Locomotives - Spalding to Sutton Bridge Line - Can you help?

[Twrig_8]

Hi,

Please forgive me if I have posted this in the wrong place, however it is my first time using the forum.

For our next club project we are looking into doing the former M&GN station, Moulton which is on the Spalding to Sutton Bridge Line.

I am looking into what Locomotives and Coaches would of ran on this line in the 40's and 50's and I wonder if you any of you could help with this, for both the LNER period and the BR Eastern Period.

Thank You,

Tom.

[strang steel]

Sutton Bridge to Spalding was RA6 which allowed all but the heaviest locos (and therefore banned locos such as the ER pacifics, V2s, B16s and 9Fs plus most of the BR Standard tender classes except the smallest 2-6-0s) , but I think the bridge itself was only RA4 which would restrict locos coming from the east.

In BR days, the services were almost monopolised by the Ivatt 4MT "flying pigs", plus the occasional 0-6-0, and later in the 1950s the 204hp diesel shunters tended to be used on pickup goods. Although during the Autumn and early Winter when the sugar beet season was in full swing, steam locos returned as 204hp was not sufficient for the heavy trains.

All manner of cascaded stock could be found on that line, and photos are your best bet for accuracy e.g. here http://www.flickr.com/photos/17889585@N ... 503297665/ for example.

Photos west of Sutton Bridge are not common, but there have been a few books published on the M&GN and they sometimes come up on Ebay. The M&GN Circle are a well established group who have a large photo archive, and have published some softback colour photo albums. They have a website here http://www.mgncircle.org.uk/ with lots of info.

[jwealleans]

No. 12 in this series might be of use as well.

[strang steel]

I think that the B12s were RA4, so Sutton Bridge was not a problem for them, although I'm not sure about the B12/3s.

[strang steel]

I have been doing a bit of research and found this list of locos (other than those of RA4 and below) that were allowed between South Lynn and Sutton Bridge -
D15,D16, J6, J11, J19, J20, K2, N7, LMS 4F 0-6-0.

J39's were permitted in an emergency.

It is doubtful that control would allow anything bound to/from Norfolk which was not one of those classes, to get beyond South Lynn or Spalding, so in practice Moulton would be restricted to anything RA1 - RA4 plus those locos listed above.

There are rumours that bigger locos made it through between Spalding and Lynn on goods trains during wartime, but I suppose that scenario could be classed as an emergency.

[Twrig_8]

Thanks for your replies.

Going to keep my eye out for some of those books.

The B12 certainly seems interesting, something with potential, especially with the Union Mills model for N Gauge. Along with a couple of other loco's which are also available. It appears I have a lot to look through and research.

The wartime locomotive situation "rumour" is certainly something I had heard about through a previous club member, so your not the only one that has heard that.

Tom.