steaman

Several of the Lilleshall loco fleet had removable rear spectacle plates and I thought i'd have a go at creating a cheap & cheerful version of 2794 with the rear spectacle plate fitted. I know that there will no doubt be historical inaccuracies with my approach, but I decided to convert a Hornby 27XX to become 2794. I purchased the loco second hand for £30 and here is what I did:-

1) Remove the cab roof

2) The roof looked like this

3) Make a new cab roof from .030" plastic sheet

4) Make a rear spectacle plate from .030" plastic sheet

5) Fit roof & spectacle plate to loco

6) Purchase from Narrow Planet some 2794 GWR pattern numbers & fit + make small Coal Board registration plate from excess sheet supplied with the 2794 number plate.

7) Carefully remove the original Great Western lettering from the pannier tanks with wire wool and apply a thin coating of olive drab paint to give a dull finish.

The next loco for conversion is the 0-4-0 Barclay into Alberta.

Regards

Steaman

I came across this un-used wagon label earlier this year. It seems to indicate that the Lilleshall Co performed rolling activities for other steel manufacturer's. I would be interested if anyone can shed some light on the logistics of this operation eg where was the steel rolled & how did it get from the mainline to the steel rolling plant & how did it leave? If anyone can provide an insight into the operational nature of this that would be appreciated. Cheers for now Steaman.

Just to advise, if anyone is interested, that on Monday 26th March 18 (all being well) at the Telford Railway Society, there will be several photos of the Lilleshall company railway system presented in an illustrated talk. There will also be many views of the main line railways during the 1950/60's around the Telford area. The show starts at 19:45 hrs in the Maddocks sports & social club, Oakengates. 

Super images KK, thanks for posting.

 

Do you have a higher resolution pic of the shot of steam crane Old Bertha that you could inspect?  I'd love to be able to read the chalked words on the buffer beam!

As below I do have a higher resolution version of the words chalked onto the buffer beam of the crane. The addition of chalked inscription to items of rolling stock appears to be quite popular on the Lilleshall - see previous "Return To Boot Hill" on the rear of the Peckett.

The photo below along with 3 of the other recent Lilleshall system photos posted by Killian Keane (With no credit!) was taken by A.J.B.Dodd.

Regards

Steaman

Here is a view of Llanfyllin taken by A.J.B.Dodd that I hope will help provide some useful detail.

Here is a recently scanned view of Lilleshall Peckett No 10 working in the area of Priorslee furnaces, taken by A.J.B.Dodd sometime in the mid 1950's. This was a very thin Neg, hence the darkness of the picture, but 1/2 an hour in Photoshop has provided us with this image.

Wagon Details:

I thought I'd try and scan in some wagon detail in an attempt to provide some modelling information. These are 60 year old negs by A.J.B.Dodd that I have attempted to obtain the wagon detail from, with limited success. I do hope that they may provide some useful background.

In addition to these wagon views are 2 of the photographs from which the detail has been obtained.

These are of Lilleshall Running No 1 the 0-6-2 Taff Vale tank loco Works No 305 from 1895.

Plus Lilleshall Running No 11 the 0-6-0 Barclay works no 1486 of 1916.

I know that I haven't been posting very uplifting images of the Lilleshall/Granville loco fleet, but I came across an old faded colour print taken by AJ.B Dodd, at the bottom of a chest of drawers last night. The image appears to depict the demise of "Constance" plus another unidentified loco. I know its not a great shot, but if anyone can confirm my guess that the more distant loco is "Constance" that would be appreciated. Once again, in a similar manner to the Peckett, the loco shown would appear to have a removable top half of the rear cab. Below are the before & after Photoshop versions.

Steaman.

The post on the Granville brakevans didn't seem to attract much interest and chances are this post may attract less, because its definitely not standard gauge industrial but about as narrow gauge as you can get.  It is however part of the Lilleshall story as after the transfer of the Granville section to the NCB and the closure of the remaining section of the standard gauge line it was the last section of railway to be operated by the company.  In deference to the standard gauge devotees this post will be deleted in due course.

