Colliery Lines

Newdigate Colliery: misc_newd262

The second of a set of five photographs showing a rake of derailed loose coupled Newdigate Colliery wagons lying in Coventry Canal. The junction with the exchange sidings was to the right of the photographer with chimneys of factories in Foleshill, Coventry being seen on the skyline. Its assumed that the wagons were being shunted using gravity and not with a locomotive attached. Gravity shunting required a 'shunter' to run alongside the wagons relying on the skill of the 'shunter' to drop each wagon's brake to slow it down. With a rake of wagons the 'shunter' would need to be quick to move along the rake dropping the brake on as many wagons he saw necessary. If the descent was particularly severe or short some of the brakes would be dropped prior to the descent and would require a locomotive to give them a nudge to start them rolling. When the shunter made an error or if the locomotive gave too hard a nudge then wagons can run away resulting scenes such as above.

back