The LNER Encyclopedia

Does anyone know where SR Merchant Navy 35029 Ellerman lines was sectioned / cut in half?

I have always believed it to have been on the High Dyke branch.

See http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidwf2009/5530180502/

Thanks Is it somewhere between Peterborough and Sheffield?

I remember as a very small child going to the NVR to see 92 squadron, and leaving due to the ticket prices. On the way home we stopped at this little railway with a shed that had a small, chain driven diesel shunter (possibly the one in the photo) and a fair little stretch of track. There weren't many people around and me, my mum and dad got a cab ride in the shunter, and during the ride the driver mentioned that Ellerman lines had been cut up there. The only place that previously 'matched' the shed, running line and surface area for me was Barrow Hill.

I also seem to recall that the discarded boiler casing was still there

Yes, it was just SE of Grantham, and was on an old mineral branch which had a junction with the ECML just before Stoke Tunnel.

If you peruse the rest of that Flickr set there are photos of the sectioning being carried out.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidwf200 ... 274246892/

Ellerman Lines was sectioned at Sewstern, on the ex British Steel iron ore quarry lines at the end of The High Dyke branch, which ran from High Dyke Junction at the north end of Stoke Tunnel on the ECML, south of Grantham.

Sewstern had been the site of one of the British Steel workshops and had the benefit of a 40tom overhead gantry crane as well as a fully equipped machine shop including a wheel lathe. Locally the workshop was known as the giraffe house as it was so tall.

My late father was the manager during the time Ellerman Lines was sectioned as by then the workshop had been taken over by the Buckminster Trust Estate as part of a (sadly abortive) preservation attempt and also to be a part of an industrial site to provide local employment.

The final finishing touches were put to Ellerman Lines at Market Overton, further along the British Steel network, at that time Pendennis Castle and Flying Scotsman were based there.

There are four sets of photos (200 plus in total) of the High Dyke and British Steel lines, including photos of Ellerman Lines being sectioned in one of my flickr collections at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidwf200 ... 274215250/

The current issue of Heritage Railway magazine contains an article on the line at this time, which I wrote.

Hope this is some help,
David

If you click on the extra info about the photo, you will see it says the location is Sewstern. Which is coincidentally the the same location as where the sawmill where we have our teak loss sawn up.

Sawdust.

Thanks for all the info That's definitely the shunter (D2381) I had a ride in.

Is the site open to the public nowadays? (I was only about three when I visited so can remember very little)

Blackout60800 wrote:Thanks for all the info That's definitely the shunter (D2381) I had a ride in.

Is the site open to the public nowadays? (I was only about three when I visited so can remember very little)

Sadly the whole operation finally ended on 6th January 1975, the preservation project being abandoned because of the dire economic situation at the time and also legislative changes to the tax system which made it hopelessly uneconomic. Remember, as you may have heard, this was just after the time of the 3 day week, power cuts and very high inflation.
I believe that some of the buildings at Sewstern still exist, in other use, and the route of much of the railway can still be seen.

I now live in Northumberland and haven't been back there for well over 30 years now.

I understand D2381 is now based at Carnforth, but I think it is out of use.

David

How very odd, when I went was about 1999....... could it have been Barrow Hill after all?

Blackout60800 wrote:How very odd, when I went was about 1999....... could it have been Barrow Hill after all?

Sorry, but it must have been much earlier, Ellerman Lines, after sectioning, went to the NRM at York in late 1975, shortly after the museum opened, and it was at Sewstern, as I went there several times a week to see what was happening as I was able to do so as Dad was the Boss! At the time I lived in Buckminster, the next village to Sewstern.

Or perhaps you saw another Merchant Navy being worked on during restoration somewhere and have the identity confused - easily done as I know from some of my photo captioning errors when I have got places mixed up!

David

The MN definitely wasn't there. My visit can't have been any earlier, I was born in 1996

The things I definitely remember are: The place was in a valley and there was a large loco shed, probably four or five roads wide. There was an 03 diesel shunter and a dead straight running line about 1/4 of a mile long. I recall no inspection pits in the loco shed and there were two other notable large diesels. Outside the shed was a five or so metre high retaining wall running to the right of the line for a hundred or so feet with various scrap wagon frames etc piled near with fields on the left all the way. The entrance to the shed was from a straight lane with the shed clear in sight and a small car park area immediately in front of the shed. The place had 'brown' signs leading you to it and was somewhere North of Peterborough.

Blackout60800 wrote:The MN definitely wasn't there. My visit can't have been any earlier, I was born in 1996

The things I definitely remember are: The place was in a valley and there was a large loco shed, probably four or five roads wide. There was an 03 diesel shunter and a dead straight running line about 1/4 of a mile long. I recall no inspection pits in the loco shed and there were two other notable large diesels. Outside the shed was a five or so metre high retaining wall running to the right of the line for a hundred or so feet with various scrap wagon frames etc piled near with fields on the left all the way. The entrance to the shed was from a straight lane with the shed clear in sight and a small car park area immediately in front of the shed. The place had 'brown' signs leading you to it and was somewhere North of Peterborough.

No. its not Sewstern, that had a 2 road shed and one road in the engineering shop and the track was long gone by then.

The only places I can think of are Barrow Hill and Butterley, but your descritpion doesn't quite fit either.

There is also the Rutland Railway Museum at Cottesmore (now I think called Rocks by Rail), but all their locos are industrials but its not too far from the Peterborough area.

It might be worth looking on Google Earth and the various preservation groups web sites to see if anything rings a bell, it's what I do when I find I have an uncaptioned photo I can't place.

David

Rutland railway museum is the only the place that fits the dimensions and location, so it must be it