Model Railway Forum

Hello folks,
I wonder if anyone with a knowledge of the coal mining industry can help me with this question:
I know that the NCB had their own wagons which would be loaded with coal at the coal face. When power stations received their coal however it arrived in BR wagons. So was the coal tipped out of the NCB wagons and washed or something before being reloaded into BR wagons for onward transport? I'm going to model NCB/BR exchange sidings along with colliery buildings etc so I'm wondering if I need any NCB wagons!
Cheers,
Monte

Firstly the following applies to coal cut by hand (pick and shovel) underground, and therefore reasonably clean and in recognisable lumps.

When the coal reached the surface (usually in narrow gauge 'tubs') it was tipped on to conveyor belts and sorted by being sent through 'screens' which separated coal into different sizes to suit customer requirements. After passing the screens it would then be dropped into wagons waiting underneath. On the way to the screens it would pass in front of 'pickers' who would remove stones and other rubbish, usually by hand. The wagons beneath the screens would either be railway owned (and before 1939, privately owned trader's wagons) or colliery owned 'landsale' wagons which would then take the coal to stock yards or land-sale yards where it would be bagged into sacks or loaded into lorries. A lot of this coal would be miner's concessionary coal, but there would also be lorries taking it to local users. The railway or PO wagons would be handed over to the main line company who would then deliver it to goods yards. In some areas (Durham, Northumberland, Fife Glamorgan etc.) coal was sent away by ship. At these places the coal was taken in wagons to the docks where it would be tipped into colliers (ships dedicated to delivering coal) . In Scotland and the North East many collieries had their own railway to the Docks (e.g. Lambton Railway) so they used their own wagons. But in South Wales railway owned wagons travelled down the valleys to the docks, on one of the Welsh railways (later Great Western) . Yorkshire coal went by canal, or railway to docks on the Humber, Immingham was a massive coal handling port, but coal was also sent from Goole and Kingston upon Hull.

In more recent times coal was no longer dug by hand but using coal cutting machines. These smashed the coal up quite a bit and stone and rock would get mixed in. So as soon as the coal got to the surface it had to be washed, the lighter coal being floated off the heavier stone. This coal was better for industry such as power stations who frequently pulverised it before burning it so the smaller sizes were no longer a problem. This coal was loaded into special high capacity wagons which operated by Merry Go Round taking coal to power stations and cement works in block loads.

NCB also used wagons to remove the stone and take it to spoil heaps in their own wagons

So in answer to your question the answer is 'it depends' . A modern colliery will have a bunker to load a merry go round train and will not have internal user wagons for coal, but may have some for stone. Collieries which sent coal by ship and had their own railway to the docks will use lots of their own wagons. Collieries in Yorkshire or South Wales collieries used main line wagons to send coal to the docks. The size of the colliery will also determine what goes on on the surface.

You may find the following books useful.

Modelling Aspects of the Coal Industry by Rob Johnson published by Book Law 2003 ISBN 1 899624 43 0
Modelling Further Aspects of the Coal Industry by Rob Johnson published by Book Law 2006 ISBN 1 899624 93 7
Merry Go Round on the Rails by David Monk-Steel published the Historical Model Railway Society 2011 ISBN 978 0 902835 30 6

The first two come up second hand now and again the third is still available from HMRS.

Hi LC&DR,
Firstly thank you so much for your very comprehensive reply. As my layout is based in the late 50s/very early 60s, and having read your info
would I be right in thinking then that I could run purely BR wagons under the screens for a train made up of power station or domestic coal?
Also would wagons loaded with coal destined for a power station be tripped to a marshalling yard first as I presume those loaded with domestic coal would?
I will order the modelling aspects of the coal industry as you suggest.
Many thanks again for your kind reply.

Cheers,
Monte

A colliery layout in the 1950s will probably load coal into a mixture of BR 16 ton minerals for domestic fuel and BR / LNER 21 ton Hopper wagons for larger industrial users, including power stations and steel works. There were still many small gas works and they chiefly got their coal in the smaller mineral wagons. In this decade however there was a shift from coal gas to natural gas and the small works closed. They were all gone by the 1960s.

The older 12 / 13 ton wooden body minerals will still be about in the 1950s but in smaller and smaller numbers as the decade progressed. These are very interesting because before WW2 they were privately owned and painted in pretty and colourful trader's liveries, but during and after the War when they were requisitioned they all ended up losing their paint and getting dirtier and dirtier. By 1962 they had all but disappeared. However it was still possible, just, to make out the old lettering on a few, very faded. BR did paint some of the better ones grey, just like the steel bodied wagons, but generally the rule was no paint, except for black panels where the numbers and other marks were painted. Brake fitted mineral wagons were very rare and confined to premium traffic.

During the late 1950s newer high capacity wagons were introduced, 24.5 ton hoppers and mineral wagons, (the former are being produced by Accurascale) especially for big customers like power generators, and these often operated in block loads.

The 1960s saw the building of large power stations, and the decline in domestic solid fuel. The nature of the coal traffic changed, by the middle of the decade the high capacity merry go round was being introduced to deliver coal to the new power stations, and domestic coal was being taken in brake fitted 21 ton hoppers to Coal Concentration Depots. The small coal yards at local stations were all being closed at an alarming rate.

Coal (and coke) for steel works was still a very important traffic, and tended to be taken in block loads in 21 and 24.5 ton hopper wagons.

The size of the colliery itself changed between 1950 and 1970. Most small collieries were closed or amalgamated into large complex mines with much mechanisation. This also changed the kind of loading that took place. Screens became larger and the small screens which restricted the size of wagons that could be loaded were closed.

Colliery locomotives would place empty wagons above the screens, but it was normal to use a falling gradient so the wagons passed underneath by gravity and they were gathered in sidings once loaded, from where they would be taken to exchange sidings to be made up into trains to go on the main line. Sometimes wagons were moved by ropes and capstans.

Trains were then tripped to marshalling yards, to be sorted and sent on. Empties were dealt with similarly but in reverse. Some collieries did make up block loads to power stations (Betteshanger to Richborough, Ashington to Cambois) and others were made up at intermediate sidings such as Seymour Junction which gathered wagons from surrounding collieries and open cast sites to send to Willington, Castle Donnington and Drakelow.

As well as Domestic, Power Station, and Gas Works, a lot of coal was sent to ports for shipment, examples included Immingham, Garston, and Hunterston. The coastal and river staithes in North East England are very well documented. Then too were cement works which needed a lot of coal. Those on the Thames and Medway in the South East got theirs by sea, but this all started in the North East or South Wales which will have resulted in a rail journey. Inland works had to get all their coal by rail.

Hi again LC&DR,
Thanks ever so much for your further info,
I reckon the period I am modelling gives me a reason to use dozens of different types of wagons! So along with the info I can get from various publications I hope I can build a fairly prototypical set up.
I very much appreciate all the effort you have gone to re info you have passed on to me.
Many thanks again,
Kind regards,
Monte

Something else to add, coal for locomotive fuel was delivered in mineral wagons both the 16 ton and 21 ton versions. The Western, and Eastern Regions had dedicated vehicles for this traffic, but during the 1950s these were amalgamated with the general traffic fleet, although it was still possible to see wagons inscribed "Loco Coal" many years later.