Miscellaneous

Avon Bridge Power Station: misc_abps155a

The first of four photographs showing the aftermath of a shunting incident at the Power Station's rotary coal tippler in the late 1940’s. The photograph shows Locomotive No 2 in the wreckage of the rotary coal tippler. A rotary wagon tippler is a mechanism that facilitates the speedy discharge of coal or other bulk material from open wagons. The tippler holds the wagon to a section of track and rotates both the track and wagon as one unit in order to tip out all of the contents. This technology has largely been replaced by bogie hopper wagons discharging their load through bottom opening doors. The rotary coal tipper at Avon Bridge Power Station had been installed in the 1930s, replacing the original coal hoist, which was removed to create space for the Power Station extension.

The six plank open wagon is an ex-Private Owner (PO) Wagon which has had several side planks replaced. At the start of the Second World War all non-specialist PO wagons were taken over by the Government and placed in a common pool to maximise their usage. After hostilities creased these wagons were retained and their owners compensated. The bottom plank this wagon is clearly marked ‘12T’ indicating the wagon was suitable for a maximum load of 12 tons. The wagon does not have side doors, but the left hand diagonal steel bracing appears to be painted white. This would indicate that the wagon had an end door at this end of the wagon.

Robert Ferris

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