 

The Lilleshall Company's Donnington Wood Brickworks was situated at the end of a branch off the Lilleshall Railway's main line, to which it was connected by a triangular junction.  It is shown on the map in Post #8 between New Yard Works and Old Lodge Ironworks.  The works was connected to the clay pit by a 1'-3" gauge system worked by endless chains.  A published account gives the gauge as 1'-6", but in the notes I made at the site I recorded - 1'-3" gauge (actually measures 1'-2¹/₂") - so I'm reasonably confident it was a nominal 1'-3" gauge.

 

The system comprised two parallel lines, one for empties going out to the pit and one for fulls returning to the works, laid in two straight sections with a turn through approximately 70 degrees at about the midway point.  An endless chain driven by an electric motor at the works end drove the first section to a return pulley at the mid point, which in turn drove a similar endless chain on the second section to the pit.  The small tubs (wagons) had steel bodies on timber frames.  Above one end of the tub was fixed a vertical plate with a 'V' shaped gap to engage with the drive chain.  At the mid point where the chain was raised to pass round the guide pulleys the track was graded so that when the tubs were detached from the rising drive chain they would run by gravity round the curve to be picked up by the next section of chain.  At the clay pit and works ends of the line there was no pointwork, just areas of flat steel plates on which the small tubs could be manhandled as required.

 

 

10609B © PGH.jpg

 

View from the midway point towards the clay pit.  My visit was on a Saturday when the system wasn't working and all the tubs were stored away in the works tipping shed.

 

 

10610B © PGH.jpg

 

View from the same point towards the works

 

The works closed in 1972

What a fascinating couple of photographs. I never knew that such a system existed and excellent that you have recorded it and created a great historical record for us all to enjoy. Great stuff!

Here are some further photos of the Granville colliery system in colour taken by A.J.B.Dodd during the 1960's.

Of interest is the derailment of Hunslet 2895 - by means of a bit of planning and the assistance of the yellow digger, normality was restored.

In the shed at the Granville is an unidentified 16 inch Hunslet alongside another stripped loco.

At work just along from the engine shed at the Granville AB2246 is seen with a nice selection of NCB wooden body wagons.

A bit further away from the engine shed and on the climb from the exchange sidings, is No 8 working a train load of empty HAA wagons up to the colliery loading point.

Slightly closer to the engine shed is Hunslet 2895 working past one of the distinctive beehive shaped lineside huts, this time with a rake of 16 ton trucks - pre HAA.

At the risk of being branded a heretic & doom monger, here is the fate of one of the Hunslets at the Granville - Unfortunately I don't know which one.

That's all for now.

Steaman

Great photo of the enthusiasts special. I notice that the middle wagon does not appear to have been used for some time as it is full of grass!

 

Whilst strictly a Lilleshall Co loco it would be appropriate to include in this thread the locos of Granville Colliery, which was Lilleshall Company owned untill it was passed to the NCB. The NCB bought it some modern locos to work the various yards around the colliery and also the loaded coal trains down to Donnington sidings where they were passed over to BR usually with a destination of Buildwas Power Station at Coalbrookedale. Granville Number 5 arrived new in 1952 and in later years was fitted with a Geisel ejector and chimmney.

Granville No 5 (HE3771-1952) newly delivered 10-5-1952.Industrial Railway soc. - Copy.jpg

Granville No 5 waiting to push a loaded coal train from Granville colliary across the road and into the exchange sidings at Donnington station. D Clarke..jpg

The second photo was taken by me in 1965 and shows Granville No 5 at Donnington about to push the loaded coal train into the interchange yard.

 The garage in the right background was on the main road between Wellington and Newport and I worked there as a petrol pump attendant as a Saturday job.

 

No doubt Steaman will post a few more photos of Granville!

Granville Colliery.jpg

The third photo is by A J B Dodd and shows the engine shed at Granville in the 1960s with Granville No5 on the right and probably No 8 on the left.

I have a model built of Granville No 5 with nameplates from Narrow Planet, as soon as they are fitted I will post a photo.

Here are some static locomotive pictures taken by A.J.B.Dodd of 2 of the locomotives that worked on the Granville colliery system at one time or another. The first is of Barclay loco No 2246 of 1948 and the second is of Hunslet loco No 3776 of 1952 (Identified as No 8). This latter loco was delivered new to Baggeridge colliery and left the Granville for further NCB use, eventually being preserved.

Thought it was about time to post some more photos of the L:illeshall Co in this thread.Lillershall Co loco No2. 1986 taken in 7-1933. - Copy.jpg

The first is a close up of a works plate of one of the Lilleshall Co own build locos.

