tarboat's photos

A wider version of a previous image of shunting the coal wagons at Baiyin. You could probably still take this shot given a bit of patience waiting for steam to show up.

Raw materials unloading and storage infrastructure at the Nyrstar Port Pirie smelter.

With the development of Trafford Park as an industrial estate there was a need for housing and a hotel. The hotel was completed in 1902 and lasted until 2008 by which time it was somewhat isolated and clearly far too big for what custom remained. It now stands empty and water damaged and has been occupied by squatters at some point.

A westbound freight heads towards san di crossing on the first 180 degree curve as it climbs from Reshui on the Jinpeng section of the Jitong Railway.

Ben Bennett Jr Ltd is one of the smaller limestone quarry operators in the Peak District. The modern plant fronts the road with old fashioned redundant limekilns forming a retaining wall to the premises.

A memory of the steam gala that commemorated the reopening of the line from Leekbrook to Caldon Low. 8F 8624 is banking a train away from Threshing Barn crossing towards Caldon Low.

The draw tunnel of the limekiln at Astonhill is built with large gritstone blocks. At the draw hole end the stonework is blackened with soot from the firing.

I haven't seen a garage with faience before, and this example on Doncaster Road, Askern, is a gem. It is good that the modern signing on the frontage replicates the colours, if not quite the font, of the original. The buildings appear to have been erected in the 1920s. From the Doncaster Free Press: Claybourn’s was established by Jack Ernest Claybourn, who was born in Askern in 1893 and was a sergeant mechanic with the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War. He returned to Askern after the war and opened a bicycle and motorcycle repair shop. After he was married in 1922 his father-in-law, Sydney Webster, helped him establish a motor garage on Doncaster Road, Askern. The business thrived and in 1931, moved to premises at the corner of Hall Gate and Waterdale.

Whilst driving to Cromford on a route I have used many times, I was surprised to spot a limekiln alongside the road that I had never noticed before. On the way back I stopped for a look. It is an eighteenth century intermittent kiln in quite good condition considering its age. The pot is lined with sandstone as is the draw tunnel. To the left is the small quarry that supplied the stone.

Heading home past the Cat and Fiddle as the light was almost gone I was presented with this view of Shutlingsloe sitting in a sea of fog. The distant "island" is Mow Cop.

The new smelter at Namtu was constructed after the Second World War during which the old smelter was destroyed. It processed lead, silver, zinc and copper from the Bawdwin mines but has been out of use for some time. It was suggested that it would reopen in 2012 but I have not heard anything of this since my visit.

The Goldsitch Moss coalfield in Quarnford is drained by a sough which empties into a small stream that runs into the Flash Brook above Manor Farm. Even today the waters are coloured bright orange by the ochre contained in the outflow. At one time the ochre was seen as a source of profit and was colllected in this series of settling tanks alongside the Flash Brook. The dried material would be sold for use in paints, dyeing etc.

Crewe & South Cheshire Running Day 2010 with Bristol LDG6 of 1957 833AFM and Lodekka FSG6 0f 1964 4227FM at Crewe Bus Station

The station at Jinpeng was often very busy with trains taking water and cleaning fires. This afternoon view shows an eastbound freight arriving with a westbound service ready to depart as soon as the section is clear. This line was not really designed to serve many intermediate places and it is clear how far from the town the station is located.

One of the objectives of the recent road trip to Wales was this corrugated iron dereliction in Blaenau Ffestiniog. Needless to say it was raining a lot.

Winter has overwhelmed a Macclesfield bound train just north of High Lane during the winter of 1947. The cab of the locomotive seems to be well filled with snow.

With a background of some of the collection belonging to the Vintage Excavator Trust, a short train heads towards the Threlkeld Quarry workings with Lister Blackstone (LB 51651) at the head.

The Tan-y-Graig quarries first opened in 1864 for granite sett production and after a number of unsuccessful incarnations were amalgamated with the nearby Tyddyn Hywel Quarry into the ownership of Enderby & Stoney Stanton Granite Co Ltd in 1916 and were by now producing macadam chippings rather than setts. These were exported from a pier at Bryn-yr-Eryr at the end of a 2ft gauge railway. In 1918 this was replaced by the Enderby (Welsh) Granite Co Ltd and after this firm was wound up in 1928 Thomas W Ward Ltd of Sheffield took over in 1930 and operated the quarries until c1947. It is a long climb up to the quarries at around 750ft above sea level but it is well worthwhile for the extensive remains still to be seen up there. This view is in Tan-y-Graig No.2 Quarry where a new incline was constructed c1905 to link into another new incline down to meet the Tyddyn Hywel railway inclines. The drum house of the top 1905 incline survives in fairly good order minus roof. The water tank stands in front of a roofless sett dressing shed. It is clear that very few people make the climb up here and it is likely that these relics will survive for many years yet.