The LNER Encyclopedia

Does anyone have any pictures of 25T Hoppers similar to This image I found.

I have a kit of 3 of them ( random buy ) which came without instructions so although that image helps with a couple of questions I still have a lot of bits which don't make sense. Also I don't think the brake is the same on my kit as, as far as I can tell, what I assume to be the brake levers have a large bend ( well two 45 degree angles) in them.

As I say I got these on a whim so some guidance on what they would carry where would be appreciated.. the kit says 'ironstone' but suspect they'd be used for other things too?

Thanks again

Kat

Katier wrote:Does anyone have any pictures of 25T Hoppers similar to This image I found.

I have a kit of 3 of them ( random buy ) which came without instructions so although that image helps with a couple of questions I still have a lot of bits which don't make sense. Also I don't think the brake is the same on my kit as, as far as I can tell, what I assume to be the brake levers have a large bend ( well two 45 degree angles) in them.

Which kit(s) have you got? there were several diagrams of these wagons with differences in the brakes etc.

You can see thew brake rigging in the right hand corner of your photo. The brake hand lever connects to a vertical round rod, then to a bell crank, and then to another round rod which pulls on a crank on the brake cross shaft, which is mounted in the centre of the wagon.

3mm etched brass kit from F501 NER 25T Hopper Wagon the arrangement of ladders and end support makes sense with the parts I have compared to the photo but rest of the kit is a confusion right now.

Hi Kat

looked at both the North Eastern Record Volume 2; and also Peter Tatlow's LNER Wagons Volume 2, LNER North Eastern Area, and the latter has more images, should you wish to get a copy. The only thing is that the kits may have an incorrect capacity, as the NER produced four variants of ironstone hopper wagons: Diagram Nos S1 8tons (1856); S2 10tons (1875); S3 30 tons (1905); and S4 20 tons (1909). The 20 ton wagon had a single central panel, and the 30 ton wagon had two, so you should be able to identify fairly quickly. The 20 ton wagon was produced with a shorter wheelbase to cope with the tight curves that existed in limited marshalling areas at the ironstone mines, and in the iron & steel works

In regards to the brake, it had two bolts at the furthest end from the ratchet, which when operated, may have caused it to look as though it had a 45 degree angle, but other images in Tatlow have the break in line along its complete length, so this may account for the difference.

Finally, the ironstone wagons could have been used anywhere that you would source minerals for the iron & steel works in Cumbria and the North East, coal/coke, limestone, and iron ore. You had the Stainmore Route witnessing Cumbrian haematite iron ore coming to the East, and South & West Durham coke going in the opposite direction. In addition, Bell Brothers steel hoppers from Port Clarence, could be seen as far south as the ironstone quarries at Glendon & Rushton in Northamptonshire. The biggest concentration of wagons would certainly have been seen in the North East, and particularly around the Cleveland Ironstone District, plus iron & steel works that occuppied both banks of the Tees. The Cleveland Ironstone District reached its zenith in 1910, and the last mine closed at North Skelton in Feb 1964.

For your info, both Bachmann & Dapol have produced 24 ton ironstone hoppers for South Durham Steel, Dorman Long, and Bell Brothers, so your kits are not the only ones to show an incorrect capacity.

Regards

Greedy Boards

P.S. Will be passing by Ingleby Incline this Saturday, as I take my son along the first half of the White Rose Walk, so I'll give our regards to the ironstone miners & railwaymen that operated on the Rosedale Branch until the 1920s.

Kat,

Try this site. there are photos and a drawing that will help you: http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/lnermineral

Eddie

Excellent that site has them.. right at the end - lol.

Seems they are Diag 124 hoppers, interestingly according to that website they are 25T.. which begs the question are they LNER or NER hoppers?

http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/lnermi ... d#hb18c6fd

Hi Kat

your 25 ton hoppers are LNER wagons and not NER.

Looked at a copy of Peter Tatlow's LNER Wagons - An Illustrated Overview, and he refers to LNER 25 ton hoppers being built by Messrs Craven Railway Carriage and Wagon Co in 1937; and another batch in 1946, with some possibly coming out in BR livery. Plate 133 in the book provides a very good angle on the hopper, with hand brake in full view. The end view is very much like the one that you attached in your original message, and has the same shallow lip at the top of the hopper, unlike the deeper lipped NER ironstone hoppers from the Edwardian period.

Regards

Greedy Boards

Thanks Greedy boards.. To deepen the mystery you imply that NER DID to ironstone hoppers very similar to those?

Hi Kat

similar, but the side profile would show the 25 ton LNER hopper to have a sharper angle to it, as demonstrated in your original image. The NER 20 ton hoppers had a deeper truncated profile at the top. i.e. vertical edges, similar to those highlighted for the adapted 25 ton hoppers on the mineral wagon image gallery, but which have had extra depth provided, to increase the volume/bulk held of less dense minerals, such as coal or limestone.

Regards

Greedy Boards