My second visit to the railway and am invited to take a footplate ride along the length of the line. Lots of austerity steam loco action and shunting with a visit to the Boothstown Tippler.
An historic treasure. ove your videos .Sad to think its all gone but life goes on. Something rather exciting industrial railways. Perhaps the unloved less glamourous work tank locos that had a hard life is what i like plus less than pristine wagons.Very north of England way, no nonsense Lancastrian steam . No doubt Fred Dibnah would see this as heaven on wheels
All true! Iv'e always been fascinated with more mundane stuff like this myself.I like immaculately maintained preserved locos as much as the next guy but they are far removed from dirty end of life locos in service, often requiring very skilled operation due to wear and tear. Ive witnessed steam era drivers operating locos in less than steller operating condition as a fireman and its something else! Preservation era drivers are different, they use much more steam and create less draft, i don't mean that as an insult but it is what it is,old school fireman are also different to preservation guys,they use way less coal for same end result.I think all the steam era guys are gone now.Looking at this film i truly envied the canal fisherman! That would truly be heaven sit there catching some coarse fish while watching some shunting in between bites!
I was at Astley on Sunday and travelled on the very first public trip on the new narrow gauge railway. It's now trees and greenery, a far cry from the working days. Thanks for sharing your films, very much appreciated.
Wow just making my way through watching all these videos and what brilliant footage! Just unbelievable to have these things documented so well for people like me who were not there to see it. Your work in publishing these is greatly appreciated
Many thanks for the work put in to bring us these films, I hope there are more to come from the Walkden area. I cant get enough of them, I currently Live on Vicars Hall Lane. As a small boy I remember shunters crossing over the A6 at Little Hulton. Wish I could go back just to watch again.
Hi, I used enter the colliery from Vicar Hall Lane on my many visits there to film. On my recent visit I stood on the very spot where the track used to cross the lane and other than the crossing gate foundations at the side it was very difficult to recognize the place. I've just put up another video of part of that recent visit, enjoy.
Evening Johnathan. That brought back so many memories for me. I’ve said before watching your fantastic videos that I was in a Alderwood children’s home in boothstown from 1968 and the railway ran right next to the home. It became our playground especially the coal basin with some sunken coal barges we played on. We also ventured up to Mosley Common pit and played all over that also 😮 Love your videos and so glad you’ve captured them for nostalgia 😀 Cheers Stevie.
This is absolute magic.. therecis nothing like the song of a little engine working hard. I must see the whole series. best wishes from Sydney. :-) We had some fabulous colliery lines here, including two at Newcastle with used many RODs in absolutely original form. They worked till as late as 1969-your and my time. Two which been preserved.
When I lived there I took all this for granted, never thought it would all disappear. The first engine I got a ride on was Harry when I was 6 years old. I ran home excitedly to tell my mother. She thought Harry was a man and went ballistic with me, she gave a sigh of relief when I explained it was an engine.
I own a OO gauge 'Harry'. I thought it was Hornby aiming at the Harry Potter fans! One day I might get the paints out and make it filthy. Brilliant films, thank you for posting. Philip
Your mention of NCB trains at Walkden Yard brought back valued childhood memories, sir! My paternal grandmother lived in a council flat, next to the tracks at Tynesbank, and many’s the time I sat in the communal garden, waving at the drivers of the little J94 ‘ Austerity ‘ (yes …back to a time when that wasn’t a swear word!) tank engines. Many had been allocated nameplates, and had titles such as ‘ Wizard ’, ' Witch ‘ and ‘ Warrior ‘ (did the NCB have some sort of ‘ W ’ fixation?). The Communal garden of her small flat was just after the Manchester Rd railway bridge, so I used to hear the trains coming, then watch them emerge from under the bridge, heading up to Linnyshaw Moss. Additionally …. I lived in Farnworth, and occasionally, my dad would take me onto Albert Rd, where we would catch the No.42 bus to Toppings Bridge. No doubt my dad chose this particular spot, as he had lived there as a youngster, and probably watched those same J94's working the line in the 40's/50's. Here we caught up with the NCB rail line that had passed my grandmother’s flat, and we would follow the line past Blackleach lodges, across Kearsley Moss, and then veer off to walk home the rest of the way back to Farnworth. A fascinating little industrial rail network, which unfortunately had disappeared by the time I reached the age of about 10-11, so I never really got the chance to savour it. A few years ago, I spotted a publication by Alan Davies (Locomotives of the Lancashire Central Coalfield : The Walkden Yard Connection) which also sparked off those memories again. Wonderful book. This series of videos are invaluable - a fantastic window into the world of the industrial locomotives in the Lancashire NCB network. Thank you.
You were so lucky to have seen all this. i would do almost anything to go back and do so myself. It must have left an aching chasm where that world used to be; it does for me. Many many thanks for continuing posting these, they are like gold to me! Cheers'n'beers. (I too have a Simplex and that is as near as I will get, despite being a mainline driver currently). I can but dream.....................
