Shelton 20 ton coke hopper

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	Shelton 20 ton Coke Hopper wagon, number 969 Above: Shelton 20 ton coke hopper wagon 969 as restored at Shelton This wagon started life as a 20 ton coal hopper wagon built to a new design by Charles Roberts of Wakefield. The design was based around a new all-steel underframe specification promoted by the RCH with a wheelbase of 12 feet rather than the traditional 9 feet. The whole idea was to increase carrying capacity and reduce tare weights; ie to get much more load into fewer wagons, and reduce the dead weight and rolling resistance of loaded trains. Other conventional mineral wagons also used this new RCH underframe, eg CEGB tippler wagon number 23 and LNER loco coal wagon 303255. The geometry of the hopper shape was distinct from later designs such as the six BR 21 ton hoppers acquired from Onllwyn, mainly in the shallow vertical ends. The door mechanism was opened by a rather stylish handwheel on one side. The largest operators of wagons, who could afford to restock in the 1930s, were soon convinced of the savings to be made by using high capacity wagons, and began to place orders. Above: An identical 20 ton hopper wagon built by Charles Roberts for Stephenson Clarke This particular wagon was registered by the LMS as number 131055 when it was built by Charles Roberts. Unfortunately it is not known which operator used it or the livery it carried because all the LMS registers were destroyed in a bombing raid on Derby works in 1941. The only ex-works photos known to exist of these hoppers are of Stephenson Clarke wagons, and it is possible it was one of these, but further research is needed. The wagon would have been pooled in 1939 at the outbreak of war, and would have received a P-prefix number after nationalisation in 1948, but no evidence of this remains. In the 1950s and 60s British Railways sold many pre-war hoppers and replaced them with standard designs. The wagon was far from worn out and was bought by the Shelton Iron, Steel & Coal Co expressly for internal use on coke traffic within the works, being renumbered SIS 969 at that point. While in internal use, the original elegant cast handwheels would have been replaced by the current crude steel discs with revolving handles attached. Most hoppers at Shelton were painted grey, but 969 carried a dark green livery with grey solebars, probably because of its use on coke traffic. Acquired from Shelton and delivered to Foxfield in September 1979, SIS 969 was used on demonstration freight trains. It has twice returned to its old home at Shelton since, firstly to advertise Foxfield at the National Garden Festival in 1986, for which it carried a special livery in professional signwriting sponsored by FWB Products Ltd. It returned to Foxfield from display there on 8 November 1986, and was stored at Blythe Bridge exchange sidings from where the livery could be seen by passengers in passing Stoke-Derby trains. By 1994 it was looking rather worse for wear and was taken back to Shelton to take part in a photocharter there. Some repairs and a full repaint were carried out at the well-appointed workshops, to bring SIS 969 back to its dark green livery with internal use lettering as a coke breeze hopper. It has since been on display at Caverswall Road station. Incidently it is known that Shelton steelworks took delivery of a batch of new hoppers from Charles Roberts in 1937 but photographs show the design was not quite like number 969. They appear to have been designed for coal, not iron ore, and would have worked on the main line to whichever colliery, probably in the immediate local area, had screens suitable to load such big wagons. They were probably emptied on the high level line which ran south into the Shelton complex from the Grange Branch. An identical wagon, number SIS 971, was donated by the BSC at Shelton to the Churnet Valley Railway in 1978. This had been built in 1936 and registered by the LMS as number 32645. It had been purchased from BR in 1952 and ended up on coke breeze internal duties like number 969. Number 971 has been restored at Cheddleton and used on ballast trains on the Churnet Valley. A much earlier 10 ton design of Shelton coke hopper wagon, SIS 251, was part of the Foxfield collection for many years. Sadly in autumn 2006 the wagon disintegrated during a shunt. Some details and a photograph can be found on the "Absent Friends" section of this website.

This wagon started life as a 20 ton coal hopper wagon built to a new design by Charles Roberts of Wakefield. The design was based around a new all-steel underframe specification promoted by the RCH with a wheelbase of 12 feet rather than the traditional 9 feet. The whole idea was to increase carrying capacity and reduce tare weights; ie to get much more load into fewer wagons, and reduce the dead weight and rolling resistance of loaded trains. Other conventional mineral wagons also used this new RCH underframe, eg CEGB tippler wagon number 23 and LNER loco coal wagon 303255. The geometry of the hopper shape was distinct from later designs such as the six BR 21 ton hoppers acquired from Onllwyn, mainly in the shallow vertical ends. The door mechanism was opened by a rather stylish handwheel on one side. The largest operators of wagons, who could afford to restock in the 1930s, were soon convinced of the savings to be made by using high capacity wagons, and began to place orders.

Above: An identical 20 ton hopper wagon built by Charles Roberts for Stephenson Clarke

This particular wagon was registered by the LMS as number 131055 when it was built by Charles Roberts. Unfortunately it is not known which operator used it or the livery it carried because all the LMS registers were destroyed in a bombing raid on Derby works in 1941. The only ex-works photos known to exist of these hoppers are of Stephenson Clarke wagons, and it is possible it was one of these, but further research is needed. The wagon would have been pooled in 1939 at the outbreak of war, and would have received a P-prefix number after nationalisation in 1948, but no evidence of this remains. In the 1950s and 60s British Railways sold many pre-war hoppers and replaced them with standard designs. The wagon was far from worn out and was bought by the Shelton Iron, Steel & Coal Co expressly for internal use on coke traffic within the works, being renumbered SIS 969 at that point. While in internal use, the original elegant cast handwheels would have been replaced by the current crude steel discs with revolving handles attached. Most hoppers at Shelton were painted grey, but 969 carried a dark green livery with grey solebars, probably because of its use on coke traffic.

Acquired from Shelton and delivered to Foxfield in September 1979, SIS 969 was used on demonstration freight trains. It has twice returned to its old home at Shelton since, firstly to advertise Foxfield at the National Garden Festival in 1986, for which it carried a special livery in professional signwriting sponsored by FWB Products Ltd. It returned to Foxfield from display there on 8 November 1986, and was stored at Blythe Bridge exchange sidings from where the livery could be seen by passengers in passing Stoke-Derby trains. By 1994 it was looking rather worse for wear and was taken back to Shelton to take part in a photocharter there. Some repairs and a full repaint were carried out at the well-appointed workshops, to bring SIS 969 back to its dark green livery with internal use lettering as a coke breeze hopper. It has since been on display at Caverswall Road station.

Incidently it is known that Shelton steelworks took delivery of a batch of new hoppers from Charles Roberts in 1937 but photographs show the design was not quite like number 969. They appear to have been designed for coal, not iron ore, and would have worked on the main line to whichever colliery, probably in the immediate local area, had screens suitable to load such big wagons. They were probably emptied on the high level line which ran south into the Shelton complex from the Grange Branch.

An identical wagon, number SIS 971, was donated by the BSC at Shelton to the Churnet Valley Railway in 1978. This had been built in 1936 and registered by the LMS as number 32645. It had been purchased from BR in 1952 and ended up on coke breeze internal duties like number 969. Number 971 has been restored at Cheddleton and used on ballast trains on the Churnet Valley.

A much earlier 10 ton design of Shelton coke hopper wagon, SIS 251, was part of the Foxfield collection for many years. Sadly in autumn 2006 the wagon disintegrated during a shunt. Some details and a photograph can be found on the "Absent Friends" section of this website.

Shelton 20 ton Coke Hopper wagon, number 969