LNERGE Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 We had a day out to the GC gala at the weekend. I always like to buy something but all that caught my eye was a pair of kitmaster 08’s at £1 each. I’ve always had in mind to make one of the snowploughs if I ever came across one of these. A trawl through the internet doesn’t produce much showing them actually in use, in fact the only thing I found seemed to indicate they were more of a liability than anything else. Were these meant for clearing depots and sidings? The wheels with their balance weights but no connecting rods must have made them ungainly ponderous beasts when out clearing main lines. The large independent snowploughs had some restrictions as to locomotives that could propel them. Was there similar restrictions for these ploughs? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted January 31, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 31, 2023 1 minute ago, LNERGE said: We had a day out to the GC gala at the weekend. I always like to buy something but all that caught my eye was a pair of kitmaster 08’s at £1 each. I’ve always had in mind to make one of the snowploughs if I ever came across one of these. A trawl through the internet doesn’t produce much showing them actually in use, in fact the only thing I found seemed to indicate they were more of a liability than anything else. Were these meant for clearing depots and sidings? The wheels with their balance weights but no connecting rods must have made them ungainly ponderous beasts when out clearing main lines. The large independent snowploughs had some restrictions as to locomotives that could propel them. Was there similar restrictions for these ploughs? Evening Richard They were supposed to be the same as independents but were terrible There is some pictures in a book I have of one derailed on the whitby branch Don't know who thought it was a good idea as 08s don't ride well anyway. They were slightly before my time so I didn't work with them so I don't know what speed they were. I sincerely hope they weren't 45mph like the BR standard independent ploughs 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium keefer Posted January 31, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 31, 2023 I think the biggest fault with them was they were unstable at (any) speed - high centre of gravity and no real weight above bufferbeam level to keep them 'flat'. As mentioned above, the cl.08 running-gear was notoriously bad anyway 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERGE Posted January 31, 2023 Author Share Posted January 31, 2023 21 minutes ago, russ p said: Evening Richard They were supposed to be the same as independents but were terrible There is some pictures in a book I have of one derailed on the whitby branch Don't know who thought it was a good idea as 08s don't ride well anyway. They were slightly before my time so I didn't work with them so I don't know what speed they were. I sincerely hope they weren't 45mph like the BR standard independent ploughs There is mention of the Whitby ploughing here.. https://features.rcts.org.uk/diesel-dilemmas/snowplough-class-08s/ 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERGE Posted January 31, 2023 Author Share Posted January 31, 2023 My plough so far. 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted January 31, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 31, 2023 49 minutes ago, LNERGE said: There is mention of the Whitby ploughing here.. https://features.rcts.org.uk/diesel-dilemmas/snowplough-class-08s/ That's the picture Richard. I know Bob (Robert in the article) his book is fantastic. When you look at it ,it doesn't seem to offer much advantage over miniature ploughs on a loco. Visibility round it must have been awful. A bug bear of mine as network rail don't manage vegetation but I'm supposed to learn out to see road ahead at night with a 66! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheatley Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 2 hours ago, LNERGE said: The large independent snowploughs had some restrictions as to locomotives that could propel them. Was there similar restrictions for these ploughs? As far as I'm aware the restrictions were to avoid locos with bogie-mounted buffers (44, 45, 46) and other chassis peculiarities being used because the buffing shocks caused by hitting a drift were taken on the bogie pivots. That said, my ex-York driver boss said that 44s were always the loco of choice for ploughing (if you could get away with it) because the cab heaters were 'epic'. Second choice was a pair of 20s coupled cab to cab because you could actually see what you were doing. They jnvariably ended up with something else though. 2 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERGE Posted February 1, 2023 Author Share Posted February 1, 2023 11 hours ago, russ p said: That's the picture Richard. I know Bob (Robert in the article) his book is fantastic. When you look at it ,it doesn't seem to offer much advantage over miniature ploughs on a loco. Visibility round it must have been awful. A bug bear of mine as network rail don't manage vegetation but I'm supposed to learn out to see road ahead at night with a 66! Hi Russ I’ve reported vegetation locally after I saw a branch cause a flashover across an insulator. Nothing happened until about two weeks ago ( about nine months after reporting) Now it looks like there is a scorched earth policy on SBR1. