Yates, Duxbury, Heap Bridge

[Adam]

Just stumbled across this rather nice film of the end of steam working at Yates, Duxbury's paper mill in 1974. It's fair to describe the condition of the Barclay saddle tank as 'sub-optimal' (knackered), but well-polished - look at that brass work - just not clean.

 

 

The Barclay survives, I think, as does one of the Pecketts it replaced, Annie. The latter can be found on the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Railway:

 

http://www.embsayboltonabbeyrailway.org.uk/oldsite/9.html

 

Adam

[Arthur]

 

Nice find Adam. My mates and I paid several visits to Yates & Duxbury’s in 1970 and 71 including a couple in the snow. Not a large system but with a lot of interest and some short steep banks to get the locos working.

 

.

[Down_Under]

Just stumbled across this rather nice film of the end of steam working at Yates, Duxbury's paper mill in 1974. It's fair to describe the condition of the Barclay saddle tank as 'sub-optimal' (knackered), but well-polished - look at that brass work - just not clean.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=22&v=M_tr5zPiLaI

 

The Barclay survives, I think, as does one of the Pecketts it replaced, Annie. The latter can be found on the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Railway:

 

http://www.embsayboltonabbeyrailway.org.uk/oldsite/9.html

 

Adam

Thanks Adam. The other colliery videos are good too Edited December 18, 2017 by Down_Under

[5050]

Excellent, thanks for the link.  I'd like to see the whole film sometime!

 

I'm sure I've got a 'Bylines' magazine with an article about the system.

[Adam]

Excellent, thanks for the link.  I'd like to see the whole film sometime!

 

I'm sure I've got a 'Bylines' magazine with an article about the system.

 

Yes, that's how I first came across the system, and knew about the Pecketts. One of Bylines' better articles, I always thought, and such a modellogenic outfit - small locos, short trains, internal wagons and a variety of exchange traffic. The one difficulty is the exhaust effects.

 

Adam

[D.Platt]

Adam

Thanks for that brilliant bit of film , I just missed out on that moving to the summit estate in Heywood in 1975 , my brother who had lived there from the mid sixties never mentioned seeing them working so I always thought the system had been closed for years before I moved there, if my memory is right I saw 51218 in the Prettywood goods sidings must have been late sixties/early seventies.

Dennis

[Marshall5]

51218 pulled a brake van special from Rochdale to Whitworth on Feb. 19 1967.  I assume your sighting was in association with that.

Ray.

Edited December 18, 2017 by Marshall5

[bennyboy]

I photographed the trackbed a few years ago, but I had no idea that steam was used at such a late date!

[w124bob]

Yes, that's how I first came across the system, and knew about the Pecketts. One of Bylines' better articles, I always thought, and such a modellogenic outfit - small locos, short trains, internal wagons and a variety of exchange traffic. The one difficulty is the exhaust effects.

 

Adam

Can you give us the Bylines mag details?

[Adam]

Can you give us the Bylines mag details?

There's an online index to Bylines. I'm not certain that the article I have in mind is the one that shows up most readily via Google, but it's identified here:

 

https://www.irwellpress.com/acatalog/RAILWAY_BYLINES_INDEX_TO_VOLUME_2_1996-1998.html

 

Hope that helps?

 

Adam

[Dava]

I have some b/w photos from this line, taken by a friend, long departed. I'll see if I can find and scan them.

 

Dava

[bennyboy]

Here's some of the pictures that I took of the trackbed a few years ago. By a weird coincidence I also came across this shunter on a low loader at the entrance of a local business premises, although I don't think it has any connection with the line.

 

[Osgood]

Can you give us the Bylines mag details?

 

For anyone interested, here are two very interesting articles -

 

1) Railway Bylines June-July 1997 (vol 2 issue 4), "Worked to a Pulp" by Steven Oakden, and

2) Industrial Railway record 155 (Dec 98), "Yates Duxbury" by Adrian Booth - an excellent 9 page article including well detailed map.

 

I would recommend reading both these articles, the latter describing the unusual use of BR's Heap Bridge branch by Yates Duxbury engines once it was formally closed (due to poor track and use of 5F and 8Fs due to non-availability of smaller locos (4F, 2MT) towards the end of BR steam causing frequent derailments), and the excellent map / track plan puts the mills and branch into better perspective - thus enabling one to make more sense of the movie in Adam's opening post.

 

Additionally, "The Industrial Railways of Bolton Bury & the Manchester Coalfield" by Townley et al. yields further information on both Yates Duxbury and the adjacent earlier Bridge Hall Mill of James Wrigley (which mill was the cause of building the Heap Bridge branch).  This book's 1920s plan of Heap Bridge shows the interesting access to Bridge Hall Mills from the railway branch via two wagon turntables, each track crossing on its own river bridge at 90 degrees to the railway and river to two turntables situated on the mill's railway lines running along the north bank in line with branch and river - one bridge used for incoming traffic, the other for outgoing.  This mill closed down in the mid 1920s, leaving Yates Duxbury as sole beneficiary of the Heap Bridge branch.

 

Of additional industrial interest to industrial railway folk is the adjacent (but not rail connected) Phoenix Foundry - home at one time of James Kay who in the 1920s built a handful of internal combustion shunting locomotives, including at least one standard gauge engine.  The spec and a photo of this std gauge loco (which was taken on the Heap Bridge branch) appear in Brian Webb's "The British Internal Combustion locomotive 1894-1940".

[SteveyDee68]

My late father used to drive us down to Heap Bridge to see if we might see the steam engine shunting ... some of my earliest memories are of seeing steam rising from behind a wall, and being put on my dad’s shoulders so I could see the little engine hard at work!

 

Steve S

[5050]

Viewing the video again it makes me wonder if a UK version of the classic USA layout concept 'Gumstump and Snowshoe' could be a viable idea.

 

Google 'G&A' if you're not familiar with it.  Its one I've had in the back of my mind for years!

[03060]

2 hours ago, 5050 said:

Viewing the video again it makes me wonder if a UK version of the classic USA layout concept 'Gumstump and Snowshoe' could be a viable idea.

 

Google 'G&A' if you're not familiar with it.  Its one I've had in the back of my mind for years!

 

I've already bought a couple of Pecketts and a Hattons Barclay, plus a few wagons for a YD themed shelf type layout and intend to buy one of JSL's lasercut factory kits when spare funds pemit.

 

Haven't heard of the 'G&A' type layout before so shall be investigating, thanks. Not likely to get built soon though as I'm working on other things but I've loved this theme ever since I saw the Bylines article all of those years ago....but you never know as I'm very much a mood modeller these days.

 

Regards,

Ian.

[5050]

13 minutes ago, 03060 said:

 

I've already bought a couple of Pecketts and a Hattons Barclay, plus a few wagons for a YD themed shelf type layout and intend to buy one of JSL's lasercut factory kits when spare funds pemit.

 

Haven't heard of the 'G&A' type layout before so shall be investigating, thanks. Not likely to get built soon though as I'm working on other things but I've loved this theme ever since I saw the Bylines article all of those years ago....but you never know as I'm very much a mood modeller these days.

 

Regards,

Ian.

Oops, should be 'G&S' not 'G&A'. 

[03060]

Luckily I wrote out the full title and have had a quick look at the page below, I think that the original plan is worth some thought and might work for me and my space, others still to investigate, thanks for "heads up."  

 

https://www.carendt.com/small-layout-scrapbook/page-38a-june-2005-special-edition/