Miscellaneous Wagons

These include:

Gas Oil wagon. This came to Springwell from Hawthorn Colliery, Co Durham. It is an example of a range of special purpose vehicles used on NCB railway systems

© P.Dawe
Oil wagon in the colliery courtyard at Springwell, 2001

Reel wagon used to carry reels of haulage rope. This wagon has been used on several occasions since Bowes Railway passed into preservation to replace or refurbish the winding ropes on the Blackhams Hill haulage engine. The reel on the wagon is the one which carried the 1800m replacement rope for the East incline. The rope was supplied by Bridon.

© P Norman
Reel wagon in the colliery yard at Springwell, 2003

Chaldron wagons. These wagons were often referred to as 'black wagons' Their design dates back to the early days of coal transport on wagonways. The last chaldrons were used in the Northern Coalfield around 1930. The picture below shows a rake of three chaldron wagons, together with a replica Pontop & Jarrow flat wagon used for the transport of stone.

A Londonderry chaldron wagon was on display at the gates of Seaham Docks for many years. When the docks were refurbished, the proprietors offered the wagon for preservation at Springwell. One of our volunteers made accurate drawings of the wagon and built two replicas in our Engineering Shops, as well as the flat wagon. Original chaldron wheels and metal parts were used for the replicas.

© P Norman 2003
Rake of chaldron wagons in the colliery yard at Springwell

The next two pictures show the chaldron wagons being taken out of Springwell Yard and onto the East Incline on a demonstration run

© P Norman 2003
Rake of chaldron wagons departing for East incline

Ballast wagon.

© P Norman 2003
Ballast wagon stabled in the 'dish' in Springwell Yard

This page last updated 30 March 2008