The LNER Encyclopedia

In the fifties I was taken to visit my grandmother 2 or 3 times a year... a journey that involved travel over the ECML between York & Darlington. This involved passing the troughs at Wiske Moor. My hazy (very hazy!!!) recollections are that there was a line of sludge carriers parked in a loop/siding, presumably to remove the by products of water softening chemicals. Some of these looked to be purpose built but others were redundant tenders. Now to the main point of this post. Am I correct in my recollection that one of these tenders was still in LNER garter blue livery, and if so where had it come from? (The A4 destroyed in the Baedecker raid on York?) As I say, these are only hazy recollections and I may be completely mistaken.

Afer the withdrawal of A4 4469 (6/42) following the damage sustained in the bombing at York its tender was reportedly kept as a spare until 1945, when it was refurbished and attached to the Thompson A2/1 Pacific 3696, later 60507 Highland Chieftain. The latters original tender was then attached to B1 1010 (61010). In addition 4469 was in black livery at the time of its demise at York, this having been applied 4/42.

An old tender stood in Gateshead depot during its diesel days, I never knew what it was used for until a fitter told me it was a sludge tender.
Not a very good pic but the red / white tender can be seen on the right.

When I commuted from Cuffley to Kings Cross in the early 1970s there was a tender at Finsbury park shed - in fact I think there were two. It was of GNR origin and I sometimes wonder what happened to it - anyone know?

Mike

redtoon1892 wrote:An old tender stood in Gateshead depot during its diesel days, I never knew what it was used for until a fitter told me it was a sludge tender.
Not a very good pic but the red / white tender can be seen on the right.

That tender was used as a load bank to enable the testing of diesel engines at full power, it had been modified by the removal of the coal space and a number steel plates were inserted. The tender was filled with water and when the output of the main generator was connected to the plates engines were run at full power, boiling the water in the tender in the process.

well I never !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wonder what happened to that tender ?

Not sure what happened to the tender but I have a shot of it being used as the load bank by 47418 on my fotopic site www.keith-brown.fotopic.net

Little did I realise that a seemingly simple query should produce so many varied responses. I have enjoyed reading them all but they still leave unanswered my question.... did I see a blue LNER tender at Wiske Moor troughs. As the York A4 victim appears to have been ruled out then the proability is that I was mistaken and/or suffering from infantile colour blindness. Maybe it was a green tender viewed through a yellow soot/smoke logged BR window!

redtoon1892 wrote:I wonder what happened to that tender ?

It was scrapped in the lat nineties when Gateshead shed closed although part of it still survives. The wheels were bought by NELPG for use under K1 2005 in the eighties. The tender was from a V2 i believe. I was also told by my father that a corridor tender had a snow plough mounted on it as well.