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERGE Posted February 5, 2023 Author Share Posted February 5, 2023 Now stuffed with plasticine it has spent the afternoon into the evening being propelled around… so far without incident. 7 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted February 5, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 5, 2023 5 minutes ago, LNERGE said: Now stuffed with plasticine it has spent the afternoon into the evening being propelled around… so far without incident. Cracking job Richard 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERGE Posted February 5, 2023 Author Share Posted February 5, 2023 Now it has proven itself to a certain extent I’ll carry on a give it wasp stripes etc. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted February 6, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 6, 2023 Just been looking at those pictures on RCTS link it seems some had radiators completely removed and other just had a plate over where the grille was Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERGE Posted February 6, 2023 Author Share Posted February 6, 2023 I have a second Kitmaster 08 that will get that treatment in due couse. Unfortunately the axles were glued on this second one and i suspect it wont take too kindly to me pushing the back to back gauge in. I got away with it on the first one. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERGE Posted February 19, 2023 Author Share Posted February 19, 2023 On 06/02/2023 at 18:28, russ p said: Just been looking at those pictures on RCTS link it seems some had radiators completely removed and other just had a plate over where the grille was The second plough is under way. This one has the radiator removed. 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted February 19, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 19, 2023 13 minutes ago, LNERGE said: The second plough is under way. This one has the radiator removed. They look fantastic Richard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann Marsbar Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 This was the one that used to live at March Depot, seen in the late 1970's...... 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERGE Posted February 19, 2023 Author Share Posted February 19, 2023 Thank you Russ. Perhaps a lot of effort for something that will rarely move but the railway i remember had lots of interesting bits sitting in odd corners.. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted February 19, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 19, 2023 7 minutes ago, LNERGE said: Thank you Russ. Perhaps a lot of effort for something that will rarely move but the railway i remember had lots of interesting bits sitting in odd corners.. I've got quite a few vehicles which rarely move but they add to the general ambience Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted February 19, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 19, 2023 11 minutes ago, Johann Marsbar said: This was the one that used to live at March Depot, seen in the late 1970's...... That looks so unstable even standing still I'm surprised it's not on its side! I was at Derby a few years back and the BR independents were being rebuilt and with the side plating off was obvious that they were built on V2 tender frames Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERGE Posted February 19, 2023 Author Share Posted February 19, 2023 17 minutes ago, russ p said: That looks so unstable even standing still I'm surprised it's not on its side! I was at Derby a few years back and the BR independents were being rebuilt and with the side plating off was obvious that they were built on V2 tender frames The official book of words and pictures mentions they were converted from LNER 4200 gallon tenders. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERGE Posted February 19, 2023 Author Share Posted February 19, 2023 The ploughs at Derby.. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted February 19, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 19, 2023 8 minutes ago, LNERGE said: The ploughs at Derby.. Had fun a few years back ploughing on the Sheringham branch 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERGE Posted February 19, 2023 Author Share Posted February 19, 2023 In no other industry is an individual expected to apply over 3000 horsepower and charge at a snowdrift. If you get stopped, pull back and repeat. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted February 19, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 19, 2023 7 minutes ago, LNERGE said: In no other industry is an individual expected to apply over 3000 horsepower and charge at a snowdrift. If you get stopped, pull back and repeat. They should really only be used with 37s as they are the only things that give a view around them even if it's tiny . But as network rail don't seem to be able to manage vegetation it's not safe to lean out especially at night 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERGE Posted February 19, 2023 Author Share Posted February 19, 2023 The book does list other classes that were allowed to plough. I can imagine classes 24, 25, 26 and 27 having very restricted visibility. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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