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Hunslet 50550 class survivors

Discussion in 'Steam Traction' started by tilling, May 19, 2016.

  1. peckett

    peckett Member

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    There was no such thing as a Hunslet50555 class .Hunslet designated the loco's what most enthusiasts called J94 s ,Austerity's. Just because the loco's had 18X26cylinders does not mean the the 56s were designed round it, I dare say a lot of 18 in industrials had same size cylinders as the 50550 class. All what you say has been well document in various books /magazines ,including Ironstone Railways and Tramways ,and The Industrial Railway Record ,an account from one issue has been download to the Internet of the run from Tube Works to BR Corby siding and can be easily found by Googling .It was written by two of my mates ,one of which got me interested in Industrial loco's ,way back in the early 1950s.
     
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  2. Fred Kerr

    Fred Kerr Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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  3. Fred Kerr

    Fred Kerr Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    I have never stated that the RSH locos were designed around HE2411 - merely that the testing of HE2411 in the quarry led to the adoption of 18" x 26" cylinders rather than continue with the previous operation of the 16" x 22" design that had originated with Manning Wardle in 1910 and was followed by both Kitson and RSH in subsequent orders. All that I say has come from personal experience - having been familiar with the Minerals operations throughout the 1960s as a resident of Corby from 1956 through to 1977 hence I have not read any of the books that you have noted.

    Whilst I have not found a reference to "50555" Class in the Hunslet history written by Don Townley, or in any of the many reference books written about the Austerities, I have seen a reference to the 50555 Class hence my mentioning it but since that was many years ago I have no recollection of which source used it. It appears that the epithet "Austerity" became so commonplace that a Class identity was ignored to the point of disappearing altogether; I can't see a company as well organised as Hunslet not allocating a Class number but - in wartime - I can understand paperwork and administration being given a lower priority to the actual production.

    My familiarity with the Corby system includes both the Minerals and Steelworks lines and, in addition to having shed access by virtue of employment within the offices, I was a frequent presence on the footplate of the Hawthorn Leslies with the late Colin Rose when he worked on the day shift running between the steelworks and Corby Sidings. Reference to you friend's text ("Bembridge") refers to the Hawthorn Leslie trips but does not refer to HE2411 which used to be the regular locomotive or note that whilst HE2411 worked services when the headshunt extended behind the United Counties bus garage adjacent to Corby station, the Hawthorn Leslies worked to a truncated headshunt which had seen the track layout change - including a realignment of both the curve and gradient into Corby Sidings. In noting his use of South Sidings he is quoting local terms methinks as the 2 Corby Sidings were officially identified by BR as (1) Lloyds Sidings directly in front of the Blast Furnace for the receipt of raw materials and (2) Corby Sidings opposite the Exeter estate for the despatch of finished products.

    It would appear that our "local" experiences differ hence it may be best to accept that we agree to disagree over the situation regarding the involvement of HE2411 in the development of the RSH 0-6-0STs operated within the Corby Quarries. As far as Percy Green was concerned he spent time in the Minerals System with HE2411 and, although it proved unsuitable as a design for the quarry network, he noted that some elements of HE2411's design were adopted in the final specification; perchance if only the cylinder size.
     
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  4. Steve

    Steve Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    The boilers on the 56's are pure Manning Wardle in concept, if not in design. It would be interesting to compare these boilers against one of the Littleton Mannings. I would think that RSH had a pattern for an 18" x 26"cylinder block prior to designing these locos but it would be interesting to see if the Austerity pattern was used, or not. Unless there is good reason, you use what you already have.
     
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  5. peckett

    peckett Member

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    Cherwell (2654 )and Byfield No2 WB2655 went new to Parkgate Iron and Steel, at Byfield and Charwelton Quarries. The Ministry of Supply ask Staveley Iron and Steel to take over the running of Parkgate's quarries at Charwelton and Byfield ,which they agreed to do. The carrot on the stick was that all extra quarry machinery ,large draglines loco's etc would be supplied new on loan. I must admit I had for got about Byfield 2 being down in this area as it was transferred very early on to Loddington ,and became Loddington No2 in the late 1940s.This was a 15min bike ride from my mothers house in Kettering. It was transferred to Cranford also just outside Kettering in 1966.Two others Lamport 2 and 3 WB 2669 and 2670 led a much more peace full life just north of Northampton and never moved 'Lamport 2 being scrapped on site , 3 being preserved. Staveley WB 2629 was at Pilton just over the boarder in Rutland. It was loaned to Desboro' for most of 1956, and I saw her running light engine back to Pilton in October 1956,the route was via Glendon Jnc reverse ,Manton reverse and on to Pilton, about a 25 mile run. I remarked at the time that I thought this was probably one of the longest runs that a industrial loco had done on the main line in steam and solo. It was scrapped at Cohens Kettering in early 1970. Happy new year to you as well. Pic attached of Cherwell at Daventry.
     

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  6. GCR567 Project

    GCR567 Project New Member

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    Hello Steve, the cylinder block of the Corby 56 Class is fundamentally different to the Austerity (J94) in that it has twin main steam pipes rather than the single main steam pipe layout of the latter. Interestingly the RSH block also has a feature that is totally redundant in its application on the 56 Class, that is bosses drilled and tapped into each cylinder bore that mirrors practice of fitting Furness lubricators on locomotives built in the 1890's.
     
  7. Fred Kerr

    Fred Kerr Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    Pardon my ignorance on such fine detail BUT how does the Class 56 block compare to the Class 50550 block which relates to Percy Green's opinion that some of the HE2411 (of Class 50550) details were adopted for the Class 56 build ?
     
  8. Steve

    Steve Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    Thanks. You've obviously got the benefit of the spare cylinder block to look at. As regards Furness lubricators, Austerities were fitted with these.
     

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