Hi Laszlo, thanks for your encouragement. This railway help me get over the chasm left by the end of steam on BR and after Astley Green there was Bickershaw Colliery closeby. I did think of putting a Giesl Ejector chimney on my Simplex when I built it to mirror the Austerities but was worried the drafting won't work too well so abandoned the idea.
These films of yours are wonderful! I discovered you because of your 5" videos as im just starting a build but enjoying all your content. Marvelous that you took the time to record this stuff as a young lad, great that you were able to afford to do so as i know film stock not cheap.Watching the driver instinctivly operating the regulator to maintain momentum and adheasion was great,i hope they gave you a steer???I know i drove a small diesel shunter before i was at school and a broad gauge steam loco not long after,probably why I became an enthusiast, i remember both (now on the footplate in the sky with one taken way too soon, miss you guys R.I.P) drivers names, engine no's and locations even though it was over 25 years ago.Your camera and editing skills are also well worth compliment as well, really good! My father was heavily involved in film,directed more than a few enthusiast films in his time (worked in TV his entire life, finishing as a telecini operator) and i grew up with 16mm film cameras (clockwork Bolex and Bell & Howell's mostly but also cp16 and ariflex's) myself, alas i am of younger vintage, born the year the very last broad gauge steam engine was used in service here.I drive past that very loco (stuffed and mounted and wearing an incorrect number which also has some extreme emotional significance) very regularly and get very sad but at least she survived the torch. Thanks you very much for all the time and effort.Well earned sub from me.I really loved your load testing!
Hi Dunxy, thanks for your note. I'm pleased to be able to share these film with an wider audience. The irony is if these images had been shot digitally they probably wouldn't have survived fifty years like the film has but on the other hand I couldn't have made such high quality transfers and editing without this digital technology. I have quite a lot more film waiting to be edited as I find the time.
Wow what a video , line was gone by the time I came along , but remember like it was yesterday playing around the remains of the brickworks seeing remnants of the old track bed, the bridge at 7:15 is the bridge the loco ran under just before Mather fold and the brickworks , we used to climb this bridge and look at the fire engines being worked on in the Worsley workshops, after we moved to boothstown we used to ride on our bikes down the old track to Astley Green, remember the cows field very well. During construction of the new road very recently we discovered parts of the locos and machinery that belonged to Astley Green , I took pictures of these, buried for what's coming up 50 years. Where the old tipper used to be I remember it being very over grown, it was actually all connected up to the old pig farm near Old Booths Hall, fantastic memories , thank you Jonathan
Hi Nelly, thanks for your comments and memories. Seems much of the track is disappearing fast at the approach to Astley Green at Vicar Hall lane under houses.
yes such a shame , very difficult sometimes to look at your films and get a perspective of the now and then its changed that much , but luckly before the development of the estates i took some really good pictures , in fact me and my father uncovered and brought home what we recovered before they tore everything down , i shall mail you the pictures , must be worst for you filming it and seeing the change, such a shame , it was such a beautiful village, i was born to the smell of cows fields and a pig farm right opposite, not a lot of people can say that now , usually have an ex field with an ugly house in front of them, thank you again , you have ignited the passion for what made such a fantastic simple childhood
Hi Nelly, thanks again for your reply. I visited Astley Green last May with a friend who was there at the sametime as me riding the steam loco and we looked over the old site together. I'll be putting that video up tomorrow.
Thanks Peter, pleased it sparked some memoirs. Did trolley buses run that far out of the city? Hope you get a chance to watch the other films in the series and there's more to come.
Like how there’s these loud steam engines at work in a calorie and people think “Yeah that’s a nice place to go fishing” I mean I certainly would (if I could fish)
Dear sir. I am from India. Many thanks for sharing this wonderful vintage video. You have mentioned about tipplers. Were these mechanised tipplers? Were the coal loading done on the wagons through mechanised silo? Was the Ashley Green railway system an merry go round system?
Dear Mr. Jonathan. I had a relook at this wonderful short film. Were the wagons loaded in the colliery through rapid loading systems integrated to crushers, crushing the run off coal boulders? What could be the pay load and tare weight of these four wheel open wagons. Was the body structure made of mild steel or wood.
The wagons were loaded by overhead conveyors from the washery. There were several different types of wagon used: 16 and 25 ton capacity steel mainline wagons with a tare weight of 8 and 10 tons respectively and wooden internal wagons with the white cross on the side which were 12 tons capacity I don't know the tare. The internal wagons were used to take the slurry to the colliery boilers for burning and the stone to a tip the other side of the canal.
