Interesting and inspiring photos from Flickr....

[montyburns56]

 6000 'King George V', Newport, 15 Sept 1971 by Ray Viney

 

 

 

[russ p]

2 hours ago, montyburns56 said:

 6000 'King George V', Newport, 15 Sept 1971 by Ray Viney

 

 

 

 

Shame someone parked a big steam loco in front of those period NCL road vehicles! 

[keefer]

When were Mechanical Horses used until?

Looks odd to see them still, in the '70s, when they already seemed out-of-date!

[Fat Controller]

9 hours ago, keefer said:

When were Mechanical Horses used until?

Looks odd to see them still, in the '70s, when they already seemed out-of-date!

I thought the 'Mechanical Horses', strictly speaking, were the three-wheeled Scammell Scarab, and its successor, the Townsman. The tractor units in the photos are Ford D series and Bedford TK ones. The other vehicle often to be found with these trailers was the Karrier Bantam They all used the same trailers as the three-wheelers, with the patented Scammell coupling and legs, which obviated the need for there being anyone on the ground to do the coupling.  

This sort of trailer remained on city- centre work into the 1980s, latterly with Volvo tractors and 'Lynx' branding.

[The Stationmaster]

44 minutes ago, Fat Controller said:

I thought the 'Mechanical Horses', strictly speaking, were the three-wheeled Scammell Scarab, and its successor, the Townsman. The tractor units in the photos are Ford D series and Bedford TK ones. The other vehicle often to be found with these trailers was the Karrier Bantam They all used the same trailers as the three-wheelers, with the patented Scammell coupling and legs, which obviated the need for there being anyone on the ground to do the coupling.  

This sort of trailer remained on city- centre work into the 1980s, latterly with Volvo tractors and 'Lynx' branding.

Agree absolutely.   Karrier Bantam's remained in use in some places into the early 1970s.  I had a ride in one on a delivery run at Hereford which would have been in late 1971 or early '72 - not an experience I would recommend to anybody as they were distinctly underpowered for use outside towns on main roads.

[Nearholmer]

When I was a small boy, one of our neighbours drove one and would sometimes call at home to have his lunch. We lived at the bottom of a very steep hill, so when it came to time for him to continue his rounds there was an immense display of under-powered-ness, noise, exhaust fumes, grim look on Mr S's face, while we cheered him on. It was very uppy-downy all the way round where he delivered, and all the way to and from the depot, so he must have got truly fed-up sometimes!

Edited June 8, 2022 by Nearholmer

[keefer]

1 hour ago, Fat Controller said:

I thought the 'Mechanical Horses', strictly speaking, were the three-wheeled Scammell Scarab, and its successor, the Townsman. The tractor units in the photos are Ford D series and Bedford TK ones. The other vehicle often to be found with these trailers was the Karrier Bantam They all used the same trailers as the three-wheelers, with the patented Scammell coupling and legs, which obviated the need for there being anyone on the ground to do the coupling.  

This sort of trailer remained on city- centre work into the 1980s, latterly with Volvo tractors and 'Lynx' branding.

It wasn't so much the tractor units as the trailers in the background (at the rear of the loco) with, as you say, the coupling legs - I'd assumed that they were only for the 3-wheelers.

Edited June 8, 2022 by keefer

[Purnu]

30 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

…. a very steep hill…. an immense display of under-powered-ness, noise, exhaust fumes….

Completely off topic and taking liberties with the quote, this could be the perfect description of class 31.

 

One of the most gutless locomotives I ever had the misfortune to drive. Definitely one traction I was happy to lose off my traction card over the years. I even managed to turn down a refresher on them towards the end of my time at EWS.

 

More power in a mobility scooter….! 😆

[Fat Controller]

43 minutes ago, keefer said:

It wasn't so much the tractor units as the trailers in the background (at the rear of the loco) with, as you say, the coupling legs - I'd assumed that they were only for the 3-wheelers.

The Scammell couplings were supplied to SNCF,  as well as BR, and fitted to small Berliet tractors that had a passing resemblance to the Bantam.

[Nearholmer]

The archetypal SNCF ones were made under the name FAR by Chenard et Walker, and began as licensed builds to the Scammell design, but there were various other tractors by Panhard, Berliet, and I think possibly Decauville. 

Edited June 8, 2022 by Nearholmer

[Artless Bodger]

2 hours ago, Fat Controller said:

The Scammell couplings were supplied to SNCF,  as well as BR, and fitted to small Berliet tractors that had a passing resemblance to the Bantam.

Reeds had them on their internal transport trailers, with Atkinson 1/2 cab units. I thought they were a good idea compared to the need to wind legs up and down on the normal 5th wheel artics, until I saw a rather rough couple up one day push the wheels up without latching the pivot, the loaded trailer sat down and had to be unloaded. For normal 5th wheel the internal shunt units had hydraulic scissor platforms which could raise a trailer so the legs cleared the ground  - ok until reel diameters increased and the first job out the dore tore the roller shutter door down, in mid January. 

[montyburns56]

Old Town Dock, Newport 1990 by Ray Viney

 

 

[br2975]

18 hours ago, montyburns56 said:

Old Town Dock, Newport 1990 by Ray Viney

 

 

.

