Mollington Road Works 1975...

August 1975, Ruston 165DE has been cleaned and is seen outside the shed at the factory. Back then, in the days before health and safety a polite word with the 'man on the gate' was often enough to get you into the works...

Over the years various locomotives could be seen, the earliest I remember was the boxy steam Sentinel, lettered for the old owners 'Hilton and Fulljames', glimpsing it shunting coal wagons at the BR exchange siding from the road when passing on my way to school, the tell-tale whisp of smoke seen first, an exciting feeling of anticipation of what was to come, and then the gleaming maroon locomotive, small in stature and ugly but purposeful. Later I recall a series of diesels came and went, first the North British painted in the company maroon but lettered for HICC (after the take over in 1971) however mechanical failure of the NB meant that this second hand Ruston appeared in the summer of 1975. Back then it was easy to think all this would last forever, looking back I wish I'd taken more photos of the nature of the works, and it's small rail network. Gone but not forgotten. we are lucky that rail served industry exists to this day, still doing the job it has always done, transporting materials too bulky or inconvenient to move by road, finding a niche with bulk materials amd those that are less time sensitive. In a world that expects next day delivery the days of the traditional goods train are long gone, but the bulk movement of containers around the country show that rail still has a part to play in today’s distribution. Perhaps post COVID we may see a return to manufacture even...

Of course, this is really pure nostalgia - Mollington Road was built over the past year or so as another micro layout, a corner of the works complex with some typical brick architecture that seemed to epitomise post-war factories in the UK. It's a lovely little thing, but as it lives in a box, isn't out and operated as much as Pont-y-dulais, the lock-down project. I hope you enjoyed the photo, I'll try and take some more in the coming weeks. Until next time, more soon...