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Joseph Metcalf Ltd
Twelve Yards Road
Irlam
 
Gauge : 2ft
Status : ceased 1998
(click on photos to enlarge)

 
Joseph Metcalf Ltd  

A small scale peat operation working on Chat Moss just north of the M62 motorway. In later years it also expanded to a second adjacent site and the railway was extended to join both sites.

 

Date: August 1991

Date: August 1993

Date: April 1995

Looking back to 1991, one of the small cage wagons is positioned on the simple tippler. Each wagon was hand pushed up a small gradient onto the tippler, where it was then tipped at an angle of 45 degrees. The tippler was operated from a small shed seen just behind the wagon. Once emptied and unlocked from the tippler, the wagon was left to roll down into the empties loop.

Alan Keef No.5, built in 1979 was usually in use here, although there was also a small lister loco which spent much of its time in the equipment shed. This view is from 1993, when the peat firm then known as Croxton Compost, also purchased the rights of peat extraction at the adjacent Hollands site. Utilising existing track from the Hollands workings, the rails were laid out into the peat fields once again to harvest the block cut peat. At this stage the railway here was not connected with the trackwork at the original Croxton site. The wagons were emptied with the use of a dumper truck with a fork lift attachment.

AK No.5 still looking worse for wear in 1995 is seen attempting to haul a load of peat back to the works. The last 4 or 5 wagons have in fact become derailed, a not uncommon occurrence. It took about 20 minutes with the assistance of about 5 workers to rerail the train and send it on its way.

 

Date: March 1997

Date: March 1997

Date: March 1997

By 1997 AK No.5 had had a facelift and was photographed working back at the original site. By this time the railway had been extended to connect both the sites, and the Lister loco was often in use at the same time. Because of the increase in rail activity, a third loco was purchased.

The new loco was purchased second hand via Alan Keef to cope with increased levels of production. 'Becky' the Motor Rail (No.7215) is seen at the Hollands site waiting for the wagons to be unloaded. The steel channel section welded under each wagon frame is clearly visible, which allowed a tractor with a fork attachment to lift each wagon for tipping. For those people modelling in 7mm scale (14mm gauge), these type of cage wagons are avaiable as a kit from Roy C Link.

A rough road connected the two sites, and a connecting rail link was laid alongside this. The photo looks towards the original site, with the Hollands site behind the camera.

Date: April 1999

Date: April 1999

In 1998 the decision had been taken to convert over to milled peat production. and to use tracked vehicles to transport the peat back to the works. In late 1998, after the last of the peat block had been cleared from the site using the railway, it was partially dismantled allowing the moors to be flattened, and drainage ditches to be filled in to prepare for surface milling. Viewed from the same position as the previous photo, in April 1999 the railway was abandoned but still intact in many places. There were about 30 peat wagons scattered about on and off the tracks. The rails had been taken up about 20 feet infront of the furthest wagon in the photograph.

At the same date as the previous photograph a look in the equipement/loco shed found all three locos lined up waiting for disposal. The small Lister (LB51651), can just be seen between the AK loco and the Motor Rail. At this point the locos had not been sold and it was unclear if the locos were being considered for reuse at the site once converted to a milling operation. Unfortunately this was not to be the case.

 
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© Steve Thomason 2018
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