile as steam locos and their bogies were simply motorised tender trucks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted October 9, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 9, 2013 (edited) You are correct regarding the origin of the Westoe locos. It was the chunky bogies that led me to opine the SA loco had an AEG look about it. 9's design was derived from an underground loco, hence it's low stature - which was ideal for the heoght restricted line! Edited October 9, 2013 by New Haven Neil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tin Turtle Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Believe mention was made a little while ago by Tanfield that they were looking at the possibility of getting one of the two Harton electrics running again (with a battery no doubt, just as the Stephenson Railway Museum run their Harton loco) - would be fantastic to see it done, and maybe with the NRM's North Eastern Railway Quayside electric! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckymucklebackit Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Hi all - Just a quick comment on this excellent thread. Most, if not all of the articulated units and at least one of the parcels vans ended their days at Connell's scrapyard in Coatbridge. They arrived en masse and Calder yard and the surrounding sidings were packed full of them for a few days until the scrapyard took them in and cut them up, as a schoolboy at Coatdyke it was quite exciting to see these exotic units appearing if only for a short while. Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenw Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 (edited) There was also a reference to an accident at Monkseaton. This was a J27 (which did survive). I believe the cause was a broken tender axle. There is a pohoto of this around somewhere. Both loco and tender ended up on their sides. It's here; No.14 Steam Memories : 1950's - 1960's North From Newcastle, by David Dunn. Page 42 Ken Edited July 29, 2014 by kenw Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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