Lost loco 'Munition'

Ladies & Gents

I'm after your help please. I'm trying to track down any info relating to a loco called Munition. I believe it was a Hawthorn Leslie loco. The most I've found so far is a reference to it on a flicker photo of Singapore at Rutland. Here is the link Hawthorn Leslie 3865 built in 1936. The info's for a lady who is doing her family history and the engine belonged to her great great grandfather. I believe it was owned by Walter Burke who owned the quarries at Frieston & Caythorpe near Lincoln. Any info or even a picture would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Adam

 

Hello Adam,

A good place to start is to get hold of a copy of Eric Tonk's book - The Ironstone Quarries of the Midlands, part 8, South Linclonshire. In this book, a complete chapter is given to the Freiston & Caythorpe pits of Walter Burke, plus a photo of the locomotive. Although published over 20 years ago, I do believe that the book is still available, so it would be worth a search online to find it.

Also, it is still possible to see some physical remains of the railway system, plus the quarries in the vicinity of Freiston and beside the road toward Hough-on the-Hill; it's been a few years since I was there, I'm sure that much hasn't changed in the meantime; plus, it's possible to "fly" there via Google Earth, you can see a fair bit of the remains online despite the plentiful greenery on the sites.
Best of luck.

Cheers

Alan

 

Thanks very much Alan.

 

Munition was HL 3335 of 1918 and was supplied to Walter Burke's Frieston quarries new in June 1918, at the same time as the quarries adopted rail traction. A second engine (MW 1199 of 1899) was obtained in May 1924, but it was scrapped
c1932. The quarry closed in 1946 and the railway and plant were sold to G. Cohen Sons & Co Ltd for disposal.
Munition was resold to NH&B Collierys Ltd's 'B' Winning Collery, Blackwell, Derbyshire in 7/1946, and on Vesting Day,
1/1/1947, became the property of the National Coal Board. Apart from a brief transfer to the nearby 'A' Winning Collery in 1960, Munition remained at 'B' Winning Collery until scrapped there in 3/1967.