Ruston

An old box camera pic that I found in the Industrial Railway Society archives. And a view from the engineering workshop, Bury, Thorn & Sons Ltd.

Here are a few more of the Hunslet (7410) that I showed previously in the shots taken at British Oak D.P. This photo was taken before those at British Oak and shows the loco in storage at British Coal's Wentworth Stores, near Barnsley. On the right is a Ruston 48DLZ 2ft. gauge flameproofed loco for underground use. Another of the loco on a train of HAA hoppers at British Oak. British Oak may well have been the last time the loco was used by the Opencast Executive and I later found it in use as the yard shunter at Booth's Rotherham yard. That wasn't the end for 7410. IIRC it was bought byRMS Locotec and was overhauled to become part of their hire fleet. Does anyone know where it is now?

Here are some of the MSC locos. I've found a few more but I've yet to scan them. HC D1191 at the Barton Dock shed in 1995. And the same loco in company with one of the RR 4wDHs in August 96. Sentinel 10144 at Ellesmere Port, also August 96. Somewhere I have a picture of another of these with an MSC brake van. Not MSC but just down the road in Stanlow, at the Shell terminal. Thomas Hill 287v.

Hi James. I have a few of a couple of locos at the small MSC shed that housed the locos that worked the freightliner trains at Trafford Park and have a couple of shots of the 0-6-0 Rolls Royces at Ellesmere Port. I may even have one of a Hudswell Clarke at Weaste. I'll have a look but I can't guarantee that they'll be worth copying and I'm sure they won't show anything worthwhile of the system itself or its surroundings. One of my regrets is that I concentrated on the locos and not much else.

Thanks for that bit of information, Paul. It's very helpful. I've made progress with the coal unloading equipment. The grab is completely scratch-built from plastic and some fine chain and I've added an operators platform and controls. There's now extra detail in the form of a trailling cable to provide power to the motors. This is hung from supports that travel along the girder as the grab traverses it. I've still got to add some conduit from the mains to the control platform and back to the trailing cable. The storage bunker, like the wagons, will be filled with real coal.

I'm afraid I didn't get any pictures of other ASW Yorkshires. I saw a couple of ex-ASW locos at Wilmott Bros. plant yard at Ilkeston in 1995, one of which was a very late style YE. HE 6662 and the Yorkshire (2911?), both ex ASW, Cardiff. And now for a set of 88DS Rustons. RH321732 at rest in WH Davis wagon works yard, Langwith Junction, April 95. RH236364 out of use and parked on a track covered in mud at British Gypsum Ltd. Hotchley Hill works. Date unrecorded but probably 1995. There were a pair of these at this site but by the time I visited one had left site and had been sold to Trackwork Ltd... ... which I caught up with at Long Sandall the following year. RH312432 Seen in March 91 standing on a short length of track at what was soon to become the station throat of the ELR's Rawtenstall station. The loco had worked the Rossendale Solid Fuel Concentration Depot at this site until it closed and was abandoned on site. It was criminal that the ELR didn't do something about preserving the loco and it was cut up where it stood shortly afterwards.

Thanks, Arthur. I've just taken a look and I suppose it is similar - a prototype for everything! This one will be operated from the ground and powered by electric motors. I've made the gantry high enough so when the grab is raised to its maximum it'll still pass over a van. Of course it won't actually work so I'll have to use the Great Hand from the Sky to remove coal loads, which goes against one of the first principles of the layout but I couldn't resist having a couple of manky 16-tonners.

I've asked someone that I know in the C&W Dept. at Butterlry, where the prototype is preserved, if it has steam heating or not but he hasn't got back to me yet. Well, it's just about done, bar numbering and weathering. I've made the brake parts using plastic square section and strips of brass offcuts and the extra brake blocks that are used on the Slaters 12t van kit to produce a clasp-braked version. The filler is made from solid brass and the lid fastener is plastic rod and strip. The coach bolt heads on the frames are done by driling holes through the plastic and wood and then inserting a small length of plastic rod. A dab of plastic weld smooths out the sharp-cut edges. Then there's this thing... I don't have the space for a tippler or anything such as that so this is what I came up with the unload coal from rail wagons to the boiler house. The gantry will have a grab attached, which would drop coal into the hopper from a wagon parked next to it. The gantry can also drop coal into a stockpile or unload from a wagon on the nearest track. I've never seen a prototype set up like this but anything's possible I guess?