That was brilliant. I use to play on the derelict site of Mossley common. I can still recalk it like the back of my hand. Have you any footage of when you get past mossley common collery. I grew up on Waverley road. At the back garden was the old railway line that led up to NCB on Tynsbank. I would love to see sime footage. And also footage of what else was going on along the side of Newearth Road. All the derelict land is somewhere that i still goto today. At the bottom of Mather Fold Road.
Hi Tibor, I actually film shot from Waverley Road as a train passes behind the houses in 1969. Also I have a sequence of a banked coal train coming up hill with Mosley Common in the background, over Hilton lane towards the mainline railway bridge. All this will be put up as I find time to edit these new sections. Thanks for your interest.
I lived at 30 Waverley Road from 1975!!!!! I cant wait to see this footage. I have looked for things from this area so many times but found very little. I once found a oicture of an engine going over the bridge at the bottom of Hilton Lane but thats it. To this day i still go onto the area behind Waverley Road with remote control cars. The area was commonly known as The Bankings when I lived there. Thanks for replying 👍
I also attended St Georges Rc High school on Tynsbank Road. I still remember the NCB yard there, and the strikes before it shut down. I went to this school from 1981 to 1986.
Your Astley Green series of videos are fantastic thanks, especially Part 7. My grandad was the last Forman at the Boothstown tippler so I would dearly love to see any footage of it in action if any exists please. Also, my uncle worked on the lines for many years as a brakesman and fireman based out of Ellenbrook Sidings. He will love these too and is sure to know some of the faces. My Dad was a miner at Astley Green. Thanks again!
Hi Simmona21, thanks for your comments. Interesting family connections. There was a RU-vid film shot at the tippler with it working but not mine and I can't find it now. I have more film to show of the railway coming in the future. If your family members have any good stories to tell about the line and the colliery I'd love to hear them as there seem to be few people still around who worked there. My email is in the about section on my channel page.
@@simmona21 It's not as clear as it used to be. Go to my channel and clip on About and under 'Details' is 'For business inquiriers' click on this and it will reveal my email.
Gandy Dancer Productions Hi, sorry I still can’t see your email address - I can see Details but nothing relevant after that. I have an artefact that I would like to share with you that I think you will find interesting. I found the RU-vid video of the tippler in use eventually. Here it is... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-c5kgyt_et3A.html
Hi Simmona21, there are quite a few faces in the videos of Astley Green I can't put names. Like in this video, I don't remember the driver name. i've asked a few others who knew the railway and they can't help. So if your uncle can help please let me know. Try contacting me though my website: www.gandydancerproductions.com/ and go to the contacts page there's a form there, thanks.
Is that all original audio? It's astonishingly good if so; very clear in the higher frequencies. Amazing when combined with the footage, I really enjoyed watching (and hearing!) it.
Hi Rob, I didn't record any sound at Astley Green. I did at other collieries later on sometimes with the same locos that worked there and with that sound as a basis I've build up layers from other atmos tracks I have in my library to create a soundscape that fits. I hope this admission hasn't broken the spell.
Thanks for your comment Peter. Just had a look at Google Map and I think it's the Parish Church of St Mark off the A575 road Worsley. Is that the one you're thinking of?
Hi I’m guessing from you videos you like austerities, I’m restoring a bagnall that is very similar to a j94, do you think you could help me to advertise this loco as it needs some publicity to get the project started?
Hi Jordan, sounds like a great project. I'm in the US at the moment but went I get back over the Britain you can show me the Bagnall and give me a tour and I'll shoot some video. Send me some details via my email in my about page at my channel.
Thanks, I visited Agecroft many times. It was a pretty boring operation there so never shot movies but lots of stills. I'll produce a video including these stills once I've visited the surviving locos.
No problem, the video's on these industrial loco's are very interesting. Oh right, I assume it was fairly simple in terms of operation, taking coal from A to B then returning the empties for the mainline pickup good's. I volunteer at Whitwell & Reepham, which own AB No.945 Annie having worked at Yates and Daxby and Agecroft No.3. So a railway you will need to visit! To see engines which are still around, if we see you we'll try and get you on the footplate
Hey, I appreciate the offer. I'm coming back in Britain very soon. Check out my Yates Duxbury film on this channel and there will be much more Astley Green to come.
Hi Eliot, internal use means the wagon weren't allowed out of the colliery system. The coal was for steam engines, power stations and household use. It was good quality coal.
@@GandyDancerProductions I understand that steam coal is lighter and has a different colour than house coal which I understand heavier and is darker in colour?
@@eliotreader8220 I've not found much difference in the colour of coal. Household coal is dirtier but steam engine used to burn that as well as the harder coals which might be a little heavier.
Steam engines really are a matter on taste and that usually depends on where you're from. What's great is engines look different from region to region in the UK and from country to country but all make that distinctive chuffing sound.
That was a brilliant video. You made a piece of British Heritage for the future. Lots of information about the line and layout, using maps too, and nice views of the scenery, collieries, sidings and the other Austerity.. Thankyou. 😊👍
