Scrap metal in the steam era.

[sb67]

I'm trying to find some info or photo's of scrap metal by rail during the late steam era.

Would it have been much the same as later years but using 5 plank opens etc? I was looking at suggesting a scrapyard as a backscene on my layout.

 

Many thanks.

Steve.

[Grovenor]

My local engineering works generally tipped all the swarf and similar scrap into 16T minerals, from tipper trucks into the wagons at the goods yard loading dock, for some reason they did not use their private siding for this traffic. Usually there were one or two minerals left at the dock until they were full. This was late 50s.

[Fat Controller]

I think that 16 tonners were preferred. I know  of one instance where wooden-bodied Highfits were loaded with scrap from a high loading bank. The bodies of some of the wagons fell apart.

[black and decker boy]

I’ve seen a few pics of 1960s scrap yards / trains in books and they’ve all been 16t minerals.

 

 

[sb67]

Cheers guys.

I've bought one of the excellent Moving the Goods bookazines, No4 , Steel. There's a couple of great pics of scrap hauled by steam loco's in 5 plank wooden wagons and one of larger scrap on bogie bolsters. 

There's some great photo's of other stuff in there too. 

[markjj]

I can remember seeing 16 ton mineral wagons coming out of the car and lorry factories in Dunstable when I was a youngster. This would have been just before the Beeching axe closed the line. Around 1964-65. These were full of the scrap punched steel and curled swarf left over from making cars and lorries. Often it had a light rust coat on the scrap as the wagons only left around once a week.