Parked in what was Buttigieg's scrapyard, final resting place of many former BR steam locos.

[montyburns56]

4 hours ago, br2975 said:

.

Parked in what was Buttigieg's scrapyard, final resting place of many former BR steam locos.

 

Oh right, the only time I've previously heard that surname is with reference to an American politician.

[montyburns56]

Cymmer Afan Valley 1966 by Ray Viney

 

 

[nightstar.train]

1 hour ago, montyburns56 said:

Cymmer Afan Valley 1966 by Ray Viney

 

 

Was this a runaway that was deliberately derailed on the point, or was it a major oops?

[iands]

1 hour ago, montyburns56 said:

Cymmer Afan Valley 1966 by Ray Viney

 

 

I have the first slide in my collection (ebay purchase). The second gives a little more perspective of the 'oops moment'. Well found and thanks for posting. 

[keefer]

1 hour ago, nightstar.train said:

Was this a runaway that was deliberately derailed on the point, or was it a major oops?

If you click the photo, the Flickr comments explain:

"Cymmer Afan Valley, 27 August 1966.

Swindon built BR Class 14 hydraulic D9542 was a runaway at Gelli Junction, Abergwynfi. The coal train had ran away out of control from Avon Colliery towards Cymmer Afan before derailing into the trap points together with around 8 or 9 loaded 16 ton wagons."

Although it looks more like a headshunt than just a trap point, the effect is the same. There must be a demolished buffer-stop in there somewhere!

Edited June 9, 2022 by keefer

[Nearholmer]

The thing that struck me, beside the general mayhem, is the colours of the loco. I know that film emulsion and digital reproduction aren't to be fully trusted, but the colours are in contrast to some models of these locos, on which the cab green looks suspiciously pale to me.

 

 

Edited June 9, 2022 by Nearholmer

[woodenhead]

3 hours ago, montyburns56 said:

Cymmer Afan Valley 1966 by Ray Viney

 

 

Looking at the state of the broken wagons versus the upright in one piece loco, I'm surprised BR and the nuclear industry invested in specialist wagons for spent fuel, the answer was sat right there.  😃

[Artless Bodger]

If the wagon has an end door (especially if leading) and top flaps there isn't much to hold it together once the load has punched the end door out.

[keefer]

14 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

the cab green looks suspiciously pale to me.

The livery was a 2-tone green, with the cab a paler green than the body (not sure if it's the same two colours as on green cl.47s)

By Robert Carroll on Flickr

(Edited to include a better pic)

Edited June 10, 2022 by keefer

[The Stationmaster]

On 08/06/2022 at 13:03, keefer said:

It wasn't so much the tractor units as the trailers in the background (at the rear of the loco) with, as you say, the coupling legs - I'd assumed that they were only for the 3-wheelers.

Working with what were called stand trailers' was by far the best way to operate C&D services in large urban areas as it meanta tractor unit could be kepot working while teh much cheaper trailers were either being loaded or unloaded or out on a round.  

 

When I was at Reading Goods back in the 1960s there were always two or three trailers used solely for Woolworths deliveries due to the volume of traffic for their shop in Reading.  This meant there was always a trailer standing ready to load/being loaded at the goods shed which avoided double handling of traffic if it had to be left on the deck due to no vehicle being available.  Similarly the Scammell took the trailer to Woolies and dropped it there and picked up an empty (if there was one ready to remove) or came bak light for the next job.

 

Where rigid vehicles were used on ri ural rounds it was avery different because the volume on few of them justified dail cartage so the traffic for different rounds had to be stored on teh deck - a bad practice when working adepot - i until the vehicle was available to load for each particular round.  Rigds were ok in small towns although small artics were easier to work  in many older, confined, premises as they could almost turn within their own length.

[Fat Controller]

1 minute ago, The Stationmaster said:

Working with what were called stand trailers' was by far the best way to operate C&D services in large urban areas as it meanta tractor unit could be kepot working while teh much cheaper trailers were either being loaded or unloaded or out on a round.  

 

When I was at Reading Goods back in the 1960s there were always two or three trailers used solely for Woolworths deliveries due to the volume of traffic for their shop in Reading.  This meant there was always a trailer standing ready to load/being loaded at the goods shed which avoided double handling of traffic if it had to be left on the deck due to no vehicle being available.  Similarly the Scammell took the trailer to Woolies and dropped it there and picked up an empty (if there was one ready to remove) or came bak light for the next job.

 

Where rigid vehicles were used on ri ural rounds it was avery different because the volume on few of them justified dail cartage so the traffic for different rounds had to be stored on teh deck - a bad practice when working adepot - i until the vehicle was available to load for each particular round.  Rigds were ok in small towns although small artics were easier to work  in many older, confined, premises as they could almost turn within their own length.

I recollect, long after Lynx took over most of NCL's fleet, there being trailers liveried for Marks and Woolies. By this time, most of the tractors were Volvo (FL7?)

[Nearholmer]

15 minutes ago, keefer said:

The livery was a 2-tone green, with the cab a paler green than the body

I know, but some models, and indeed some preserved locos look way too pale to me. It would be interesting to know whether the preserved ones are pained with exact colours as per the original scheme, because if so it seems possible the weathering very quickly reduced the contrast between the colours.