tarboat's photos

Access to the fan drift at a small colliery.

The Didao system at Jixi is still 100% steam operated although the action can be sporadic. In this case the train is shunting across the washery tracks before pushing back for the coal to be deposited onto a large stockpile just off to the right side in the background.

in January 2006 after finding no steam in action at Yima Colliery we moved a few kilometres to Xinan Colliery where QJ 7204 was just in steam near the loading bunkers. It was on standby only as the line service had already been taken over by diesels. As far as I know this was the last time it was recorded in steam and it was seen dumped a few months later.

A visit to a drift mine today provided a few interesting photographic opportunties.

Commercial limeburning at the end of the eighteenth century was often undertaken in areas with several earth faced intermittent kilns. This example at Hoften's Cross near Caldon Low is typical of the remains to be found, with the waste tips in the foreground and the kiln showing the front face broken down to extract the burned lime.

Stoneswood mill at Gauxholme, Todmorden, was once used for cotton spinning. By the beginning of the twentieth century it was home to John Walton's picker manufacturing business. (Pickers are part of the weaving loom and throw the shuttle across from side to side). After a period manufacturing motorised bicycles in the 1950s, the mill is now use for manufacture of printed circuit boards, although the painted details of Walton's business remain visible on the end wall.

Fiddler's Ferry Power Station burns up to 16,000 tonnes of coal a day and is also capable of co-firing biomass. Opened in 1971, the station has a generating capacity of 1,989 megawatts and is currently operated by Scottish and Southern Energy.

It was a misty and murky morning south of Gernrode when the Mallet arrived with a passenger service in a cloud of steam from the cylinder cocks.

The double single cylinder beam geared haulage engine at Middleton Top was built in 1829 by the Butterley Company to wind wagons on the 708 yard Middleton Incline on a gradient of 1 in 8.25. The winding cable ran around the large central wheel being driven by a gear wheel below. The incline was closed in summer 1963 and the engine is now in the care of Derbyshire County Council. On some open days it is run using compressed air.

The maroon 8F is ready to leave Cheddleton with the first train of the day. I still don't like the colour.

It is always worth looking out for industrial remains, even in the most rural of areas. Here is an example of what is probably eighteenth century coal mining in a field between the Middlewood Way and the Macclesfield Canal at Higher Doles Farm in Adlington. There were two shafts here and it appears that the spoil from the development works was mainly raised from that on the right, and now with trees and bushes growing from it. The second shaft is marked by the low mound to the left. Examination of the site suggests that there is evidence of a horse gin circle on the ground between the shafts. A look at the geological map for the area suggests that these workings may have been seeking the much sought after 'Big Smut' seam although the first seam marked as outcropping to the east is the 'Bullion' mine and this was only a few inches in thickness.

A cluster of eight cooling towers can be found at Ferrybridge 'C' power station. This is operated by Scottish and Southern Energy plc and has produced 2000 megawattssince 1966.

SY 0951 crosses the river bridge on the approaches to Lishu after loading the wagons at the nearby Taiping Mine on the surviving stub of the branch that once ran to Qikeng Mine.

Bristol RE TFM267K passes a departing Arriva service on the approach to Nantwich Bus Station during the recent Crewe and South Cheshire Running Day.

In 2006 the Selke Valley Railway was extended to Quedlinburg by regauging the abandoned standard gauge DB line between Gernrode and Quedlinburg. This allowed exchange of traffic once again with the national system and the opportunity to photograph this Mallet leaving Quedlinburg with a morning train.

Economy transport at Froghall as the Fuller brothers pass on their railbike during the annual velocipede rally.

Current main motiver power on the Churnet Valley Railway is seen leaving the intermediate station at Consall. I cannot bring myself to like this incarnation of the Stanier 8F in maroon. I have tried to see some attraction in the livery but it leaves me cold. I much prefer dirty black, just as I remember them back in the 1960s. At least there was steam to spare.

Looking down through the clouds onto a morning passenger train for Asmara as it departs from the station at the village of Nefasit. Photo by Tarboat junior.