Any details on a gobsmacking loader?

Glax · Post by **Glax** » Mon 08 Aug, 2011 2:25 pm

This thread gets better and better.I loved Jim`s tale of two sorts of coal, best coal for passenger trains and lower quality for goods trains.That`s something I`ve never ever heard of. And what happened if a Royal train turned up? Did they get out the polish and whitewash?I also loved his story about the unstoppable jigger that exceeded the load.That reminds me of a family friend who used to work as a driver at a Welsh quarry, transporting shale to road works a couple of miles away.One day he parked his lorry under the huge hopper and looked around for the operator. But it was lunchtime with no one about.No problem, it`s DIY time, he thought. Examining the machinery, he could see three buttons marked “Start”, “Stop” and “Open”.“Right, boyo, I obviously want it to open,” he thought and pressed the “Open” button.Up above, the hopper jaws opened all right and an avalanche of hardcore came thundering down. Within seconds his lorry was swamped, but frantically pushing the “Stop” button had no effect.Minutes later, the truck had completely disappeared under a couple of hundred tons of rock.Just then another driver arrived and was asked mildly “Oh, will there be a row?” – a phrase that passed into family lore and we still use it when some unspeakable catastrophe looms.There certainly was a row, reportedly heard over three counties, but our friend didn`t lose his job.At this point in the story I was laughing so much I never did learn if the machinery had a “Close” button, or if the lorry was ever recovered and in what condition.Glax

jim · Post by **jim** » Mon 08 Aug, 2011 4:05 pm

Great story Glax. With regard to Royal Trains, they didn't merely polish them and whitewash the coal (though I think whitened coal was abandoned by World War 1) but in the last couple of years of steam a Black Five and a Jubilee were wholly or partially repainted at Holbeck shed for such an event. I am not repeating hearsay on this one - I was there.Phill, I believe that the coal plant at Carnforth is the last remaining one in the country. The picture you have posted is probably taken from the coal plant, a much larger structure, or nearby. It is of an ash plant, again probably the last of its kind. It may actually be used to coal engines nowadays, but would never have been used for such a purpose before preservation. The first of the two model shots you posted earlier is also of an ash plant.Ash from a locomotive firegrate and ashpan would be raked out into the pit between the rails when the engine was being "wound down" after use. As the ash would be red hot it would be quenched with a water hose, and the sump that the skip descends into would be feet deep in water. The skip would carry the ash "up and over", straight into a waiting wagon. The plants themselves gave very little trouble, but the pumps clearing excess water from the sump were a very different matter. The sheer quantity of ash in the water woud wreck most pumps in minutes. The plants I worked on in Leeds (two at Holbeck and one at Farnley Junction) had Megator pumps, but even they needed full rebuilds every few months.Needless to say, most Motive Power Depots (MPDs) lacked mechanical ash plants and made do with lots of shed labourers with shovels to fill the wagons with ash. When you had shovelled ash out of the pit to the rail side and then shovelled it all up again into wagons for a whole day the magic of steam had palled a little. By the way, if one googles "carnforth mpd" and accesses the first link headed "Railscot photographs of Carnforth" the left hand photo on the third row down shows both the coal plant and the ash plant somewhat dimly in the background. The view is sufficiently clear to demonstrate the difference in scale and form.

Glax · Post by **Glax** » Wed 10 Aug, 2011 1:34 am

Hi Jim, were you merely poking gentle fun at my "whitewash world" concept of Royal trains? Or did you mean it when you said "whitened coal" was given up after World War I?What on earth went on before that? My mind is getting ready to be boggled!Glax

jim · Post by **jim** » Wed 10 Aug, 2011 10:19 am

Hi Glax. No, I'm not poking fun. During the nineteenth century Royal Train preparation could be taken to extraordinary lengths, with locomotives decked with flags, flowers, heraldic shields, enormous crowns - and whitewashed coal! The general public would turn out in their thousands to lineside sites and stations to see the train. It was the first time in history that the monarchy had travelled frequently around the country, and was thus something of a novelty. Railway companies would try to outdo each other with the splendour of their locomotive turn-out.I have no idea if any decorated Royal Train of such a level of magnificence ever arrived in Leeds. Does any contributor have any reference - or even a picture?Attitudes to such display (and security) changed, and it is no longer policy to announce routes and times of Royal movement, or to take ostentation and railway company pride to such lengths. Locomotive preparation became restricted to meticulous cleaning and polishing - Kings Cross engine shed kept a special pair of highly polished buffers to be exchanged for the chosen locomotive's regular set when hauling a Royal Train, certainly until the end of steam in the 1960s. Is the boggle coefficient high enough?

Phill_dvsn · Post by **Phill_dvsn** » Wed 10 Aug, 2011 1:52 pm

I can fill in the gap after the steam era, a pair of specially spruced up Class 40's were the usual motive power for Royal Train duties during the early, to mid 1970's. Photo shows 40027 & 40118, specially spruced up at Wigan Springs Branch in 1974.

jim · Post by **jim** » Wed 10 Aug, 2011 2:36 pm

Nice example Phill.Although there is no coal to whitewash, notice how the wheel tyres, buffer heads, couplings, and all brake, heating, and electrical connecting pipes and cables have been whitened. Incidentally, I neglected to mention that as far as I know, the final time that the British Royal Train was operated by steam in B.R. days it was headed and the stand-by provided by the engines I described being painted on Holbeck shed, Leeds. I believe it was for a visit by the Duke of Edinburgh to a site in North Yorkshire in 1966 or 1967.

Glax · Post by **Glax** » Wed 10 Aug, 2011 11:22 pm

Hi Jim, you got it spot on, the boggle coefficient is pretty high and still rising.Does any of this sort of stupidity go on today - just to take the needle completely off the dial?Glax

jim · Post by **jim** » Thu 11 Aug, 2011 12:16 am

Hi Glax. I'm afraid my "insider" knowledge ended with my voluntary redundancy from B.R. some fifteen years ago. Perhaps those who follow current railway practice might help - although we need to recognise that we have veered off topic, and away from Leeds subjects, the boundaries of this forum.

Glax · Post by **Glax** » Thu 11 Aug, 2011 12:34 am

Hi Jim, yes you`re quite right, sorry, my fault.I never realised, though, that rail history in the Leeds context could be so interesting. I`ve learned a lot, so thanks everyone.Glax

munki · Post by **munki** » Thu 11 Aug, 2011 10:34 am

Nearly five years in, & this site never ceases to amaze me.