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Charrington's Coal hoppers


Adam
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I've seen the white boxes used for the chalked 'cut' number applied in the reception sidings at hump yards.

By the late 1960s, most freight stock was acquiring small yellow, self-adhesive , labels which gave both maximum speed and brake force (for fitted wagons) for 'Empty', 'Light', 'Medium' and 'Heavy' loads. This would have superceded the earlier, painted, markings.

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I remember the trip working of Charringtons coal hoppers from Colchester North Yard to their Hythe coal Depot, usually hauled by a class 08. The depot used winches to move the hoppers into position so the 08 could return to Colchester North with the empties or light engine. One night in the late 1980s I was working at a local rollerskating rink called the Triangle which was on the Moorside Industrial Estate within the Triangle of lines between Colchester and Clacton, East Gates Junction and St Botolphs, and St Botolphs and Hythe Junction when a class 08 trundled past heading from St Botolphs towards Hythe.The tracks were right behind me. It was dark, and when the 08 reached the diamond crossing on the Mainline to Clacton there was a crashing sound, the tail lights on the 08 lifted and fell a few times, and blokes with torches climbed down from the cab and started walking round the loco. I left at that point so I'm not sure what actually happened, but my guess would be that it was headed for Charringtons and it came off the road. Maybe it had been sent onto the St Botolphs Triangle to clear the Mainline for a passenger train.

Edited by Baby Deltic
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A little OTT, but can anyone say what the livery was on Charrington's road delivery wagons (both horse-drawn and mechanical)?

 

TIA!

Here's their livery in 1974:-

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=charringtons+coal&espv=2&biw=1600&bih=780&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiMs4mhhrzQAhXBvRoKHagFD_gQsAQIRg#imgrc=URDCjEDUeiKoaM%3A

and slightly earlier:- 

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8049/8368898606_aaf685abe1_z.jpg

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Many thanks - I presume that the coat of arms is as coal suppliers to her maj, or similar?

 

Yup - these were royal warrant markings: I've got an old copy of Vintage Roadscene showing these very clearly, albeit in black and white. A sample of these same photos, part of the Chris Hodge Truck photos collection can be found here: https://chrishodgetrucks.co.uk/gallery/Truck-Archive/Latest (though a bit of CTRL + F will be needed to find them).

 

Adam

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Yup - these were royal warrant markings: I've got an old copy of Vintage Roadscene showing these very clearly, albeit in black and white. A sample of these same photos, part of the Chris Hodge Truck photos collection can be found here: https://chrishodgetrucks.co.uk/gallery/Truck-Archive/Latest (though a bit of CTRL + F will be needed to find them).

 

Adam

 

Thanks!

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  • 1 month later...
  • 11 months later...

I remember seeing the Charringtons hoppers in the north of England when I was young. The top colour is a sort of duck-egg green under red lettering, not grey. Compare the hopper in Peter Insoles picture. The roof of the loco is grey with weathering, the hopper is not grey. I have been looking for a decent colour picture for ages and have never found one.

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  • 4 weeks later...

In Purley there was a Charringtons siding, I gather there would have been an transitionary point between the use of 16T minerals, these hoppers, and the HEA Speedlink Coal Network wagons that ran until its closure in the 90's ?

The hoppers were introduced from about 1963 onwards, at about the same time as the 'House Coal Concentration' vac-fitted hoppers were coming out. Both types were to be seen in the trains to Tolworth and Chessington Coal Concentration depots, which I used to see when staying at my uncle's flat near Malden Manor station- they generally came from the anthracite pits around my hometown, or the various 'smokeless' fuel plants around the country. I'm not sure if Purley had facilities to receive them, though; at the very least, a discharge pit and conveyor belt to a stocking area would be required, as the bottoms of the hoppers were much closer to the ground than those of the Brett hoppers.

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