Battery trammers

[chris stockdale]

I recently went over to the Steeplegrange Railway in Derbyshire (better I decided, than following SWMBO to the ballet with the inlaws).

Having enjoyed the ride behind Greenbat the thought occurred that such a loco is ideal for large scale modelling, i.e. in 7/8ths", where I like to play, and above it is still small and would be a leccy loco powered by batteries -- how prototypical is that?

See, for example, the 7/8th" model by Jeff Saxton of a Mancha trammer:







Trouble is, a quick Google hasn't tuned up a whole lot of info or pics on either Manchas or Greenbats or others.

Your help and guidance would be appreciated (stands back to avoid being knocked down in the rush).

best

[Steve Bennett]

Where to start, there is a wealth of info out there Chris, just a question of finding it. I wonder what you might have on your shelf, if you got Jeremy Tilstons last CD, there are drawing of Greenbat (Greenwood and Batley)from Ravenglass on it. Also Roy Links REVIEW has had several articles, most notably about BEV's (British Electric Vehicles or Wingrove and Rogers as the makers were called).

Moving to the web, Clayton Equipments site gives good info here
http://www.clayton-equipment.co.uk/index.htm

and a good site on Mancha's here if you can get past the graphics
http://cripplecreekrailroads.com/trainz/workshop/eng-mancha_1_5ton_trammer/mancha_1_5ton.htm

That's just scratching the surface, but I'm pushed for time at the moment and most of my links are on an old computer.

[Simon Moore]

I have a few pictures of a couple of Greenbats, the first one being of two foot gauge, Ex. RAF Fauld munitions depot. I've driven this loco and it is a powerful beast, easily moving 3 dead steam locos.



The second is the Greenbat resident on the R&ER, it is similar to but much smaller than the previous loco. Sidelines make a kit of the wagons which this loco used to work with at Storrs Bridge fire clay mine.

[Steve Bennett]

Now here is someone with a nice photo collection, great pics Simon. Is that ex-Fauld Greenbat the one from West Lancs I wouldnt think there was more than one with that livery. Nice to see some coverage from the north of the country, a long way from down here deep in the south west. Good to see some good shots of the Ratty loco too, my last trip up there was with a 35mm film camera with a faulty light meter, so you can probably imagine the results dark shots of a dark loco.

Chris is familiar with the Storrs Bridge tubs as a regular visitor to the Perrygrove, but that wont stop me including a pic , hope to get some better ones on my next visit in just over a weeks time,

[Simon Moore]

The Fauld loco is indeed the one from the West Lancs, my local narrow gauge line. So if anyone needs pictures of some IC locos the line has a large collection and I may be able to help, there's even an overhead electric loco, Welsh Pony, it is 2 foot gaugebut it woukld make an interesting gn15 model.

The Ratty greenbat was unfortunately round the back of the engineering works, which prevented me taking a full broadside shot. It is a shame to see the condition this loco is in.

[chris stockdale]

Steve,

Thanks for the reminder re Jeremy Tilston - I will get in touch with him pronto.


Simon,

I agree about the state of the Ratty Greenbat - now, if I only had a bit more cash, then I could make them an offer they couldn't....

cheers

[Simon Moore]

Just found these pics of a brilliant little battery loco, it may be possible to use an L&Y pug chassis as the basis of a similar loco wit the cylinders and valve gear removed.

http://www.narrow-gauge.co.uk/gallery/252

[Steve Bennett]

The Fauld loco is indeed the one from the West Lancs, my local narrow gauge line. So if anyone needs pictures of some IC locos the line has a large collection and I may be able to help.

The Ratty greenbat was unfortunately round the back of the engineering works, which prevented me taking a full broadside shot. It is a shame to see the condition this loco is in.

