LNER Shunting Tractors (the road-going rubber-tyred type)

[65447]

Does the Forum happen to have a resident expert on these beasties and, if so, would they please make themselves known to me...?

TIA

[jwealleans]

No claim to expertise here... a quick glance in Railway Owned Commercial Vehicles (Stevens-Stratten/Aldridge) reveals GWR (McCormick, 1920s) and LMS (International, 1931) examples but no LNER ones.

[65447]

Hi Jonathan,

Apparently four were supplied to Lowestoft 1933 to replace 13 horses, and either they or similar BR ones were still in use in the 1960s. Photo of a BR period one in Middleton Press' Branch Lines around Lowestoft - 114. Registered in Greater London.

[YNMR]

I know they were used at Beverley station to do shunting - I believe they were used until the late 60's, Also they were used in Hull.

[65447]

Where is interesting, but actual details of the tractors themselves is really what I'm after...

[Solario]

I am not sure if this helps but I will go ahead anyway.

There is an interesting picture in a booklet originally published by the Industrial Railway Society of a double-header road train at Patrington, E Yorks.

The lead vehicle is an LNER three wheel "mechanical horse" (Scammell?), the second motive power unit is a tractor which is more than likely a unit from Hull Docks; its registration number is DXY 736 ( the last digit could be an "8"), this may be a clue to follow up. Incidentally, the trailer has 0-4-0 Class Y8 on board and it is in the process of being delivered to Spurn. I think that I have seen a similar photo in one of Ken Hoole's and/or CT Goode's books but I cannot remember which.

The booklet is called "The Spurn Head Railway" and was republished with updates in 1981, I believe that there is a much more recent book on the subject.

[Bryan]

Its on p61 of "Sailing the Rails" by Howard Frost publish date 2001
ISBN 0-9540308-0-X
published by Spurn Heritage Coast.

Photo caption states 1940
Story in text gives a date of Feb / March 1940 with Y8 being shipped from Dairycoats
2 Tow vehicles lead one being Scammel 3 wheeler with a modified Fordson tractor.
6 wagons followed later.

[jwealleans]

A couple of thoughts... do we know who made these tractors? It might be more profitable pursuing the manufacturer as a line of research.

I seem to recall recently seeing a CD of the LNER staff magazine. May be worth looking in there for any mention of these things? The LNER publicity people were pretty good at making the most of any 'modernisation' or 'new technology'.

[65447]

A couple of thoughts... do we know who made these tractors? It might be more profitable pursuing the manufacturer as a line of research.

I seem to recall recently seeing a CD of the LNER staff magazine. May be worth looking in there for any mention of these things? The LNER publicity people were pretty good at making the most of any 'modernisation' or 'new technology'.

I have not thus far been able to find a manufacturer's name. I have the LNER Magazine on the double DVD produced by the GER Society. A full search for 'tractor' provides mainly text references and just a few photos including this type of tractor but, unsurprisingly, the most frequent type is the Scammell 3-wheel tractor used with semi-trailers for deliveries, then agricultural tractors (including Peru and Eastern Europe, no less), and much larger 30 Ton capacity tractors (you can see where British Road Services inherited some of their units from). It seems from a couple of photographs that there was also a special trailer to which the shunting tractor could be attached for moving loads around a yard, and even for local deliveries.

[Andy W]

As far as I am aware, there were 2 main types of "mechanical horse" used by the railways from the early thirties - the Karrier Cob (favoured by the LMS) and the Scammell Mechanical Horse, which was the favourite vehicle of the LNER. It was a boxey 3 wheeled prime mover, replaced by the round fronted Scarab after the war and the short lived Townsman in the mid 1960's.

Scammell Motors are very familiar to me, being a long time resident of Watford which is where they were all made in a factory quite close to where I live. Both their factories in Tolpits Lane were closed down by DAF in the late 1980's. In later years the No 1 factory made only their other speciality item - heavy trucks, often custom built. Pickfords & the Army were major customers.

The 3 wheeled vehicles did deliveries and shunting of trailers in yards but I don't know of any actual shunting tractors (that shunted rail vehicles) before the war. I am told that Fordson tractors were used in certain places after the war but I don't know where.

We had 2 rail shunting tractors on the KX patch from the mid 1970's but these were modern Ford jobs. One was used at Sandy and the other (very briefly - not powerful enough) at Hornsey EMU. Fleet numbers 66009/10 respectively. I saw one other very big beast at Mistley on the GE in the early 1980's - apparently it once had to go out and rescue a dead tamper!

The last Scammell Scarabs in the KX division went just after 1980 and were used as IMVs (Internal Movement Vehicles). The NCL had one at KX Goods Yard for shunting in the Granary and then there was one at Letchworth, later St Neots, for shunting the Fashionflow trailers. That example was at one time registered 150 HRO.

[Saint Johnstoun]

I can supply details of all the shunting tractors used by the railways - most were Fordsons converted by either Muir Hill or Chaseside.

Send me a PM.

I even have some pics.

[Bryan]

In the text in Sailing the Rail that I mentioned yesterday it states that the tractor working with the Scammell is a "Modified Fordson"

[jwealleans]

It may not be of any use/interest but there's a picture of one of these propelling two wagons along a street at Nine Elms in the current Backtrack.