In Colour
Rapid expansion in the number of electrified lines on the Southern Railway in the
1920s led to a surplus of ageing but serviceable locomotives as more modern engines
were cascaded onto other duties. No less than 62 Stroudley ‘E1’ 0-6-0Ts entered SR
service at the Grouping and of the 31 withdrawn in 1924-27 and offered for sale at
£1,100 each only one found a new owner. The Cannock & Rugeley Colliery Company purchased
No 110 (formerly Burgundy) for £925 on 5 April 1927 and it is seen here as NCB No 9 Cannock Wood at Rawnsley Colliery circa 1962, still in service but by now operated by the National Coal Board. Until around
1964 the system was noteworthy for running a mineworker’s passenger service between
Hednesford and Cannock Wood Colliery using a collection of ex-main line coaches. A
further batch of ‘E1s’ was withdrawn in 1930-32, when four more entered industrial
use, but No 110 would be the last in service, outliving the last BR examples withdrawn
in 1961, and as the sole survivor of the class it was sold to the West Midland Railway
Preservation Society in 1963. J Tennant/Kidderminster Railway Museum
The contrasting motive power needs of industrial premises often led to the purchase
of secondhand locomotives from main line companies, with many of these going on to
enjoy long lives, and ultimately they often long outlived their former class-mates,
and sometimes that led to preservation. The practice goes back to the 19th century
and inevitably even locomotives with less taxing roles simply become life-expired
and are scrapped. Even by the 1950s there were limited numbers of operational locomotives
that had changed hands in pre-Grouping days, but there were exceptions, and some of
the gems were National Coal Board assets, as when that was formed on New Year’s Day
1947 the variety of locomotives across the countless fleets was fascinating.
After decades of predictable certainty, Hawksworth 0-6-0PTs Nos 1500-09 emerged from
Swindon Works in 1949 with no running boards, outside Walschaerts valve gear and extensive
use of welding in construction – they were something of a revolution. The early adoption
of diesels on the Western Region led to premature withdrawals and while BR was not
able to make use of the design, the short wheelbase meant that these powerful engines
attracted a suitor in the NCB who trialled No 1509 (which had been withdrawn in August
1959) at Coventry Colliery in Warwickshire. Two further
