Industrial News from Railways Illustrated

Unclear future for Workington Port branch
I have mentioned before that Corus' plant at Workington has closed and its locomotives transferred away. This has also had an impact on another location in Workington – the Port of Workington operated by Cumbria County Council.
The port's main user of the railway system was Corus for the export of rail, and there was an unusual purely industrial branch which connected the steelworks to the docks, the last such branch in the UK operating in this manner. Locomotives from both concerns used it to bring steel to the docks and take back empty wagons.
The dock system has its own fleet of locomotives, and prior to 2000 the railway was operated by a pair of small 200hp 0-4-0DE Yorkshire Engine locomotives built new – YE2628 in 1956 and YE2684 in 1958. However, in 2000 it was decided to upgrade the railway to enable heavier trains to be run, and this required more powerful locomotives. Andrew Barclay of Kilmarnock rebuilt two Hunslet Engine 400hp 0-6-0DHs that it had 'in stock' – Hunslet 8976 and 8977 - both built in 1979 for use by the CEGB.
The branch was one of the most interesting sites for photographing industrial railways in their working environment. The best, and most unusual location, was an open wooden trestle viaduct that spanned the river estuary. The system is still intact with its locomotives, but presently there is no traffic there now that all the stock from the steelworks has been cleared. It will be interesting to see if any rail traffic resumes in the future.

Moyse 1464 stands in the yard at Corus, Hartlepool on April 27 2007 waiting its next duty. Alex Betteney.

Hartlepool shunters are French bred
There always appears to be some locomotives at work in the UK that do not seem to fit in with their local surroundings – take for instance three diesel-electric locomotives built by French company Gaston Moyse, Paris, now at work in the North East. People might wonder just how they came to be in the UK in the first place.
Back in 1973 Moyse decided to see if the British market would buy its locomotives, and in October that year sent one to the British Steel Corporation's (BSC's) South Teesside Works for demonstration. Apart from BSC, other firms were invited to this demonstration, and in 1976 Shell UK purchased two Type BF18 4wDEs for use at Teesport Refinery – Moyse 1364 and 1365 - later joined in 1979 by Moyse 1464.
By the early-1980s rail traffic had ceased at Teesport and all three were purchased by Stockton Haulage, Middlesbrough, one of the first companies to see the future of a road/rail interchange for distribution and warehousing. Two locos remained at Middlesbrough to work the traffic, whilst Moyse 1464 was moved to Stranraer at a new site. Eventually Stockton Haulage ceased using rail and all three became surplus again.
A fellow North Eastern firm, Ed Murray of Hartlepool, acquired all three and they came back together again. Murray, under the trading name of Astontrack, acquired the contract to supply locomotives for shunting at the Corus 42” Mill at the Hartlepool, and after an overhaul Moyse 1364 and 1464 were put into use at this site. Moyse 1365 was dismantled for spares and is stored in Murray's yard in Hartlepool, but there is a possibility of other Moyse locomotives being obtained to bring this back to working order.

300hp single-ended 0-6-0DE locomotive 96 YE 2905 was busy at work with a train of bogie bolster wagons on July 21 2008 at the Corus Aldwarke Works, Rotherham. Phil Brindley.

Scrapyard shunters
The scrap metal industry has always been a user of industrial locomotives, but although there has been a contraction in the last couple of decades there are still quite a number of firms using them. I have already dealt with CF Booth, Rotherham (RI September 2008), and in the coming issues I will deal with many of the other firms still using rail traffic.
Sims Metals at Nottingham has dealt with rail traffic for a number of years but it was not until August 2001 that it acquired its own loco. This was 0-6-0DH Sentinel 10140/1962, supplied by local company Wilmott Brothers of Ilkeston. Wilmotts' had used it for a number of years on various contracts, but it had been built originally for use at the nearby Stanton Ironworks. It is normally visible from the train a couple of miles south of Nottingham station on the down side of the line.

Barrington cement works closes
One late piece of information just been received is that Cemex closed its Barrington Cement Works on November 7. There is talk that the site could be used as a distribution depot in the future, but I would doubt that rail traffic will be involved; so this will almost certainly sound the death knell for the Barrington Light Railway. For other notes on location see RI May 2008.