I.C.I. HOPPER WAGONS

For the past sixty years, hopper trains conveying crushed limestone have been running to and from the Peak District in Derbyshire to the Soda Ash Plant at Northwich in Cheshire. These trains use a distinctive type of bogie hopper that is instantly recognisable to both enthusiasts and the general public alike.

Once the Midland Railway's route through the Peak District from Derby to Manchester had been completed, a quarry was established at Tunstead alongside the main-line. Brunner Mond along with Buxton Lime Firms which later merged together, began to develop the present quarry site at Tunstead during the 1920s. Soon after, Brunner Mond merged with Nobel Industries, British Dyestuffs Corporation and United Alkali Company to form Imperial Chemical Industries, which became the largest chemical company in the world until it was de-merged in 1992). As demand for limestone products increased it was decided to develop and exploit new reserves at Tunstead which lay to the south of the old Buxton Lime Firms South Works.

The new facilities at Tunstead became fully operational on 26th October 1930 and by the mid-1930s I.C.I. had a wide market for its limestone products in addition to its block workings to Northwich. When I.C.I. was formed, the company inherited a mixed bag of wagons of mainly five-plank design from the old Brunner Mond and Buxton Lime Firms operations. Shortly after both the quarry and the kilns became fully operational it was decided to modernise the wagon fleet. For general purpose usage, five-plank wagons were purchased. For the Winnington traffic an order was placed with Charles Robert's of Wakefield on the 28th April 1936 to build 85 431/2 ton bogie hopper wagons which would be more efficient than the smaller wagons. These wagons were numbered in the range 3200 - 3284 and delivery was taken over three years in order to evaluate their performance. They were painted in a black colour scheme all over with raised I C I lettering and were vacuum braked. The first three hoppers; 3200 - 3202 were built in 1936 and were shortly followed by twenty-seven more in 1937. By the end of 1939 a full eighty-five hoppers had been built all to the same design. The wagons were fitted with diamond-frame open bogies and three-hole disc wheelsets with white tyres. No further hoppers were to be built until after the Second World War. The large hopper body is supported on the underframe by six ribs and an angled strut plate addition to a pair of T-section end supports at each end. A large vacuum brake cylinder is mounted on each end and the two cylinders are connected by a vacuum pipe running the length of the hopper through the side ribs. This pipe eventually terminates in a standard vacuum brake connector hose on the bufferbeam.

As the wagons were delivered the trains were gradually increased in size until they comprised of 11 vehicles which was the maximum load for Class 4 steam traction diagrammed for these workings. In November of 1938 successful trials were conducted with Stanier 8Fs which were then drafted onto the trains.

On the 2nd December 1938 class 8F 8026 took out the first full train of 17 loaded hoppers to Winnington. During the second world war there was a general shortage of engines and this led to LNER J39 class 0-6-0s being used occasionally on empty workings.

It is a matter of history that the first batch of 85 wagons were very successful and so a second batch was ordered on the 3rd August 1945 comprising of thirty-five wagons numbered 3285 - 3319. A final batch of thirty-two wagons, numbered 3320 - 3351 were ordered on the 18th June 1951, the order completed by 1953. Hence the total number of wagons built was 152.

The Post-War wagons differed in several respects; these wagons were fitted with plate frame bogies from new which allowed a higher loading of 441/2 tons. The thirty-five wagons numbered 3285 - 3319 have the same body style as the Pre-War hoppers and the last thirty-two hoppers; 3320 - 3351 have a different body style. The main differences in body styles are that the bracing strip which runs down alongside the side ribs (which support the hopper body) is arranged either as three strips to the Left and three to the Right (Nos. 3200 - 3319). Later wagons (Nos. 3320 - 3350) have a different arrangement of the ribs. The final wagon built 3351 reverts back to the original arrangement as per 3200 - 3319. The ribs are arranged in pairs with a larger spacing between each pair. The bracing however is always on the outer edge of each rib pair; and looking at the whole wagon is arranged L, R, L, R, L, R. The other end supports and vacuum brake arrangement was the same as previous wagons

Motive power continued to be 8Fs but with the occasional new diesel locomotives on test runs from Derby works. In 1957 on the 13 - 15th January, trials were conducted with a BR Standard class 9F 2-10-0 no. 92045 which took out 19 wagons on the final day without difficulty. WD Austerity 2-8-0s were also used but it was felt that the diagrams did not warrant such super-power, but they did make a few appearances in the last few years of steam. Apart from these trials the 8Fs remained the mainstay of motive power until diesels took over. The wagons were maintained at I.C.I. Avenue workshops located within the Northwich complex and were out-shopped in Pale (Battleship) Grey in later years, however most wagons are a weathered dark brown colour.

