70s Industrial steam

[65179]

14 hours ago, Jeremy Cumberland said:

I didn't think any of the NCB Yorkshire areas had any working steam locomotives that late. In my Industrial Locomotives 1976, HE 3168/1944 is shown OOU at Allerton Bywater Colliery.

 

"Zone of high vehicular activity" indeed.

 

I think we've had views of No.7 in this thread before. It was certainly well photographed on its trips between Wheldale and the washer at Fryston.

 

For instance this Steve Banks image on Flickr:

 

Simon

 

[Michael Edge]

Hunslet were still experimenting with underfeed stokers as late as 1983 in Yorkshire collieries.

[doilum]

22 hours ago, Jeremy Cumberland said:

I didn't think any of the NCB Yorkshire areas had any working steam locomotives that late. In my Industrial Locomotives 1976, HE 3168/1944 is shown OOU at Allerton Bywater Colliery.

 

"Zone of high vehicular activity" indeed.

S134 He 3168 was rebuilt at Allerton Bywater workshops circa 1970. It was then moved across the road to the colliery where it was stored in the wagon workshop. The paintwork was not quite finished lacking the lining and gloss lacquer. Sometime circa 1979 it was put into steam to appear in a BBC children's TV film The Hills of Heaven. Repainted green with an Awdry style "7" in yellow on the bunker it was sent via BR metals to the stump of the Methley Joint which ran up to Newmarket colliery. Most of the film had already been  shot at Bickershaw using He 3776 which was also given the green makeover despite being recently resplendent in lined out blue. If anyone knows why they had to go to all the expense of creating a Yorkshire doppelganger I would love to know more.

When the couple of days filming were done,S134 was returned to Allerton Bywater Colliery where it was left outside until mid 1981 when Hunslet approached the NCB with a view to undertaking some research.  This was agreed on the condition that Hunslet sent their own engineers to recommission the loco. Originally it was planned to undertake the research at Allerton Bywater but the austerity was too tall to work beneath the screens, so it was transfered across the river to Wheldale where it could work the mile of internal track that linked it to the washers at Fryston. 

The test work was completed in late '81 but this was a very long cold winter that saw several diesel failures and S134 was in use until the following September.  During this time it gained celebrity status and is probably the most photographed and filmed Industrial Locomotive this side of the pennines. It was then retired to Embsay whee it was repainted red and named  " Wheldale".

[doilum]

On 12/04/2024 at 17:53, montyburns56 said:

Fryston 1982 with some interesting signage..

 

 

Somehow I have not come across this fabulous image before. My late father was head teacher of the village school 1966 -73. Prior to his appointment, two small children had been killed playing between the wagons down near the river basin. The release of another batch of loose wagons under gravity caused the parked wagons to compress with fatal consequences for the children stood between them. 

In an almost bizarre twist of coincidence,  the consequences of playing with colliery wagons is at the heart of the plot of "The Hills of Heaven" which would see S134 repainted as the#"7" in the photo.

[Ben B]

On 13/04/2024 at 19:16, doilum said:

Somehow I have not come across this fabulous image before. My late father was head teacher of the village school 1966 -73. Prior to his appointment, two small children had been killed playing between the wagons down near the river basin. The release of another batch of loose wagons under gravity caused the parked wagons to compress with fatal consequences for the children stood between them. 

In an almost bizarre twist of coincidence,  the consequences of playing with colliery wagons is at the heart of the plot of "The Hills of Heaven" which would see S134 repainted as the#"7" in the photo.

 

A little thread drift, but reminds me of a story told by my old Scout Leader when I was a kid. His Grandad lost a foot as a child, when crawling under wagons on the Earl of Dudley's railway; his foot got caught in the gap with a check-rail and the train was shunted, amputating his foot. He luckily recieved medical attention before he bled out.

[doilum]

Another small detail in the photo. The "emergency winder" was mounted on a large road vehicle and operated by the Mines Rescue team. There was probably just the one to cover all the areas of the South and North Yorkshire coalfields.

[Jeremy Cumberland]

12 minutes ago, doilum said:

Another small detail in the photo. The "emergency winder" was mounted on a large road vehicle and operated by the Mines Rescue team. There was probably just the one to cover all the areas of the South and North Yorkshire coalfields.

Thanks, I didn't know exactly what it was, but I couldn't help thinking of the escape route at the back of a bus in the event of an accident.

