>
> Dear Ian,
>
> Trust you got mine saying I'd forward yours to three railway-related lists
> to which I belong. The two responses nelow received to date.
>
> Ken (Smith)
>
> >>I would like to see evidence to support this allegation since, apart
> from the GWR which mainly used High Grade Welsh Steam coals, I have read of
> other lines where the coal was selected 'hards', probably in large lumps.
> One assumes this to be the case from the tales of coals being broken up by
> firemen on the footplate.
> In a GWR Journal article about working the Birkenhead meat train to
> London, the author told of how a reluctant firebox full of slow burning coal
> was brought to life by some softer Yorkshire Yorkshire coal 'filched' from a
> wagon in an adjacent siding, so it is indisputable that there were
> differences in quality of coals used.
> I suspect that the writer may have been alluding to the poor quality coal
> supplied in the post-war period, which may have included a lot of slack.
> Certainly the Southern seemed to produce a lot of smoke and sparks, which
> suggests this to be the case. But this might be on account of higher quality
> coal needing a long transit from the mines with corresponding increase in
> cost (the SR used some Coal from the Kent coalfield)
> Stephenson Clarke Ltd were coal contractors for the LSWR
> (& LBSC?)and as a Powell Duffryn subsidiary would have supplied comparable
> coals to those used by the GWR; this may have continued in SR days but
> possibly only for 'top link' workings.
> Regards, John G<<
>
> >>As far as the MSWJR was concerned, they were always on the look-out for
> the
> cheapest supply of locomotive coal. However this coal almost invariably
> came from South Wales & Monmouthshire, J & W Stone, North Blaina and
> Stephenson Clarke being regular suppliers. Coal was also bought from
> Parkend in the Forest of Dean, which was probably cheaper, but it was only
> for "general purpose use", not for the locos.
>
> After WW2, I can remember the ex-LNW 0-8-0s from Bescot with tenders full
> of
> "nutty slack". They produced clouds of foul yellow-brown smoke, guaranteed
> to soil any washing hung out to dry in the vicinity. The "Jubilee" on the
> London-Birmingham-Wolverhampton express, which passed Great Barr about
> 6pm,
> used to coast down the bank from Handsworth Wood, and then produce a
> shower
> of sparks and cinders as the driver opened up after Perry Barr North
> junction, although the smoke itself was little more than a blue haze. In
> the summer months, this volcanic display often set the grass on fire,
>
> Mike Barnsley<<
>
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