Thanks for that info, Stuart. I've obviously got the pics in the wrong order and the light loco must have been coming back over Blacker Lane after depositing those fulls in the sidings. Speaking of Elland Power Station. Elland No.1, HC D1153 at C.F. Booth's yard in November 88 with a scrapyard employee hanging off it.

All cement works locos for this lot... TH293v, seen on a short train of cement tanks from the BR sidings to Castle Cement's Ketton works. 1996. And at the works. TH164v on the internal rail system from the quarry to the chalk slurry plant at Rugby Cement's Barrington works. The system connected to BR via the Barrington Light Railway and a pair of Rolls Royce 4wDH locos handled traffic over the branch. RH499435, a 165DE type, also on the internal railway at Barrington. Both photos were taken in 1996.

Me too. So many prototypes, so little modelling (and money) time, eh, Paul? Steelworks locos this time. Hunslet 7543 and Yorkshire 300hp loco 2825 at BSC Workington, July 96. Yorkshire, Janus class, 2735 at United Engineering Steels' Aldwarke works, April 96. Again, April 96, Aldwarke - YE2889 [93] & YE2904 [31]. Yorkshire DE2 class 0-4-0DE at C.F. Booth's yard, January 89. This loco had come from the UES Templeborough works just down the road. BSC Teeside works on a Sunday in 1991. Various GEC 6wDE locos lined up.

I've no idea, Doug. I've made it based on the photo that I posted and the basic dimensions given in the book that the photo is in. It doesn't give any details of a heating system. The subject of heating the tar is something I was going to ask about because the Slater's rectangular tank kit doesn't have any heating coil connections modelled on it and some of the lettering supplied with that is for tar distillers. Would all tar wagons have been fitted with heating coils?

Regarding the roof - I've already done it and used thin plasticard. It's most probably overscale but it's done now. Progress on the D-tank.

I've found a few more. AB 478, an 0-4-0DH was another of C.F. Booth's resident shunters in 1988 and is seen here near the rail entrance to the yard, off the Brightside to Masborough line, with the embankment just visible carrying the line to Treeton North Junction. An unidentified YE Janus loco at work on the BSC Shelton site in 1996. RH 375713 seen working during another visit to the Pyewipe works in May 96.The old tippler wagons had been replaced by a more modern fleet of flat wagons with open-topped containers. Next door to the Pyewipe works was Ciba Geigy's works, which used this rare Hunslet 'Yardmaster' loco. Unfortunately I never saw it work but this rare beast has been preserved, along with some of the Tioxide Rustons at Ludborough. Here's a short video that I found on youtube -

None of the above It's the basis for this: Which is meant to be this when it's finished: Picture from Cheona Publications Railways in Profile Series no. 14 British Railway Private Owner Tank Wagons. Another tar tank. This one was built in 1881 and worked until 1951 before being preserved by its makers - Charles Roberts. OK so I'm stretching things a little to say that one of the same design lasted another 10 years but so what?

Cheers, chaps. Here's something else I'm working on. Can you tell what it is yet?

British Oak Disposal Point was situated at Calder Grove, near Wakefield and was connected to the BR Horbury Junction - Barnsley line. The site was operated by the National Coal Board Opencast Executive (British Coal OE at the time of these photos) and was on a truncated section of a line that once went all the way to Caphouse colliery (now the National Coalmining Museum for England www.ncm.org.uk) via rope-worked inclines. I first encountered the site in 1987 when 08016 and 03037 were kept here but the locos never worked as far as I know. The ex-BR locos were removed and the site was left without any locos or any rail traffic until for a few weeks in 1993 the BCOE sent Hunslet 7410 from Wentworth Stores to work traffic at British Oak. As far as I know this was the last time any rail traffic worked into this site. It is now closed, the track lifted, buildings and plant demolished and completely overgrown. 7410 leaves the site and crosses Blacker Lane, heading for the exchange sidings. The loco is about to take the curve to the right toward the exchange sidings. The track straight on once led to a staithe on the Calder & Hebble Naviation. Coupled up to the short train of HAA hoppers and heading through the exchange sidings. These sidings were laid with heavy pressed steel sleepers. Edit: I'm not sure that I've got these in the right order. To be honest I can't remember if loaded trains came in and the coal was transferred to lorries or vice-versa. It's a long time ago and I never was sure what a "Disposal Point" was meant to do. They certainly didn't mine coal on the site at this time.

