Sweeping out wagons.

[doilum]

Not railway related but as a small child one of the neighbours was an independent barge owner. In summer he transported wheat and barley, in winter,coal. Must have had a good brush!

[Rivercider]

1 hour ago, birdseyecircus said:

Great pictures. Just thinking if you had 10,000 tons of whatever to move from A to B and every day 50+ tons of it came back because the wagons weren't fully emptied it would generate another part train load!

 

Paul

The cause of the collision of 33009 and it's own train in December 1991 was indirectly due to the 'empty' wagons for Meldon still being partly loaded. The train was overload for the route, and slipped to a stand,

 

cheers

[Wheatley]

Back in 1993/4 we were reinstalling the sidings at Kirkby Thore to take desulpho-gypsum from Drax to the plasterboard works. Part of the planning work was to determine whether a single 60 could manage the booked load over the S&C in bad weather, so 47 HAAs of mine waste from Selby were borrowed for the week and I and all concerned had lots of fun playing with it. In winter, in Cumbria. 

 

When it eventually arrived at St Johns (Normanton) for disposal all 47 wagons were frozen solid. 

[Reorte]

2 hours ago, Wheatley said:

Back in 1993/4 we were reinstalling the sidings at Kirkby Thore to take desulpho-gypsum from Drax to the plasterboard works. Part of the planning work was to determine whether a single 60 could manage the booked load over the S&C in bad weather, so 47 HAAs of mine waste from Selby were borrowed for the week and I and all concerned had lots of fun playing with it. In winter, in Cumbria. 

 

When it eventually arrived at St Johns (Normanton) for disposal all 47 wagons were frozen solid. 

Beginning the S&C's reversal of fortunes back to being a route with a definite future.

[keefer]

Just came to mind, didn't some relatively modern ('90/00s) open box wagons have a door at one end of the side so that after mechanical unloading, someone could get inside to sweep out the last of the load? I think they may have been for aggregates.

[Fat Controller]

15 minutes ago, keefer said:

Just came to mind, didn't some relatively modern ('90/00s) open box wagons have a door at one end of the side so that after mechanical unloading, someone could get inside to sweep out the last of the load? I think they may have been for aggregates.

The scrap opens built for Railease certainly had such doors, as did the bogie ones built for Sheerness Steel.

[keefer]

Thanks for that, I did wonder about scrap but thought it must be stone. 

I think it they featured in the 'Railfreight Today' DVDs

[Max Legroom]

I’ve often wondered how staff got into wagons to clean them out or assist with unloading, for example, 16t minerals at small coal facilities. Is it by ladder or just through the side door?

[LNERGE]

There is mention of wagons being swept out in the 1944 Soham accident report.

[Steamport Southport]

5 hours ago, Max Legroom said:

I’ve often wondered how staff got into wagons to clean them out or assist with unloading, for example, 16t minerals at small coal facilities. Is it by ladder or just through the side door?

 

Clamber up at the ends and over the top. The buffer shanks come in handy. Also notice that the handrails on 16 ton minerals are very conveniently placed to be used as footsteps. Similar methods to fireman and cleaners needing to get into the bunker or tender coal space on a locomotive. They needed clearing occasionally as well.

 

Throwing your shovel and/or brush over before you go. You don't want to leave it behind!

 

Don't forget most people doing these sort of jobs would be fit as a fiddle and usually quite young and agile.

 

 

Jason

Edited December 16, 2020 by Steamport Southport

[Trog]

If you want real fun try a track drainage job in winter where you end up having to climb into Grampus wagons covered in frost while wearing steel toe cap wellington boots. As you have to check every one for holes in the wooden plank floor, and if you find any climb in with an estate agents sign or some S&T troughing lid to fill the hole. Nearly fell through the floor of a wagon once when a rotten plank fell out when I stamped something down over a hole in it.