Torpedo at the furnaces

Hunslet No.7285 of 1972 numbered 74 in the rail fleet at Scunthorpe Steelworks waits with a torpedo wagon with the Queen Victoria blast furnace in the background.

In the 1960s British Steel planned the multi-million pound refurbishment of the Scunthorpe steelworks site known as the Anchor Project, of which work began in the 1970s. Part of the project was a fleet of new locomotives to take molten iron in 'torpedo' wagons to the BOS (Basic Oxygen Steelmaking plant), These powerful locomotives were to be designed and built by the Hunslet engine company. Work began on the 10 locomotives in 1972 and completed by the end of 1973, numbered 70-79 (Works numbers 7281-7290) with one more joining them, number 80 (WN 7474) in 1977. Built with two Rolls DV8 engines, these locomotives became the iron haulers of Scunthorpe. In 1990 they were re-engined with two Perkins CV12s and fitted with remote control operation as part of the project to continuously improve the site.