 

Lilleshall Company 30-4-1958..jpg

The second photo is of Alberta a Barcley 0-4-0 which was only purchased by the Company in October 1956 from Lever Brothers in Port Sunlight having been built in 1913 and delivered new to Lever Brothers. The loco was one of the last in operation and was reputed to be in excellent condition. The loco was used to haul 3 open wagons around the system carrying enthusiats on 26 September 1958 shortley before the system colsed. The loco was scrapped on site in 1959.

 

My next post will cover the locos built by the Company and used on the system.

 

David

There are not too many photos published from the last day special with Alberta. Here are 2 views taken by A.J.B.Dodd from inside the wagons as the special ran along parts of the railway system.

I'm intrigued by these photies. Scroll up to the one in #86 and on the day it was scrapped the rear of the cab was open again. Was there in fact a detachable screen from new?

 

Looking at other photies of W4 Pecketts there are in fact two cab styles. One has a closed rear which wraps around the sides and has a short handrail on both sides if the cab entrance. The other, which we can call the Hornby version has a full height handrail with the rear panel attached to it halfway up. Open-back cabs always feature this full height rail, hence the suspicion that the upper panel was removable depending on weather and other operating requirements.

I agree that there appears to be 2 cab styles used on No 10, Here is a rear view of the half cab version as fitted to with No 10 coupled to "Alberta" in the new yard engineering works. The cab rear appears to have a chalk message which reads "Return to Boot Hill or Return To Boot Mill" which I'm not sure will mean anything to anyone?

Hi All,

This is my first post and would like to ask if anyone knows why Hornby have chosen to model Lilleshall No 10 Peckett rather than any other? not that I'm complaining. I know its not a great shot but here is a view of the sad demise of No10 in the new yard of the Lilleshall works, taken by A.J.B.Dodd around 1958. Regards Steaman.

lilleshall No 10.jpg

Just scanned this neg by A.J.B.Dodd of Lilleshall No 10 Peckett with just hours left to live. The (gas) axe man has arrived with goggles ready for action. The previous shot uploaded shows the results of his labours.

The G.K.I.S. / G.K.N. "New Dowlais" - Cardiff works ( later BSC East Moors ) generally tipped their slag in molten state, from temporary trackage along the (Severn Estuary) foreshore.

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The slag trains worked along BR lines to reach the foreshore, and as a result the locomotives employed were 'registered' by the GWR, later BR (WR) aka BTC.

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When tipped, the molten slag ran down the bank into the Severn Estuary, solidifying on contact with the water, and later exploding in a shower of sparks and a noise that kept the residents of Penarth (across the bay ) on their toes !

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Celsa (UK) still transport hot slag from their Tremorfa Works, using large articulated Volvo dump trucks, which actually cross a public road (Rover Way) on their short journey.

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"Slag Reduction Co." had a plant adjacent to the Cardiff Foreshore where they broke up solidified slag for industrial use.

Here is a photo to illustrate slag tipping operations, admittedly in China, but I would imagine the process followed in the UK would not be so different.

Taken on the 28^th Jan 1996, we see SY loco No 0571 with a train of loaded cauldron wagons in the slag tipping area at Anshan steelworks. There are two parallel lines on top of the embankment, one as we can see with the cauldron wagons, and another one behind, that has a steam crane on it. The loaded train arrived at the tipping area and the cauldron wagons were pneumatically activated/tipped. The steam crane, with a large iron ball on the end of the jib, swung out and hit the side of the cauldron wagons in order to dislodge any remaining slag. This was done with considerable force, and there was evidence of some of the cauldron wagons being knocked from the embankment. The yellow excavator down below, was used to move the slag away from the tipping point, thus keeping the area clear for further slag to descend. The whole area was quite hazardous/ hot, so it was always wise to keep a safe distance! I hope this may be of interest. Kind Regards, Steaman.

Hi All,

This is my first post and would like to ask if anyone knows why Hornby have chosen to model Lilleshall No 10 Peckett rather than any other? not that I'm complaining. I know its not a great shot but here is a view of the sad demise of No10 in the new yard of the Lilleshall works, taken by A.J.B.Dodd around 1958. Regards Steaman.