Janus Class, 0-6-0, 400 H.P., Diesel Electric locomotive No.5, or B.S.C. Plant No.2444/20, was built by the Yorkshire Engine Company Ltd, Meadowhall Works, Sheffield, to Works No.2670, in 1958, and was delivered, new to the Stanton and Staveley Limited, (a subsidiary of Stewart and Lloyds Limited, later a subsidiary of British Steel Corporation, from 1967), Iron Works, Stanton, Ilkeston, where it acquired the name ‘Stanton No.50’. In 1973, the locomotive was transferred to British Steel Corporation, Coke Ovens and By-Products Works, at Brookhouse, near Beighton, and as a consequence, became part of the shared fleet of the British Steel Corporation, Chemicals Division, traffic department. Some reports state that the locomotive was not transferred to the Coke Ovens and By-Products Works, at Orgreave until 1981, but as the attached photograph shows, the engine was rotating through that facility long before 1981. Following closure of the Orgreave Coke Ovens and By-Products Works, in 1990, this locomotive was presented to the Appleby Frodingham Railway Preservation Society, for preservation. It was one of the two locomotives that I enjoyed the privilege of driving, albeit unofficially, but under supervision that day.
The locomotive can be seen, standing at the bottom end of the loaded coke wagon sidings, conveniently situated by the Shunters’ Cabin, at British Steel Corporation, Chemicals Division, Coke Ovens and By-Products Works, at Orgreave, on 23/01/1977. The parked locomotive is awaiting the make-up of the next train load of filled coke wagons, which it would propel to one of the two main-line rail-heads, at either Orgreaves Colliery Junction, or Treeton Junction, as required. The locomotive, whilst parked here also provided an effective stop-block against potential wagon runaways, an uncommon, but not unknown occurrence.
The coke ovens and by-products works at Orgreave, were first constructed in 1919, on a gently sloping hillside, which descended down to the River Rother, with Handsworth to the West, and with Catcliffe, and Treeton to the North, and East. The original designers of the facility, Rother Vale Collieries Limited, and their successors, the United Steel Companies Limited, took full advantage of the location, in so much that the works were laid out in such a way that much of the internal rail traffic movements on site, could be performed by gravity. Full coal wagons were left at the top or elevated end of the site, by the locomotives which provided connection with the Great Central Railway, at Orgreaves Colliery Junction, and with the Midland Railway, at Treeton Junction. The full coal wagons, bringing incoming raw materials, were then propelled by gravity, under the manual supervision of the staff, down to the two wagon tippler stations, where they were discharged. Once empty, the wagons were then again, propelled by gravity down to the empty wagon sidings further down the slope, where they awaited collection by the site locomotive fleet. The empty coke wagons were similarly propelled down to the loading screens for filling, and once that filling process was complete, gravity was again used to propel those wagons down to the loaded wagon sidings further down the slope. The ruling gradient that permitted this use of gravity was 1 in 85.
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