Three Foot Gauge Loco’s.
basil | 2/13/2006 | 5:15 pm
Manning Wardle Locos.
In the Kettering area Manning Wardle three foot gauge locos haul the ore to the furnace.
The Midlands Ironstone Quarries.
Cotswold stone owes its colour and hardness to an iron content. In parts of Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and Northamptonshire this iron was concentrated into dark brown coloured stone. After the Industrial Revolution the demand for iron increased and quarries were opened ,initially with horse drawn tramways and then locomotive worked lines to take the ore either directly to the ironworks as at Kettering or to a main line for transhipment .There were some superb ropeworked inclines dropping the ore considerable distances in hopper wagons. The systems survived into the 1960’s but were killed off by cheap imports from Sweden and Australia when bulk cargo carriers like the unfortunate “Derbyshire”were constructed. Iron was vital to companies like Hardy and Padmore’s Worcester Foundry and arrived by canal and rail. Many of the abandoned locomotives have been recovered by enthusiasts and restored to work. Max
Steam Excavator at Banbury Ironstone.
These old steam excavators made by Ruston Procter around the turn of the last century were called “Steam Navvys” persumably because they replaced irish workers. This version is mounted on tracks but an optional version could be used on train lines. The corrugated iron is doing a fine job protecting the works.
“The Cambrai.”
The rare metre gauge French locomotive “Cambrai” built by L.Corpet stands forlorn at the Eaton, Waltham, Quarry awaiting the restorers.
The “Baronet”.
The “Baronet” was an unusual locally built Staveley locomotive, one of a pair.
Banbury Ironstone Underwater Railway
