Alan Sewell visits Manvers Main...

My 'Inside Out' series this seasonal holiday has encouraged Alan to dig out another batch of his photos and a visit report from the summer of 1970...

Austerity 63 taking water with washery buildings behind. Alan Sewell photo, July 1970.

National Coal Board - South Yorkshire Area  

Manvers Main Coal Preparation Plant, Wath-on-Dearne, Yorkshire

Gauge: Standard 

Date of Visit: 21 July 1970

This is a huge system linking Wath Main colliery in the west to Barnburgh Main in the east and crossing under the BR line where the main reception sidings are located. Roughly in the centre is the coal preparation plant producing coke (and associated by-products) and washed coal and where rail operations are centred.

To the west of the plant three sets of sidings holding empty tracks serve the coke plant ( tracks 1-9 ) and the washery tracks (10-16 and 1-6) . Locomotives are allocated to each set of sidings pushing empties into the plant for loading. Raw coal for the plant from Wath and Barnburgh collieries is fed into a tippler house adjoining the washery 

Locomotives seen were as follows

0-6-0DH RR/Sentinel RAYMOND 10261 of 1966 running up the coke Landsale Yard towards the pit. This was the regular loco on the trip to Barnburgh colliery and was in NCB dark blue livery

TOM 0-6-0DM Drewry Car 2562 of 1955 (in light green livery) pulling empties on tracks alongside BR heading to the landsale yard. This is the regular loco for roads 1-9

D2225 0-6-0DM Drewry Car and 49 TED 0-6-0ST Hunslet 3707 of 1950 standing on roads 1-9. The Drewry is a bottom (fulls) loco and TED is the loco for roads 1-6

D2326 0-6-0DM Drewry Car 2707 pulling empties into roads 1-9

No.63 0-6-0ST ( Austerity) Hudswell Clarke 1792 of 1945 (acquired from BR and fitted with an underfeed stoker)  taking on water from the water crane on roads 10-16 for which 63 is the regular loco

Dead at the loco shed were Austerities 48 Hunslet 3685 of 1951; 51 RAYMOND Hunslet 3839 of 1955; DENNIS Hunslet 3832 of 1955; 65 Hunslet 3889 of 1964, and marked DO NOT MOVE. Only two steam locos are required now and when those need repairs ( “only minor repairs are bothered about”) or wash out locos from these will be used - the next one “probably will be Raymond”

ARTHUR 0-6-0DM Hudswell Clarke D1159 of 1959 running light from the empties roads to Wath colliery.

Shunting the fulls sidings and “bottom yard” to BR were JIM 0-6-0DM built  Swindon and in light green; HAROLD 0-6-0DE Ruston 347748 of 1958 (class LSSH) ; and an  0-6-0DM Drewry still in BR colours

A training diesel painted white was on a special track near the By-products plant and was 2’0” gauge 0-6-0DM Hudswell Clarke DM630

Overall there are thirteen driving duties on the system and all crew take turns on each of these. The driver of No63, who was an ex-LNER man, said no major repairs would be carried out on the steam locos and probably “steam would all be finished soon”. He also said that although the diesels were better to work in they were prone to slip on wet rail which is common around the washery, unlike the Austerities, and he felt relatively less powerful.

Sketch map of the Manvers system, Alan Sewell 1970.

TED running down roads 1-9. Alan Sewell photo, July 1970.

TOM with empties. Alan Sewell photo, July 1970.

Last of the Austerities in steam. Alan Sewell photo, July 1970.

Shunting the plant with TOM, D2225, and TED. Alan Sewell photo, July 1970.

The Barnburgh loco RAYMOND 0-6-0DH Sentinel. Alan Sewell photo, July 1970.

Thank you Alan, for sharing this with me - and agreeing to let me publish it here for others to enjoy. Alan's many industrial railway visits are grouped under the 'Alan Sewell' label so you can find all of them easily. I hope to evoke something of this wonderful atmosphere in the model. Until next time, more soon...

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