Tar Distillers tank wagons: British Tar Products, Lancashire Tar Distillers and J.E.C. Lord (1960s or earlier)

[Mol_PMB]

I'm currently researching tar tank wagons for my Manchester Ship Canal theme, with a view to making a short train of varied tar tanks. So I am looking for photos of tank wagons belonging to three tar distilling firms in the Manchester area.

 

This was inspired by finding a block train of tank wagons on the MSC Railway passing Barton Locks, in this aerial photo:

https://britainfromabove.org.uk/en/map?country=global&view=map#0,262466.52493474324,609599.6708161779

I have attached a heavily cropped part of the image which just shows the train, hopefully that's not bending the copyright too much.

 

The time period I am most interested in is the 1960s but photos from other periods are also of interest if they show wagons that would have been in use in the mid-1960s (i.e. not modern continuously-braked stock)

 

There were several tar firms near Barton Locks and served by the MSC Railway, either in Cadishead (about 3 miles west of Barton Locks) or in Weaste (about 2 miles east of Barton Locks).

• Lancashire Tar Distillers had a distillation plant in Cadishead and a storage facility in Weaste
• British Tar Products had a distillation plant in Cadishead
• J.E.C. Lord had a distillation plant in Weaste

All four sites were rail-connected to the MSC Railway and had their own shunting locos.

Additionally there were numerous gas works, chemical factories and a steelworks with coking plant connected to the MSC Railway, so it seems quite plausible that tank wagons of tar and tar products would have been seen frequently on the MSC Railway.

 

Now of course we all know that to make a good model we need photos!

Drawings are less of a problem here as most tank wagons were built to RCH standards for which the drawings have been published in 'Oil on the Rails' and details such as the tank diameter can be estimated from photos.

 

Currently I have the following:

British Tar Products:

• HMRS collection has the builders photo of a 14t cylindrical tank number 102. This is also included in Keith Turton's Eighth Collection with some incomplete information on the numbers of their other tanks.

https://hmrs.org.uk/photographs/british-tar-products-manchester-14t-tank-102-op-f3r-cadishead-works-nr-manchester-regd-lms-tare-8-10-3.html

• Grace's Guide has a view of the end of a 14t cylindrical tank number 170 dated to the mid 1960s.

https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/File:JD_BTP_3.jpg

• A photo of their Sentinel 'Ann' in 1971 being prepared for preservation shows a part view of a 14t cylindrical tank wagon in the background, similar to 102 but in a different livery which is only half visible.

(other versions of this photo show a bit more of the wagon)

• Aerial photos of their site in the 1930s show dozens of varied tank wagons but in poor resolution.

https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EPW045091

https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EPW045090

 

Lancashire Tar Distillers:

• British Railways Wagons in Colour has a nice photo of 14t cylindrical tank number 507 at Cadishead in 1969.
• A few tank wagons appear in the background of photos of a railtour that visited this part of the MSC Railway in 1969, but none I have seen show the tank wagons in any detail.
• Ken Scanes has shared with me a photo of a rake of four 14t cylindrical tanks at Cadishead in 1979, probably disused or internal use. Only number 537 is visible in any detail, it is a newer design than 507. One of the more distant tanks is lagged, unlike the others.
• Aerial photos of the Lancashire Tar Distillers site at Preston in the 1950s site show a mixture of cylindrical (14t and 20t) and rectangular tanks.

https://britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EAW050362

(zoom in, the tar works is in the right background)

 

J.E.C. Lord:

• 'Oil on the Rails' has a list of many small batches of tanks built for this firm by Charles Roberts, a mix of cylindrical and rectangular types, but no photos.
• There is an excellent photo of rectangular tank 63 which appears in several books, dated 1950s.

Unknown but presumably one of the above:

• The 1947 aerial photo of which an excerpt is attached
• An RTCS photo of an MSC loco at Partington shed (near Cadishead) dated 1961 shows two rectangular tar tanks in the background. No further details are discernable except that they carry stars:

https://rcts.zenfolio.com/industrial-and-light/industrial-steam/manchester-ship-canal/other/hA104AB95#ha104ab95

 

 

So far I think I have enough information to make models of L.T.D. 507 and 537 plus J.E.C.Lord 63, all appropriate to the 1960s period.

I could almost do B.T.P. 102 but I don't have adequate information on their later livery.

 

These tank wagons would have turned up at a variety of gas works, chemical plants, and coking plants in the north of England.

British Tar Products was at one time associated with the Glasshoughton coking plant in Yorkshire, while J.E.C. Lord had the contract to process all the tar from Salford's gas works.

 

So, does anyone have any other photos of these firms' tank wagons that I could use as the basis of a model?

 

Thanks for reading all the way through that!

 

Cheers,

Mol

 

 

 

 

 

 

[doilum]

It's still snowing!

I have just had a quick browse of my Bill Hudson books. 

Nothing in vol 1. 

Nine of interest in vol 2. Two specific to Manchester.

Three in vol 3.

Two in vol 4. These are the acid tanks I modelled.

Still easily available for around a tenner from online sources.

 

[MR Chuffer]

Although not directly related to the 2 geographies you're focussing on, an image search on Smith Forrest wagons brings up an interesting selection of mainly rectanks, tar and otherwise, for this Manchester, Holt-based company.

Edited January 14, 2021 by MR Chuffer

[Mol_PMB]

Ah great, many thanks to you both for some pointers. I think I'll need a new bookcase! I seem to be buying a lot of books about wagons at present, but I don't have those ones.

I am also looking at doing a model of the ReesOils acid tank; they were based in Trafford Park and this wagon was still in use in the 1960s.

I think that would be a scratchbuilt body on an RCH chassis.

 

Cheers,

Mol

[Mol_PMB]

Incidentally the attached index of private owner wagon photos is extremely useful if not 100% comprehensive. I found it online somewhere.

Cheers,

Mol

Private_Owner_Wagons_Index.pdf

[KeithMacdonald]

Lots of tar, bitumen and tank wagons here;

 

https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/pounbraked

 

[Mol_PMB]

This image is heavily cropped from the edge of an Industrial Railway Society image (which I have just purchased) showing the diesel loco at Lancashire Tar Distillers, Weaste.

Though the loco has 'M.C.&S.C. WEASTE' on the cabside, I haven't quite worked out what that means.

The tank appears to be lettered:
RESIDUA...

TRANSPORT

LIMITED

 

Could this be a 'Tar Residuals Ltd' tank? Are there other photos of those in existence that show what the rest of the tank looked like?

Looks like a 1907 14t tank: It would be a good subject for a model based on the Slaters kit.

 

Edit: here is a different 'Tar Residuals Ltd' tank, probably a later vehicle in an earlier livery:

https://hmrs.org.uk/photographs/tar-residuals-ec3-14t-tank-wagon-200-ex-works-lettered-with-co-name-london-and-manchester-order-1279.html

Edited January 14, 2021 by Mol_PMB