Fantastic Welsh Highland film

[Andrew]

Hi all,

You might enjoy this if you've not seen it already - an NGG16 on a heavy freight (8 wagons of loco Ash) struggling up the Welsh Highland on slippery rails. You'll want the sound up...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu-Cmtk_apY

Hope you like it,

Andrew.

[Big Al]

Thanks for the film , A great video.

[Soar Valley Light]

What an epic feat! What a railway!!

Talk about loaded to capacity - and beyond! Those wagons have to be overloads. No wonder the loco was struggling.The loco lobby stories of 'Do you remember the day when we took 8 wagons of ash from Boston Lodge to Beddgellert?' will be told for many years to come.

Good on yer lads, you're a credit to the best traditions of railways and railwaymen everywhere.

Andrew

[kandnwlr]

Yes, I caught the video, but it´s well worth the second look.

[MDLR]

A cracking film - I wonder how long Boston Lodge had been saving thr ash for......................

[Catweasel]

They'll have to save up for some new tyres as well, judging by wheel slip.

[Andrew]

What an epic feat! What a railway!!

Talk about loaded to capacity - and beyond! Those wagons have to be overloads. No wonder the loco was struggling...

According to a couple of comments on the Ffestiniog Facebook page,
" The B wagons are marked on their sides 'Tare 8,550 - Load 19,000' . Tare is empty weight. This is all in pounds - lbs Imperial. Thus a fully loaded B wagon should not be more than around 12. 3 tons Imperial when fully loaded. I don't know the weight of the goods van, but at a guess that would be around 4 tons. A ready-to-go NGG16 is about 64 tons, so the total consist was probably around 160 tons as one wagon was a low sided one. There are no operational weighing facilites anywhere on either railway, so the load would be a matter of judgement, or what seems to be called 'risk assessment' nowadays."

and...

"Festipedia says a NGG16 could haul 8 loaded DZ wagons uphill in South Africa. Divide by 2 for wet Welsh rails and by some more because a B wagon has higher capacity. So even 4 fully loaded B wagons was perhaps optimistic, particularly on a wet day. Something for the "permitted loads" manual, perhaps."

So there we go. Those wagons did seem to be piled awfully high!

Glad you liked the film,

Andrew.

[Andrew]

A cracking film - I wonder how long Boston Lodge had been saving the ash for......................

'

Barrie Hughes website says that "some two years' worth of loco ash was removed from Boston Lodge after eight B/DZ wagons were loaded at the works. There is still another three years' worth left to remove".

He then adds that "the ash will be used for embankment reinforcement on the Welsh Highland". They might want to talk to the Glos Warks about that!

Cheers,

Andrew.

[Soar Valley Light]

Those wagons had been loaded until the stuff fell over the sides, wagons were rarely intended to be filled above the top of the sides due to the risk of loosing the load in the breeze or by vibration. Ash is a notoriously dense product when wet, making it VERY heavy. I suspect the load was getting on for twice the intended load so that loco was doing a remarkable job! Had the whole train been worked down any significant downhill gradients the fun could well have turned to something altogether different. I've worked trains which have overpowered the braking abilities of the loco and van and it's a galavanising experience!

Ash has traditionally been used to fill in sagging embankments in the past. The idea was that it was a free draining material that both supported and drained the structure. Sadly this was a flawed concept. It does have SOME drainage properties when fresh but quickly chokes up with fines, that increases it's density and it's ability to HOLD water, making it heavier still. If used at the bottom of a bank it can end up slumping itself, as it can't withstand any imposed load, or if used higher up the structure it's soggy mass further overloads the weak bank. Either way it ends up sliding! Just to make life interesting, if used without proper cooling, it has been known to start ground fires in the bank too, resulting in further fissuring and forming cavities which then fall in and further weaken the bank!

There is so much to be said for rocks in gabion baskets!!!!

[Big Jim]

Nice to see NG steam working as it was intended to.

[IrishPeter]

I think the ex-SAR wagons have suck brakes which would have made things a little less dicey, but I would not have fancied the idea of taking that little lot down a 1 in 40 without at least some handbrakes on!

It might be a relief to the Stour Valley Light to know I tend to favour earth and coarse chippings for the embankments on my line with adequate - for the most part - culverts underneath for monsoon season run off.

Peter in AZ

[Marquis DeCarabas]

AFAICR it was three years' worth of ash from Loston Bodged and was being worked up the Dark Side to stabilise embankments north of Beddgelert.