Thornaby: The A4 Pacific engine 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley taken on September 10, 1972 at Thornaby Marshalling Yard at an open day for the public. Photograph courtesy of Stan Laundon. 
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
Thornaby: The A4 Pacific engine 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley taken on September 10, 1972 at Thornaby Marshalling Yard at an open day for the public. Photograph courtesy of Stan Laundon.
Does anyone have a list of the class 47 locos on the depot at te 1972 Open Day please?
I attended Thornaby Motive Power Depot (51L) Open Day on Sunday 10 September 1972, a bright sunny day with blue skies. A total of 45 locomotives were present, less than normal for a Thornaby Sunday afternoon, as most of the depot’s shunters were stabled in Tees Yard to create space for the display locos and the huge number of visitors that attended the open day. Most of the locos present were Thornaby based. During 1971/72 the depot had replaced its Darlington built BR Type 2 fleet with Brush Type 2’s, and a few more Brush Type 4’s had arrived for freightliner work. Shunters Nos. 2093, 2099, 3078 and 3241 were the only locos stabled in the famous roundhouse on 10/9/1972. No. 2093 had been withdrawn on 16/10/1971, sold to the NCB, and finally departed Thornaby at the end of 9/1972. No. 2099 followed a few years later. No. 3078 soon went to Derby for departmental use. Edinburgh based Deltic No. 9010, The King’s Own Scottish Borderer, York based English Electric Type 4, No. 257, and three steam locos (listed below) headlined the locomotive attractions. BR/LNER Class K1 No. 62005 was specially brought in from Leeds Neville Hill to demonstrate the Thornaby wheeldrop facility. Many other visiting locos were present.
I worked with both the “Heavy Gang” from Darlington and the Thornaby TMD staff responsible for the maintenance of the retarders in Thornaby Yard on the mid 1970″s. Although well maintained the Total-Operations-Processing-System (TOPS) would get it wrong and send wagons down the wrong siding, slow them too much leaving them short of the rest of the wagons in the road (The 08 shunter having to go and push them along), or not slowing them enough causing them to crash into the wagons already in the road at high speed. Fortunately the force was parallel to the track and the wagons often jumped into the air and landed on the tracks once more. However, I also worked as part of the breakdown crew on the steam crane at Thornaby in the 70″s and had several callouts, these were usually left until the Monday mornings to re-rail wagons in the yard.
I worked with both the “Heavy Gang” from Darlington and the Thornaby TMD staff responsible for the maintenance of the retarders in Thornaby Yard on the mid 1970″s. Although well maintained the Total-Operations-Processing-System (TOPS) would get it wrong and send wagons down the wrong siding, slow them too much leaving them short of the rest of the wagons in the road (The 08 shunter having to go and push them along), or not slowing them enough causing them to crash into the wagons already in the road at high speed. Fortunately the force was parallel to the track and the wagons often jumped into the air and landed on the tracks once more. However, I also worked as part of the breakdown crew on the steam crane at Thornaby in the 70″s and had several callouts, these were usually left until the Monday mornings to re-rail wagons in the yard.
Happy and Healthy New Year Don, Thank you for your reply regarding the Tangye lathe. I was only a little boy when I visited Kidds old Factory in Prince Regent Street or West Row, whichever road it was, it was Rogers old factory, Charlie Lampton was the works Foreman even in those days. Church Row Works was a big step forward in works design although they still used belt drive which was still common in those days. I remember the Ayre brothers were big Union Men at the factory when I was there about 1943-46. Did you know Alf Dixon the joiner? His daughter Annie Dixon also worked there. I got a real rocket from Alf one day for charging him for Annie”s 1d teacake. We became pals after that. Happy days, what would Alf say today about the price of teacakes? When I think back it must be over seventy years since I saw that big lathe, which I bet was part of Rogers old machinery. Tommy Sowler”s Dad was the horse team carter for Rogers, and Tommy brought in a picture to show us at 4b Trinity of his Dad with these big cart horses pulling a big low loader which had big ships castings on. Thanks for putting me right about the Tangent.
I”ve never heard of a Tangent lathe and I served my time at Fred Kidds. They had a Tangye lathe which was the biggest lathe at Kidds and a man called Allan Ayre worked on it.
Always good to see Sir Nigel. When my boys were just lads I took them on an outing from York,Leeds Harrogate, Knaresborough,York and recorded most of the trip on my tape recorder. Since then I have transferred it onto a disc. When I feel the need for a touch of nostalgia, I play the disc and can feel the sway of the carriages, shut your eyes and you are away! Sad isnt it? but I enjoy it, and what about that haunting whistle?. Were any of you engineers “tangent” operators ? if memory is correct this machine operated at right angles to a lathe, with the faceplate mounted near the floor for machining big castings of such things as large engine wheels or marine parts. Rogers and Kidd”s used them to great effect. I bet Ken Sawyer remembers them?
I was there too. I was a mechanical apprentice at Thornaby deport at the time. The apprentices all got to ride around the yard on Nigel and the other locomotives there at the time. Good memories
I was there! Didn”t get a ride on Nige though.
With several friends I visited the round houses & the control room for the shunting hump. We were fascinated by the system being used to direct the individual wagons onto the correct roads to make up the trains. Then near disaster, one wagon, presumably misidentified tore down the hump & the retarders must have been set for a different gross weight. Travelling at speed it hit the rear of the standing rake & it plus the last wagon both jumped about a foot off the track. Luckily for all both settled back on their wheels on the siding so no lasting damage. There were large sighs of relief though from the operating team.
My 12th birthday ! Spent many happy hours shunting wagons and DMUs in there – that area at the time was the old ashpits (the raised area behind) and coaling roads, although the coal plant had gone by then, I think the gantry in the background was part of the sanding plant used to fill loco sandboxes, blown from a small pumphouse by low pressure compressed air. those sidings themselves were eventually used for wagon repairs, and still were right up until 1990 when I left – and I think they still are. We had several famous steamers in the depot over the years, evening star (9F) was one I remember cos we had to shift the ruddy thing. It had bent a siderod from memory and was in there for about a fortnight. Also have recollections of sitting astride the boiler of a black 5 in the diesel shed. Happy days.