The advent of diesel traction meant that a wide variety of new locomotives could be found working the diagrams. Locomotives which were on test runs from Derby locomotive works in the 1960s were a regular sight and this included classes 24, 25, 28, 44, 45 and 46. However most of the I.C.I. traffic was handled by class 25s and later class 40s and 45s. This mode of traction continued into the early 1980s when class 47s were introduced. The wagons were re-numbered 19000 - 19151 when the BR TOPS scheme started in 1973 and classed PHV (Private, Hopper, Vacuum).

In 1983 I.C.I. (Mond) Division acquired wagons that were originally owned by British Steel. These wagons which were of a similar design had been used on Iron ore services to and from Bidston Dock and the ex-John Summers steel works at Shotton. Upon cessation of steel making at Shotton these wagons became surplus to British Steel's requirements. These were intended to be direct replacements for those wagons lost in accidents at Hartford, Chinley and New Mills South Junction. The British Steel owned hoppers were built by Charles Robert's from 1952-1958 to a smaller design specification but are operationally identical. These hoppers were classed PHO (Private Hopper O= Un-fitted) and since they were unfitted had a slightly higher payload capacity.

They were originally numbered in the range BSSH 13060 - 13182 totalling 123 wagons. I.C.I. surveyed the hoppers and then purchased thirteen wagons which were then sent to I.C.I. Avenue works, Northwich to be refurbished. Additional wagons were also brought by I.C.I. and it is believed these were used for spares - around the same time, those I.C.I. wagons previously fitted with 'diamond' open frame bogies were fitted with the more standard plate frame bogies from ex-BSC hoppers to allow a higher payload to be carried. What happened to the remainder of these British Steel hoppers is unknown, presumably scrapped except for one or two used as internal user wagons at BSC Llanwern - unless anyone knows any different that is !

The main differences are that they are a few inches lower in height and about one foot less in length when compared to the I.C.I. wagons. They were originally unfitted and have the same body styles as per the earlier I.C.I. wagons. These ex-BSC hoppers were numbered 19152 - 19164 and were used mainly on "Roadstone" services to local receiving terminals (Bredbury, Dean Lane and Collyhurst Street, Manchester). The addition of these hoppers brought the number of wagons available back up to 152.

In 1984 pairs of class 20s were introduced and these took over as the main traction type. In 1986 a scheme to improve the braking capabilities of the class 20s on these services saw the creation of a dedicated pool of locomotives. In the scheme eight class 20s were re-numbered into the range 20301 - 20308 becoming class 20/3s. A system known as Triple-cock-braking was fitted to each locomotive. However, this scheme did not improve the braking capabilities and so class 47s were re-introduced and the class 20s de-converted. New traction in the form of pairs of class 37s had been used on other stone traffic emanating from the Peak Forest area for a number of years and these also found some use on the I.C.I. services mainly at weekends.

From 1986 onwards BR introduced newly re-furbished class 37/5s to the area and these locos then took over the principal stone duties in the area. A new flow of traffic was introduced from Tunstead to the I.C.I. works at Hindlow, which had ceased quarrying limestone but still produced crushed lime products and to mark this new traffic, 37688 was named "Great Rocks" on the 23rd June 1988.

Train loadings remained around the 18 - 20 wagon limit for all diesel classes already mentioned and hence these were increased to 22 wagons with the advent of class 37/5s. The wagon prefix changed from PHV to JGV in 1990 (JG - Private Bogie Hopper, V vacuum). The numbering of the hoppers remained unchanged. Both the I.C.I. and the ex-BSSH hoppers were used in a common pool with the loss of the "Roadstone" workings. Pairs of class 31s had been used occasionally on the Roadstone services, supplementing the pairs of class 37s.

