This photograph was taken at the bottom of George Street and Thornaby Road on the river side of the railway lines near The Erimus Works in about 1960. In the background through the steam to the right you can just make out Thornaby Town Hall.
I’m sure train buffs will be able tell us more about the transition to diesel and the trains.
Photograph and details courtesy of Derek Smith.
We, as loco spotters used to refer to that train as an ‘Ozzie’, a corruption of the word austerity.
To me – ugly looking nut a workhorse !
I remember this so well. There was a tunnel to this bit from Thornaby Rd, it’s still there but blocked up. In fact that could me in the photo, probably not but I was a ginger kid and I was 9 years old in 1960 🙂
This photo was taken beside the works you could get to through the tunnel under the railway on Thornaby Road across from George street if you followed the path it went into Thornaby place we used to put six inch nails on the line round about here. The engine flattened the nail and we made spears with them … brings back memories of great childhood days
The trains like stated are coming out of Thornaby, the one on the right is a Met Cam, Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU), probably for Darlington, which is on the Up Main, the steam engine is an austerity 2-8-0, which is looking steam tight, on what looks like a mineral leading turn either from Thornaby depot or Hartlepool depot, (notice the shunting pole on the buffer beam), which is on the Up Goods, both heading towards Bowesfield Junction. It always confused me when I was a lad the head-codes on the DMU’s always seem to be A3. The DMU’s became that common in them days that spotters did not take much notice of them.