Brings back memories of my childhood, I'm now 83, between 1948 snd 1954 when our family holiday took us to Penzance on the Cornishman from Wolverhampton Low Level. My dad, Being a railway signalman,we would explore all the Cornish branches, include the Fowey branch,l can remember the lovely riverside journey,idyllic even to a child from a mining town. From anyone interested the branch line loco's were mogul 2 6 0s, always kept in immaculate condition,a far cry from what l was used to seeing. As the song title goes'Thanks for the memory '
In the 1960’s and 70’s our regular holidays were to a campsite above the docks at Par, you could visit the docks to see Alfred being prepared (Judy was stored out of use), Westerns were everywhere, clay hoods formed the trains, and ECC ran tours of the Par works and Blackpool pit as well as producing various free brochures and booklets about their business.
You must have been busy dashing to and fro across Cornwall to get this action over 3 days! I remember being on holiday in Fowey in 1969 and 1970 seeing the ships passing the town. The china clay was also transported by a fleet of lorries using the old branch line converted to a road exclusively for their use. Seemed daft then, still does! As an aside, my brain (I'm an accountant!) always gets drawn in to counting wagons. Started with 10, then 15, then 16, then 12, then back to 10! 3 days worth, as you say! Brilliant work with the scenery too.
China clay deposits are found in many parts of the world but Cornwall's are renowned as some of the best. One reason why they are exported worldwide. Each china clay pit is unique in its chemical makeup and the technicians in the industry are adept at mixing the various deposits to customers specifications imparting unique characteristics depending on use.
As someone who has just moved down to Kernow this was an excellent watch. Not had much success yet in nailing Clay trains due to the weather but i am a patient man so things will work out eventually. Now on to watch your video about Castle Sets. Cheers
In the late '70s when I was driving for P&O Roadways, I, along with other drivers, would regularly be sent, with an empty 20' container, to St Austell to load china clay and deliver it to the terminal at Tilbury for onward shipment to Germany and Italy. The china clay works were in the area where the Eden Project is now situated.
Amazing video mate I just can’t resist seeing a Kernewek 66 on clay makes me very happy and yes I miss the CDAs very much I will never forget the last video I got of them 🫡 also I would like to request a video on clay at treviscoe or anywhere up the parkandillack branch at Burngullow. Great video 👍
I worked in the Stoke on Trent ceramic industry for almost 50 years and the industry in its heyday used so much clay that most of it was brought in from Cornwall and Devon by train with 2 large depots. One at Cliff Vale and the other at Longton. I believe some is still brought in to the Cliff Vale depot but only a couple of times a year now.
And Now For Something Completely Different: not a steam engine in sight, but a very enjoyable video, nevertheless. It's quite an international operation: English China clay, mined by a French company and transported by Deutsche Bahn for a Turkish customer. I had to look up those abbreviations for the wagons, never too old to learn something.
A very good point - no mention of what form the china clay was transported as or how it was unloaded - shame but that was why I watched the video. This omission spoiled it for me.
@rogermoore5761 When it was transported by road for export it was powder in bagged form and handballed into shipping containers. I was often sent to St Austell (where Eden is now situated) to load and take to Tilbury terminal for onward shipping.
Bulk powder in those wagons, but certainly in the past there could be bagged powder, ECC also used to move a lot of clay as slurry in dedication pipelines to places like Par where there were settling tanks and massive drying plants.
I remember working on the lines there nearly 20 years ago - we were renewing some of the tracks over about 5 or six weekend for which it must of rained first about 90% of the time. The tracks were contaminated with clay which became like a porridge or a slurry and covered your boots and leggings. Bit disappointed that there were no advertisements though.
Amazing video and much appreciated! You’re so right “not the same without cda’s! Am currently building a 00 gauge shelf layout with a passing ‘nod’ to Carne Point, so really loved the timeline video - well done and thank you!
That's a nice video. Seeing that 16 wagon train, I can't help thinking how many clay hoods would have been required to move the same quantity of clay? My last visit was in 2017, we stayed at Par Sands by the internal clay road between Par and Fowey, that was on the former railway track bed. It must require a fair bit of shunting now to unload those hoppers, as they won't fit on the traverser beyond the unloading shed. From a brief online chat I had, if I got it right, it's empty two wagons, shunt them clear and remove the empties, and repeat until they're all done. I remember in the past seeing an 08 and wagons at Carne Point. It all seems so barren now.
Ah 'clay hoods'! Thanks for the term I was looking for. When I was heavy into model rlys 30 yrs ago, I was fascinated by this industry. I think it was Graham Farish models who finally conquered the blue 'tent' look.
Excellent video just a small correction they don't load the clay at Parkandillack anymore it's at Treviscoe just down from Parkandillack the schedule still shows it coming from Parkandillack for some reason!
That one train is carrying 10 times the amount that the old hood wagons did. Also, JEEZ how much clay do you think they able to extract at one time. If you knew the process you'd be better informed.
