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Industrial Narrow Gauge Railways
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The Springfield Agricultural Railway
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Locomotives
Battery loco Wingrove and Rogers No.3557 (type W227) built 1946
This loco had been working in the Force Crag Barytes Mine in the the Lake District. Force Crag was one of the last mines in operation in that area. The loco was obtained in October 2007 after being stored in the open for a year or more.
It was the first working loco on the railway and from March 2007 was in use regularly to move track materials and also fencing supplies as work progressed. Since the first phase of track laying finished in June 2008 it continues to be reliable and the first choice of loco for managing most of the work.
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Date: October 2007
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Date: August 2008
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Date: April 2008
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On delivery, a short spur was laid off from the loco shed to allow the hi-ab lorry to offload straight onto the track. At this time there was only a few yards of track to the front of the shed. Even after all the time in the open, there was still charge in the battery and the loco moved off under its own power.
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After a couple of trips one weekend in August the loco is parked in the siding next to the shed. A basic farm jack tends to be carried on top of the battery box in case of the occasional derailment.
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One of one the many trips from the stockpile of sleepers to the end of the line, which allowed further sessions of tracklaying.
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No.12, Moës 4wDM 22hp (Deutz F2L 812 2 cylinder engine) build date unknown
This was one of 8 Moës locos imported into this country by Roger Craven. All the locos had previously worked at the Rumst Brickworks in Belgium. This loco was purchased from roger in September 2006 after being regauged from 750mm to 2ft. Initially it was stored at a farm pending a move to the current location.
All the locos imported had been out of use for a number of years and the overall mechanical condition was unknown. It was only in June 2007 that it was finally moved undercover to the loco shed and work begun to fully service the loco.
After considerable cleaning up and obtaining new glow plugs, new fuel and oil filters, cleaning injecters and then fully rewired, loco finally turned over for the first time in many years in June 2008. Since this date it has continued to be an easy starter, and a very useful loco.
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Date: July 2006
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Date: June 2008
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Date: August 2008
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No.12 seen on a short temporary track at Roger Craven's yard. Shortly after this date it was taken inside to to have the wheels dropped and exchanged with one of the 600mm locos.
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After numerous attempts at getting the loco to turn over it finally fired up successfully in June 2008. The loco is seen here turning over for the first time outside the loco shed. After this, the loco was rewired and the engine cover replaced, and was in use a month later.
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By August the loco had aquired a replacement Moës works plate. The lights still need replacing and rewiring, but the loco will remain in near original condition, while the second Moës is fully restored.
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No.10, Moës 4wDM 22hp (Deutz F2L 712 2 cylinder engine) build date unknown
Obtained sometime after the first Moës,this loco spent sometime under a tarpaulin outside the garage. In September 2007 it was moved into the garage as a project to start once the first stage of the railway had been built and the first loco was back in use.
Initial work has started on the loco, with a lot of cleaning up required, old oil and fuel draining out, new fuel and oil filters, injecters cleaned up, glow plugs checked, etc. It is now at the stage of being turned over to check the status of the engine and gearbox. If all is in working order then the wheels will be dropped for regauging.
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Date: August 2007
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Date: September 2007
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Date: September 2007
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With the tarpaulin off, the loco is sitting on the gravel in the driveway where it had been since delivery.
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Once the loco had been turned round and jacked up, it had the engine cover removed ready to be pushed into the garage.
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Temporary tracks were built under the loco and it was moved the few feet into the garage, where it has been since.
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© Steve Thomason 2008
Upgraded site relaunched 1st January 2004
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