At last! I can see the topic now the title's been changed. Thanks for posting these, Arthur. I love this sort of thing and if my flatbed scanner could be persuaded to talk to my laptop, I'd post some of my own collection.

A couple of pics taken at the Allen Rowland scrapyard at Tyseley in 1996. A Hibberd 4wDM (w/n 3958) and a Yorkshire Engine Co. 0-4-0DE, which I didn't record the identity of. I think these must have been taken on a Sunday when the yard wasn't working. Rolls Royce10279 at the Bolsover Coalite plant in August 91. The Coalite plant produced a form of coke as a smokeless fuel for household use. I always used to enjoy the smell of coal tar that drifted from here right across to the M1 when I was driving on that road. The plant closed several years ago now and I miss that smell when travelling on the motorway. They also had an 0-6-0DE Yorkshire here as a spare, which I've got a photo of. I'll post it when I find and scan it. Rolls Royce 10283, one of a pair of 4wDMs, at the very modern loco shed of the Preston Dock railway in May 95. I'm led to believe that this railway is now run as a preservation project but that they still run tanker trains - does anyone know if that's correct? YE 2760 at Allied Steel & Wire, Cardiff. I took this one during the same trip as the pics, shown previously, at Port Talbot.

Sorry to keep going on about the same bit and not really showing nothing new but this is one of the reasons I like 7mm scale - scratchbuilding the little details. Just say if it's getting boring and I'm going on about it too much without showing any trains. This is how it all looks with the roof on the building and the only lighting being provided by the 12v grain of wheat bulb inside. I've put the lathe in place and added a few pin-ups to the walls. I'll probably come back to it later and add a few more details but I really must get on and do something about the remaining 6 feet of bare baseboard.

Cheers, Paul. I'm going to put some cabling and junction boxes for the machine tools once they're fitted. I've now made the lathe. It's no modelled on any particular lathe and was done from memory, going on what I've seen of lathes from time to time and what I remember from school metalwork classes so if I've made any howlers then it's my own fault for not doing any research. It's mostly made from plasticard and strip offcuts but includes a few other parts from the bits bin. The small handwheels are N gauge wagon brake wheels and the large one is a 7mm narrow gauge loco brake wheel. The clutch lever is a pin. The chuck is was made from brass in my own Unimat lathe, with slots milled for the jaws, which are made of plastic strip. All it needs now is a bit of nickel silver wire for the cutting fluid pipe and some swarf and general muck.

Great work, Rob! I've recently built one of these and have another to do so it's interesting to see that you've gone about the general construction in a different way. The brass tank is a great improvement. What did you use to emboss the rivets and how did you manage to get them so straight?

I've been making a few bits for the interior of the engineering dept. First off - a pillar drill. Painted and installed in the workshop. I've also made the bench, shelving (with bits 'n' pieces, paint pots etc.) and the oxy-acetylene set. I had the oxygen cylinder and the trolley as cast whitemetal items but I made the acetylene cylinder, regulator and pipe myself. I've also added a vice, made from plastic strips, to the pillar drill.

Three pics of one of the last 48DS locos to be used in industry. W/n 265617 was supplied new, in 1948, to Blackett Hutton Ltd. Steelfounders of Guisborough in the North Riding. When I saw it in March 1995 it was still working and carrying its original lined green livery, albeit faded and dirty, that it had been given at the RH works in Lincoln all those years ago. At one time the foundry had been connected to BR so, presumably, the loco would have handled traffic in and out but by 1995 it's sole purpose was to push and pull a single flat wagon. The flat would be loaded with a vessel containing molten steel from the electric arc furnace to the casting shops, a distance of about 150 yards.

Gimme a chance! The paint is barely dry so I don't want to add anything else lest it make the base coat of black come off before it's had a chance to harden.