In 1993 I.C.I. was de-merged to form a set of new companies out of which the former ICI (Mond) Division was brought out by a management consortium known as Buxton Lime Industries. The Soda ash plants at Lostock (Northwich) and Winnington (Oakleigh) came under the ownership of Brunner Mond. This split meant that ownership of the wagons passed to Buxton Lime Industries. Wagon prefixes were changed from ICIM 19XXX to BLI 19XXX and the I C I lettering was subsequently removed from the wagons. The services were for a short while hauled by single class 37s but soon reverted back to pairs of 37s.

In the early 1990s, air-braked Tiphook bogie hopper wagons were introduced on the Tunstead - Hindlow services with class 60 traction replacing the pairs of 37s and vacuum-braked wagons. A new fleet of 20 air-braked hoppers was ordered by B.L.I. to replace the vacuum braked hoppers on the Tunstead - Hindlow services and these are also used on services to Ratcliffe Power Station. These new JHA hoppers, Nos. BLI 19200 - 19219 were delivered by Tatrastroj Poprad of Slovakia last year and are complemented by nine blue Tiphook KPA hoppers which have been refurbished and reduced in height to fit under the new Tunstead loader.

The hoppers are now about 40-60 years old and new replacements are due to be ordered so there is not much time left for these unique hoppers. B.L.I. don't wish to replace these wagons however as they were so robustly built - they have been described as being "built like tanks - they're almost indestructible!". The new B.L.I. air-braked wagons mentioned above are already in operation with class 60 haulage and this means that EWS is committed to providing suitable vacuum-braked traction in order for this valuable commodity to continue to be transported by rail.

At the time of writing in July of 1997 the service is still running three times a day to and from Lostock and Oakleigh (Winnington) using pairs of class 37s hauling 24 loaded hoppers to a class 7 schedule and returning with more hoppers - a rake of 36 empty hoppers was once observed returning to Tunstead. How long will these hoppers remain in service - hopefully to see in the millennium and beyond ! Out of the 152 available hoppers only the following are in store at Tunstead - BLI's 19001, 19039, 19044, 19076, 19107 and 19152 with further hoppers being stored at Northwich and Oakleigh sidings. Some hoppers are also believed to have been placed in an Internal Works pool at Northwich.

There is talk of a scheme to air-brake all of the hoppers to enable newer EWS air- braked traction to be used on the services. Marcroft Engineering at Stoke-on-Trent has been involved in talks concerning the wagons.

However, it appears that the hoppers are now on an extended life and have already been granted a six-month extension and another is due soon. Another cause for concern is the condition of the wheelsets which would be very costly to replace and so this may see the withdrawal of some wagons to provide a pool of spares. On a happier note, it is known that the Stanier 8F Locomotive Society has preserved two examples (19052, 19129) and these are based on the Severn Valley Railway. The National Railway Museum is also interested in obtaining a wagon, probably the pioneer wagon, 19000 which is still in regular use.

Current operational timetable:

Mondays - Fridays:

7F42	07.00	SX	Tunstead - Oakleigh Sdgs	2x37s	Down
7H44	11.05	SX	Oakleigh Sdgs - Tunstead	2x37s	Up
7F45	13.35	SX	Tunstead - Northwich	2x37s	Down
7H46	17.28	SX	Northwich - Tunstead	2x37s	Up
7F47	19.34	MWFO	Tunstead - Oakleigh Sdgs	2x37s	Down
7H53	23.35	MWFO	Oakleigh Sdgs - Tunstead	2x37s	Up

7F47 and 7H53 run on Tuesdays and Thursdays as required.

Saturdays:

7F48	07.30	SO	Tunstead - Oakleigh Sdgs	2x37s	Down
7H51	11.55	SO	Northwich - Tunstead	2x37s	Up
7F52	15.00	SO	Tunstead - Northwich	2x37s	Down
7H53	18.56	SO	Northwich - Tunstead	2x37s	Up

Sundays:

7F48	07.47	SuO	Tunstead - Oakleigh Sdgs	2x37s	Down
7H51	11.55	SuO	Northwich - Tunstead	2x37s	Up
7F52	15.07	SuO	Tunstead - Northwich	2x37s	Down
7H53	18.56	SuO	Northwich - Tunstead	2x37s	Up

Note these services invariably run early especially on the return empty workings.

Pairs of class 37s both refurbished and un-refurbished can be seen on these services being drawn from the EWS general user pools.

Down is towards Northwich and Up towards Tunstead when at Hazel Grove.