tarboat's photos

It pays to get up early to catch the light and this was certainly true out on the Jitong Railway on this morning. QJ 7081 heads a short freight westwards away from Chaganhada towards Daban. This was the second location at which we had photographed this train and it was still only 7am.

The use of running kilns of this type has long ended in the UK with only abandoned structures remaining. In China they are still very much in use in rural areas such as here in the Mongolian Autonomous Region. The process is fairly unspectacular and the stone is gently cooked over many hours. The pot is seen filled to the top with layers of coal and limestone and the barrow used for moving the raw materials standing by for the next charge.

It is only in the past couple of years that the control room at the Ardnacrusha hydroelectric power station has been taken out of use. Generation is now controlled remotely, but the Siemens built 1929 vintage equipment remains in situ.

A scene from the days when coal was brought all the way to the washery from the bottom of the Jalainur opencast mine. The coal geology is very obvious in the background although it is only the thickest seams that are extracted..

The Gallantry Bank copper mine produced very little ore. The final developments in the nineteenth century included an engine shaft and associated machinery. The significant remains comprise the top sections of the stone lined shaft and the adjacent sandstone chimney which includes a datestone of 1856. It is not thought that the mine worked after 1857.

The Earl Mill was originally built in 1860 for the Earl Mill Co Ltd. It was rebuilt in 1891 and extended two years later, and again in 1920. Production ended in 1930 and after a number of other uses it is now mainly offices. The rebuilding of 1891 was to the design of P.S. Stott. The engines was a 1,250hp horizontal twin tandem compound by Buckley & Taylor.

A throwback to the days of the DDR when double-headed coal trains of standard gauge coal trucks on transporter wagons ran from Nordhausen onto the Selketalbahn with coal for the power plant at Silberhütte. The train blasts across the viaduct at Ilfeld on a bright morning just as the sun reaches the tracks.

Mosaic in the entrance to the former Co-operative butchers at Bridge Street in Buxton. The shop is now G&T Autospares.

Hauler and tippler at the mouth of the adit to a small mine at Silverdale. This was the Coppice Mine operated by Coppice Colliery Ltd. All long gone now.

More Black 5 action from the Caldon Low gala.

The Grade II listed pumping station of the Staffordshire Potteries Water Company at Hatton on the recent open day.The gable ends once fronted the boiler house for the three different sets of pumping engines that were installed here between 1892 and 1907. The buildings have now been converted to apartments.

Storage silos and loading point at the now closed Barrington Cement Works.

Silica sand quarrying is a significant industry in Cheshire. The Bathgate quarry processing plant at Arclid is situated in the original workings whilst the sand is pumped by pipeline from a new quarry some distance away.

This brickworks was situated at Auchinlee Farm in Bellside just north of Coltness in Lanarkshire. It appears to have been well established by the late 1890s and to have disappeared by 1920.

Nineteenth century kiln at the long disused Hetton Quarry.

Edward Parry, manager at the Ewloe Hall Colliery, established his brickworks in 1860 at Ewloe Wood, although production may not have commenced until 1863. The works was particularly noted fordark blue pavers and specialised products including their " Acidio " brick for chemical works. In 1902 the company became E Parry & Sons Ltd. The business struggled to remain viable for many years and was finally acquired by Castle Firebrick Co in 1944. The works finally closed in the 1960s. This particular brick is an example of their " Dragon brand " firebricks. Parrys specialised in producing lining bricks for cement kilns. This one was found at a limekiln at Flagstaff Quarry on Anglesey.

The light is fading as Eddystone hurries a train up the bank towards Apesford Crossing on the Caldon Low branch.

Dusk falls on Cheddleton Station during the Caldon Low gala. The double signal is a fairly new innovation and is a start towards bringing the loop into use here.