Hunslet 50550 class survivors

Can anyone help me track them down?
Any additional info gratefully received,
Thanks,
William

 

William,

2 Hunslet 50550's reside at the Swindon & Cricklade Railway, no's. 2411 and 2413/1941 Gunby.

Gunby is currently being restored to working order, whilst 2411 is slightly further back in the queue.

I hope this helps

Aarun


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Many many thanks, off to see 2414 on Sunday. Swindon trip next then! Can't wait!

 

There's one at the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Railway, Hunslet 2414/1942, S112

 

The 50550 class were very good engines, they had HE2414 at Long Marston and the driver there rated it very highly. It later went to Ackton Hall Colliery at Featherstone and the drivers there liked it, one describing it as a bonzer!
HE2414 has a lot of work done to the motion and frames .

 

HE2411 was one of the favourite engines at Corby Steelworks where it spent all of its working life; it had a throaty exhaust which easily identified it when it worked the trains of tube wagons from Corby Tubeworks to Corby Sidings during the 1950s / 1960s and was a loco in which I spent many happy hours on the footplate. Unknown by many HE2411 was also involved in the design of the S&L "Uglies" hence these might also be worth a look at.

 

'Gunby' at Stewarts and Lloyd's Harlaxton shed in pre-preservations days.

 

Methinks your image is the wrong way round, Mick!

 

Well spotted. Moral - never post late at night after imbibing too much red wine!

 

Embsay shed yesterday: A friendly welcome. Thanks Guys.
2414.

 

Please visit these links - "Cherwell" was bult in 1942 and by my reckoning that makes it a class 50550-??? maybe

https://www.facebook.com/thecherwellproject/

https://www.gofundme.com/the-Cherwell-project

 

Afraid not. Cherwell was built by Bagnalls whereas the 50550's were built by Hunslet. Best of luck with your project though.
Ray.

 

It's a mystery, as the info doesn't tally, Built 1942 (Bagnells signed the contract on 1st Jan 1943) We think it was Bagnells as well BTW, Construction No. 2654, and the rumour is that it worked at on the Hellidon or Corby line, any more solid info would be great.

Also check out the coal box shape at the rear, and circular windows - they were not features of the Austerities, but they were features of the 50550s

 

Obviously not; Cherwell has outside cylinders whilst the 50550 design has inside cylinders and the 50550 design was only adopted for the 8 locos ordered by S&L; I believe the "Standard" austerity is designated 50555 design

 

Round windows and a sloping coal bunker do not make it a 50550 class, just as having four tyres and an engine does not make my car into a Rolls Royce. Unfortunately.

 

A few corrections to the above posts. Cherwell is a Ministry of Supply loco' ,one of 6 that Staveley Minerals received at the beginning of the war to help get extra production in the ironstone quarries .Its Bagnall 2654/1942 ,a lot smaller than the 50550 Hunslet ,15 x22 cylinders .The other 5 were sent to quarries in Northants New to Charwelton Quarries ,loaned several times to Byfield. .These villages are a few miles west of Daventry ,where the loco' finished up on a children's play ground in 1966. I have a photo of her there ,I will turf it out soon as poss.
The RSH 18 inc cylinder locos at S & L Minerals Corby were known as the class 56, some one up north decided to call them Ugly in preservation. They were not copied from the Hunslet 50550 desine,( they were a new type of loco' based on their previous loco's from MW /Kitson and RSH, that had given excellent service. Different wheel spacings ,a raised haystack firebox ,made them completely different.
Another 50550 Hunslet was nearly preserved ,that was Geddington (or 80 as it was latterly known.) HE2417/1941.Replaced by diesels in1969 from Glendon Quarries ,between Kettering and Corby, and sent to nearby Cohens scrapyard. Its was in fine condition, a few local enthusiast's steamed it with coal taken out the bunkers of other industrial loco's that were present. They tried to raise the money but never succeeded, several bought traction engines saying they were cheaper and less hassle. Please find attached HE 2411 Corby works shed, there was a strike on when I took this ,no one about as normally the steelworks was impenetrable ,if you got by security at the main gate sooner or later someone would ask you what are you up to.

 

Thank you Steve, did all 6 go to the Charwelton, ParkGate Iron & Steel quarry branch do you know?

I am aware that their predecessor known as Charwelton was about knackered at the start of the war and was transferred to duties in Kent, so this would make sense. Charwelton is now preserved on the K&ES Railway.

All information and photographs including any details of the Charwelton Branch would be useful, thank you once again and a Happy New Year to you all.

 

A minor correction re S&L Minerals 56-64 and HE2411. HE2411 was one of 8 Class 50550 locomotives with the Hunslet 18" x 26" cylinders which were the precursor to the Class 50555 (Austerity) design and my friend the late Percy Green was tasked with taking HE2411 onto the minerals system for trials that operated for about a fortnight just after WWII when S&L were looking to take over the Harringworth Quarry - Corby Steelworks trips hence needed more powerful engines. Whilst the Manning Wardle / Kitson / RSH lineage continued with the 16" x 22" cylinders from 1910 (MW1762/1910 = S&L 38 Dolobran) to 1941 (RSH 7032/1941 = S&L 54) the new fleet of locos (RSH 7667 - 7673 / 7761 / 8050) adopted the 18" x 26" cylinders of HE2411 hence suggesting that HE2411 had some influence on the final design.
Note also that RSH was one of the sub-contractors to Hunslet which built the 50555 Austerity locomotives (with 18" x 26" cylinders) - from the initial MOS orders delivered upto 1947 the building tally was 377 locomotives of which Hunslet built 120 with further builds sub-contracted to Andrew Barclay (15); W.G. Bagnall (52); Hudswell Clark (50); RSH (90) and Vulcan Foundry (50). Further post-war orders from NCB, the British Army and steel companies saw 477 Class 50555 locos built when production ceased in 1964.

He 2411 was a regular locomotive on transfers between Corby Tube works and Corby Sidings but in later years of service in the mid-1960s it was used on internal services within the steelworks hence difficult to photograph. As an S&L employee between 1964 - 1970 I had access to the depot BUT no camera until too late to photograph it on its period when working between the Tube works and the siding but did enjoy frequent trips on the footplate to sample the magnificent bark as it climbed into the BR sidings.

 

Hi Rob, Charwelton didn't go to Kent initially, she actually moved to Sproxton quarry in Lincolnshire. She finally made it to Kent in preservation.