Seed Potato Trains.

[52A]

Many years ago I remember seed potato trains heading south through Berwick. These usually ran at a similar time every year and were quite often worked by Clans. Can anyone provide any info on these workings please?

[52D]

They started running again last year or the year before from Scotland to East Anglia to one of the smaller stations between Thetford and Norwich. I hope some good info comes up 52A, i wonder if the crews changed at Tweedmouth or Heaton. I seem to remember Cupar being a starting point or am i confusing the sugar beet trains with the seed potato trains.

[52A]

Cupar was the loading point for sugar beet, they were always crying out for empty highfits!

[60527]

Seed potato trains were common from Angus and Aberdeenshire. A number of the little used sidings in Angus were used to hold empty wagons in anticipation of the traffic. Significant flows from the Forfar area for example.

Would Cupar not have been the unloading point for sugar beet?

[The Pirate]

Seed potato's were loaded at numerous stations that serviced agricultural areas. At the "Leslie" branch where I grew up, in the 50s/60s, the bags were laid on a bed of straw and a layer of straw on top. The vents on the ends of the vans were also stuffed with straw. This was always fresh straw supplied by the farmer. There was two or three vans went out a day, over a period of several weeks.
The "beet" factory in Cupar was the destination of the sugarbeet. I remember seeing trains of 30/40 steel mineral wagons full of beet with a Thornton based WD on the front going up through Markinch, the engine was often tender first, possibly for ease of shunting at the beet factory.
I have only recently found this website, it has given me lots of enjoyment, and can only see more in the future. Thank you.

[52D]

Nice to see another NBR loco on this forum, Beet Came from the Border lines to Cupar and may also have been loaded at Peases Lay nr Cockburnspath on the ECML one of the main line boys will know for sure.

[52A]

Thank you for the info everyone, I am now at loss to understand why we were regularly instructed to send empty highfits from Tweedmouth to Cupar!

[JJC]

[quote="52A"]Thank you for the info everyone, I am now at loss to understand why we were regularly instructed to send empty highfits from Tweedmouth to Cupar![/quote]

Possibly to remove the waste product after the juice has been extracted? It seems that sugar beet pulp is used for cattle feed.
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_beet[/url]
Jeremy

[52D]

Yes the pulp was and is still used for cattle feed. Is it processed elsewhere or usually done at the Beet plants. Wissington in Norfolk had an extensive light rail system to transport the beet from field to processing station, most other plants had rail facilities, sadly now it all goes by road. Ive had sugar beet bouncing off my bonnet more than once while following Beet wagons.

[AndyRush]

In East Anglia in the 1960's, beet pulp was normally dried and conveyed bagged in vanfits, but there were occasions when the output overstretched the bagging process (or the machinery broke down?) and the dried pulp was moved loose in sheeted highfits.

Returning to seed potatoes, we were usually issued with a circular that showed something like 10 trains a week to run from Scotland (Millerhill) to Whitemoor in the season. However, the trains that turned up were rarely in accordance with the circular, neither on the correct day or at the correct time (and certainly not with a load for the advertised destinations!). But they sometimes produced some rare Scottish EE Type 4's.

[52A]

JJC and 52D have probably hit on the need for highfits, I remember the daily wagon movement orders coming in and that was a regular.

[52D]

Just remembered a possibille destination of the Hy fits from Cupar would be to a place you should have driven past a few times 52A BOCM British Oil and Cake Mills, Selby.

[52A]

Yes, and sat in the loop there a few times as well!

[50C]

And no doubt watched the Selby allocated YI or Y3 going about it's business in the BOCM sidings.

50c

[caliwag]

Fascinating stuff.
Some interesting snippets from the attached...especially from correspondent 65288.

Perth to Forfar closed to passenger 4th September '67 (as part of the Strathmore main line to Aberdeen), but remained open to goods until 5 June 1982.
I recall it being retained for potatoes: indeed the authorities used to use the 'lay-over' class 50s on the 'branch' trains...vans and mineral wagons. (I saw them all as they were released from the works, on the Euston to Perth trains...my office overlooked the approaches to Perth).

It came as a surprise to read that closure was so late as when I was in the Angus Railway Group, we ran at least two 'last trains' way before then. One, indeed was a break van tour.

Anyway a real digression...sorry

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