[montyburns56]

Bold Colliery 1982

 

 

 

[montyburns56]

Crossleys Shipley 1983 by Nigel

 

 

 

[Ben B]

19 hours ago, montyburns56 said:

Crossleys Shipley 1983 by Nigel

 

 

 

 

Cracking photos! Incidentally, the scrapyard is now being cleared and redeveloped, though happily still for railway use. It's going to house a servicing point and depot for Northern, for the Airedale and Wharfedale EMU fleets apparently. Always wish I'd made more effort to photograph the scrap trains when I moved to the area in 2007, they were still just about clinging on. And I wonder what will happen to the industrial diesels still on site...

[03060]

2 hours ago, Ben B said:

 

Cracking photos! Incidentally, the scrapyard is now being cleared and redeveloped, though happily still for railway use. It's going to house a servicing point and depot for Northern, for the Airedale and Wharfedale EMU fleets apparently. Always wish I'd made more effort to photograph the scrap trains when I moved to the area in 2007, they were still just about clinging on. And I wonder what will happen to the industrial diesels still on site...

Only a couple of miles from me so I'll have to go and have a nosey.

[Ben B]

18 hours ago, 03060 said:

Only a couple of miles from me so I'll have to go and have a nosey.

 

Father-in-law who lives in Bingley popped in earlier, said when he drove past this week it looked like the scrap was all gone, and the diesel shunters were parked up under the road bridge. Hope they don't get the chop... the blue Hunslet has local significance, being a survivor from the Esholt Sewerage Works lines; it would be nice to see it join the tank loco from there up at Bradford Industrial Museum.

Edited April 28 by Ben B
Spelling

[wagonbasher]

On 09/03/2024 at 13:30, Mark Saunders said:

The height of the screens tended to be as low as possible to avoid unnecessary breakage of coal as the size of the coal affects the sale price plus avoid refunds/compensation to cus.

I thought locomotives didn’t generally go under the screens, sort of delivering empties and taking away the full rakes, even in the cut down form Hornet is taller than the 21T wagon and presumably the horses were pulling sort of 10t 6 planks, so much lower.

 

of course the height restriction may not have been the screens, a gantry, bridge, tunnel?

 

Andy

[doilum]

The working height and operation of the screens varied from pit to pit. Some,eg Wheldale, operated a rope haulage system in order to prevent a locomotive being tied up all day at the screens. The run that S134 was too tall for at Allerton Bywater Colliery  was the muck run out to the spoil tips at Fairburn.

[Michael Edge]

1 hour ago, wagonbasher said:

I thought locomotives didn’t generally go under the screens, sort of delivering empties and taking away the full rakes, even in the cut down form Hornet is taller than the 21T wagon and presumably the horses were pulling sort of 10t 6 planks, so much lower.

 

of course the height restriction may not have been the screens, a gantry, bridge, tunnel?

 

Andy

Correct but it wasn't unknown. Most screens were worked by chains, rope or gravity.

[03060]

22 hours ago, Ben B said:

 

Cracking photos! Incidentally, the scrapyard is now being cleared and redeveloped, though happily still for railway use. It's going to house a servicing point and depot for Northern, for the Airedale and Wharfedale EMU fleets apparently. Always wish I'd made more effort to photograph the scrap trains when I moved to the area in 2007, they were still just about clinging on. And I wonder what will happen to the industrial diesels still on site...

View from bridge on a very wet day this morning ... please excuse the 2024 photos on a 1970s thread but I hope that you all agree the relevance as it looks like the end of this site on the Industrial Railway map.

 

From the Bradford side of the viaduct :

 

 

The Ruston.

 

The Hunslet (which I think was the one that worked at Esholt and named 'Prince of Wales.')

 

The possible new Northern Rail depot area.

 

[03060]

... and looking over the Shipley side of the viaduct (and trying not to get drenched from a large puddle by passing cars !)

 

 

 

I would have liked to have taken one more photo from a bit further to the right but in the interest of not being drowned chickened out !! LoL

 

Regards,

Ian.

[03060]

I'm afraid that the Hunslet looks very open to the elements with no side windows and the doors wide open !

[Ben B]

2 minutes ago, 03060 said:

I'm afraid that the Hunslet looks very open to the elements with no side windows and the doors wide open !

 

True, but it was in running order a few years ago, a colleague visited the yard for a photoshoot and spoke to the foreman about it.  The Ruston is also of some significance apparently, being an ex-military loco.  Hopefully if the industrial museum doesn't want Prince of Wales, somewhere like the Middleton Railway might have it.  Even in it's current state it's probably not beyond saving, and given that there's not many industrial diesel locomotives that hit the market these days, someone might want it.

 

I wonder if the Ruston 88ds pair that were acting as overgrown buffer stops still exist?  They were at the station end of the yard, seem to have been there since the 1980's out of use.