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Class 56 "Clearance Trials"


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In "West Cornwall Mineral Railways" by Maurice Dart there is a photo taken of 56013 carrying out "clearance trials" at Trelavour on the 27th of February 1990.

Does anyone have any further information regarding this?

Kindest Regards,

Jack

I've an idea there were some surplus 56's knocking round at that time and there was thought of using them with potentially longer trains in Cornwall. Not satisfied with our advice not to bother the business sector decided to go ahead with a trial of some sort although I forget the details (shame I won't be seeing our former loads and route clearances man this Yuletide's reunion nosh because he might remember more about it than me?).

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The loco arrived in Cornwall on a train of CDAs from Tavvy Jn. It rescued 47815 on the down sleeper after it failed on Treverrin Bank. The 56 worked through to Penzance before returning east.

 

If you're modelling in N, Dapol is planning a model of 56013 in coal sector colours for next year.

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There are a few photos of the Cornish Grid adventure in John Vaughan's excellent West Country China Clay Trains book. I'll have a look when I get home and report what I find.

 

I assume you must have the 2nd edition as I have the 1st and there are no Grids within. Would be great if you could tell me where it actually went apart from Trelavour.

 

The loco arrived in Cornwall on a train of CDAs from Tavvy Jn. It rescued 47815 on the down sleeper after it failed on Treverrin Bank. The 56 worked through to Penzance before returning east.

 

If you're modelling in N, Dapol is planning a model of 56013 in coal sector colours for next year.

 

That must be fate that Dapol are doing 013 in the correct livery!

 

I've an idea there were some surplus 56's knocking round at that time and there was thought of using them with potentially longer trains in Cornwall. Not satisfied with our advice not to bother the business sector decided to go ahead with a trial of some sort although I forget the details (shame I won't be seeing our former loads and route clearances man this Yuletide's reunion nosh because he might remember more about it than me?).

 

I can imagine that with the variations in the clay output that more often than not a 56 would be overpowered for the trains, a rake of 6-12 CDAs wouldn't require anything beyond a type 3 that's for sure.

 

Kindest Regards,

 

Jack

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I assume you must have the 2nd edition as I have the 1st and there are no Grids within. Would be great if you could tell me where it actually went apart from Trelavour.

 

 

 

That must be fate that Dapol are doing 013 in the correct livery!

 

 

 

Sorry, wrong book, the picture on the sleeper was actually in John's Illustrated History of the Cornish Mainline. Just flicking through Grids by Keith Bulmer, which says 56013 pushed the sleeper from Treverrin Tunnel to Par before running round and hauling the train to Penzance. It later returned north on a Speedlink working. The book also also mentions 56019 (another one being produced by Dapol) reached Exeter the same month on a china clay working from Cliffe Vale. Not quite Cornwall, but still an interesting 56 working to the west.

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  • 9 months later...

I've got my Dapol 56013 now and just need to check something before I make a mess of it. Just going through John Vaughan's "Illustrated History of the Cornish Mainline", it appears that the buffers to one end are round and to the the other end of the loco they are oval. Were these changed for the China Clay trials?

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I'll need to check the oracle (John Vaughan books!) but I think the idea was to use the 56 on the heavy long distance out of Cornwall trains rather than the local CDA workings. This way they could replace pairs of 37s. Of course the 'silver bullets' which started just a year or so earlier were originally hauled by pairs of 37 before being replaced by a single 60.

Also I wonder if a 56 might have been too heavy for some of the local china clay branches?

 

It makes for a good excuse to run one on a Cornish layout. Would be particularly fun to run a 56 on the sleepers at a show, then when some expert complains you could produce the photo. Prototype for everything!

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The local "gen" group SWRG seems to indicate that 56094 is at Eastleigh already for the working - BUT as we know - things can change.

 

56013 arriving back at Burngullow having worked the sleepers to Penzance

post-2613-0-25172500-1347880383_thumb.jpg

 

56302 in 2012 at Burngullow (theme developing here!!) working 6Z23 8th March

post-2613-0-72311400-1347880603.jpg

 

And screaming past Largin

post-2613-0-62673000-1347880652.jpg

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