Any details on a gobsmacking loader?

[BIG N]

jim wrote: Great story Glax. Phill, I believe that the coal plant at Carnforth is the last remaining one in the country. Jim - its one of only two remaining in the UK now, both are British Railways built and both being type 'B' loaders. Type 'A' Loaders were similar in size and stature but coaled over a single road under the loader, type 'B' were capable of coaling two roads at once, one under the loader as with the type 'A' and a second road alongside the loader thus making it possible to coal more locos at once, hence the use on larger sheds.The only other remaining example is still standing along side the old steam shed at Immingham.Incidentally mention of the Merry Go Round services reminds me of an amusing incident that happened at one of the Nottinghamshire pits when the class 60 Brush built loco's were first being trialled. As was mentioned earlier the operation was fully automatic and allowed, in theory, train's to be loaded and unloaded without actually stopping.A class 60 was being tested and was heading a train to be loaded, as it pulled into the loading shed the infra red beam that detected waggons ( simple process of Gap, Wagon, Gap, Wagon = Stop loading, load, stop loading - repeat to end of train ) detected the loco until the big large grills where the cooler group of fans etc was located, one each side of the loco with lots of open space between, infra red spots a gap then something solid and proceeds to dump a wagon load of coal on the roof of the loco. this swiftly led to baffles being fitted behind the grills to stop this happening again

[jim]

Thanks for that Big N, I was not aware of the Immingham plant's survival.The "A" and "B" designations were generic, referring only to the number of locomotives which could be coaled at once. Within those designations coal plant designs were multitudinous.Love the story of the diesel which was mistaken for a steam loco!

[Glax]

Jim taught us to call these loading structures “coal plants”.As a matter of interest I`ve also now found them called “coaling towers” and “coaling stations”, on websites with hundreds of photos of examples throughout the US and Mexico, so I assume these are American terms.Strangely, though, not one of the many photographers has bothered to shoot a scene with a loaded coal wagon on its way up the structure, which for me would be the most obviously striking, informative and unusual picture.Glax

[jim]

Hi Glax, if you can locate a copy, "LMS Engine Sheds, Volume One, The L&NWR", Hawkins and Reeve, Wild Swan Publications, has a fifteen page section devoted to coal and ash plants, with many photographs of different designs including full page pics (7"x 9") of wagons half way up the coal plants at Saltley and Accrington.As I noted before, some coal plants did not take wagons "up and over" the main hopper, but tipped them at ground level into a large skip which was then lifted up to empty into the hopper. The coal plant at Holbeck was of this type, and a fine photo of the Holbeck tippler with a wagon tipped at ninety degrees is to be found on page eleven of Bellcode Books "Railway Memories No 20, West Riding Steam Pictorial". Other plants were to be found in which the tippler fed a ground level bunker which could then feed a smaller skip as required to fill the main hopper. From memory, I believe that the plant at Ardsley was of this type.The Bellcode "Railway Memories" series are a wonderful set of (mainly) pictorial records of railway scenes around Yorkshire and the North from the 1930s to the 1970s and onwards, themed by specific districts, and are mostly still readily available.    

[edlong]

Similar but different technology - they used to have a lift at Ferrybridge power station that lifted barges full of coal out of the canal (river?), tipped the coal out and dumped 'em back in the water empty - very impressive to watch, but I think they got rid of it a few years ago. Once told that it appeared in an episode of Touch of Frost, but not seen it myself..

[WilfredMay]

Hello Glax,
Back in the mid fifties I would sit close to the Neville
coaling tower in East End Park with my good friend Stanley Hardcastle, and like you sit fascinated as
the coal waggons went over the top. I left Leeds
many years ago, but the memories of those afternoons still remains strong.