Yes it is a real shame that it has been dumped there, it is a lot worse than I expected. From what I understand it is broken and has just been dumped rather than repair it. Les the Lister has taken over it's duties around the yard from what I hear, I just hope it doesnt get scrapped, it is a unique loco. Seeing the state that ICL No1 has got in since they moved it from the museum into the paint shop is heartbreaking aswell. Unfortunately there seems to be a lot of this going on at Ravenglass these days

[chris stockdale]

To cheer us up after the tatty Ratty here's a couple of pics I took at Steeplegrange





cheers

[DCRfan]

Just found these pics of a brilliant little battery loco, it may be possible to use an L&Y pug chassis as the basis of a similar loco wit the cylinders and valve gear removed.

http://www.narrow-gauge.co.uk/gallery/252

Simon,

I don't think you realise just how small these little trammers are. From memory the wheelbase is less than 2 foot so a Pug chassis would be much to big. I think this picture with a driver folded onboard illustrates their tiny size quite well.


However there are numerous slightly larger BEV and other manfacturers locos that can be modelled. Try this thread on mine locos for some inspiration.

http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=512&highlight=bba+660

Or my favourate, do a search on this website for BAA 660
Paul Napier

[Steve Bennett]

Another Greenbat, this one from the Abbey Light Railway taken at NG North in march.

[Simon Moore]

With such variation even within one manufacturer you could easily have an extensive fleet of differnet types of Battery Trammers.

[chris stockdale]

For those who like a little rust I thought this hard working Trammer might be difficult to beat

http://starbuck.org/hiking/index.php?su ... er&page=28

cheers

[Steve Bennett]

For those who like a little rust I thought this hard working Trammer might be difficult to beat

http://starbuck.org/hiking/index.php?su ... er&page=28

Not sure about hard working Chris, that one is well and truly dead, been dumped down there for quite a few years by the look of it . For anybody interested in mining, the site that this pic is on is a real goldmine (another pun) of info, to get to the main index go here http://starbuck.org/hiking/index.php#loc expect to be out in the wilderness for a few days though

[Eliot Andersen]

I am a Ratty volunteer, and I'd like to clarify things -- Greenbat is not broken, it simply is in need of replacement batteries (once it has them, then I'm sure that it will be straight back into service as shunter). The reason that it is not getting engineers' attention is because this year, River Irt has had a new boiler, River Esk has had a boiler exam, Shelagh failed for a week at Whit and now River Mite has just been dismantled (its chassis has just left for TMA Engineering), all this while Lady Wakefield is undergoing a rebuild -- the four engineers (one of whom is a volunteer) can't do everything!

[Oztrainz]

Hi all,
I was going to kick off a new thread on Clayton locos, but what I found fits in here quite well. The Clayton site has been referenced before in this thread. Have a look at
http://www.clayton-equipment.co.uk/locomotive-gallery.html

Point at any of the loco types with the bullet point and a gallery of photos for that loco type plays in the panel. Watch out for the multigauge track under the locos in the Clayton workshop.

Also have a quick look at the History page under the About heading for some more photos and previous product publications

Hopefully this will provide some more inspiration.

[chris stockdale]

For me the nice thing about Christmas present gift vouchers is that I can feel happily frivolous in spending them. Thus it was a few days ago when I bought A J Booth's 'Greenwood and Batley Locomotives 1927 - 1980' with some of an Amazon voucher from my inlaws.

I note that the Company was phenomenally successfully for decades, there being a fascinating few pages on how it developed and the very wide range of products they produced.

But, to get back to locos, it got me wondering (now the book is in my sticky paws) why battery locos aren't modelled more. There are loads of Greenbats that were built for 18" gauge or less. Indeed a quick flip though the book brings up the magic 15" just the once. In that case it was a 5hp trammer that went to William Adams and Company Ltd in Adelaide, Australia, for the North Mine.

A little closer to home several 4 1/2hp locos went to the 1' 5" Mill Close Mines Ltd, Darley Dale near Matlock, Derbyshire, way back in 1933.

cheers

[DCRfan]

And definitely only battery trammers on my tunnel layout at http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=2169&start=0