GWR Routes: Banbury to Wolverhampton

GWR Routes: North Warwickshire Line

Moor Street Station: gwrms1696

Great Western Railway regulations governing the use of power capstans in goods depots. Power capstans proved to be valuable tools in Goods Yards for moving about small numbers of railway wagons, They could move an individual wagon with greater precision and less expense than could be done with a shunting locomotive, but their use also presented hazards, which could result in accidents or damage. The above notice giving guidance on the use of powered capstans was issued by the Great Western Railway in 1932. Early powered capstans were worked by friction drums operated by lines of underground shafting and these were subsequently succeeded by hydraulic technology. At Moor Street Goods Depot, ten of the latest electrically operated capstans of the ‘Clyde’ type were installed.

These 'Clyde' capstans were manufactured by Stotbert & Pitt Ltd., in Bath and the Great Western Railway installed them at several of their major Goods Depots. The motorised bollard of the capstan had a wire rope permanently fixed to it and to these wire ropes a specially shaped hook was attached. This hook was designed to fall off the wagon framing when the tension of the capstan was relaxed. Operation of the 'Clyde' capstan required an electric circuit breaker to be closed to provide power to the motor and then a removable lever adjacent to the capstan was used to engaged a clutch, which resulted in the bollard turning. When the lever was operated in the opposite direction to disengaged the clutch, an electric brake was also applied to the bollard and the motor power cut. One of the Moor Street electrically powered ‘Clyde’ type capstans can be seen in use in 'gwrmr1213'.

Robert Ferris

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