Scunthorpe steel works
Appleby Frodingham
© Geoff’s Rail Diaries 2015
Geoff’s Rail Diaries
27 June 2015
It’s more than 20 years since they
began - tours around the huge
steelworks complex at Scunthorpe,
operated by the Appleby
Frodingham Railway Preservation
Society.
It was still “British Steel” when I joined a most enjoyable tour
back in 1996. Three years later, after merger with Hoogovens, it
was Corus. Since 2007, the works has been in the ownership of
the Indian company Tata. Throughout that period, the tours continued.
I wondered how things would look now, nearly 20 years after my first
visit, as I joined this tour by kind invitation of Stafford Railway Society.
The internal rail traffic in 1996 was in the
hands of a fleet of Yorkshire “Janus” (Roman
two-faced god...) diesel-electrics, dating from
the late 50s - early 60s. These twin-engined 0-
6-0s were joined by ten Hunslet Bo-Bo diesels
in the early 70s, and in 1977, seven small 0-4-0
diesels arrived from Baguley-Drewery
specifically for the blast furnace “Highline”.
Our train for today’s trip, two brake vans, arrived behind a preserved
example of the “Janus” class, nicely-restored to the livery of the old
Appleby-Frodingham Steel Company. It propelled us the short distance
to the society’s depot, to be replaced by black-liveried ex-BR D2128,
bearing the number 03901 (reflecting, apparently, the fact that it’s now
running with a 14-litre Cummins engine and hydraulic transmission).
So - off we went, for a tour that would
keep us entertained for the best part
of five hours, exploring the main lines,
spurs, loops and sidings of this
fascinating site, passing blast furnaces,
coke ovens, torpedo ladle wagons full
of molten iron, steel-making plant,
rolling mills etc. And yes, as in 1996,
we were accompanied on the metals by several Janus and
Hunslet locos - and one of the two ex-BR class 20s, no 82 in the
Tata fleet.
We weren’t on the train for the full five hours, of course (facilities on
board being somewhat limited...) - we had a booked lunch stop at the
society’s loco shed, for sandwiches, cakes etc., and the opportunity to
inspect the (preserved) loco fleet. Only the diesels were available
today - there are also five steam locos on the society’s stocklist. Two of
them were parked a little way down the line from the shed - “Slough
Estates No 5”, awaiting restoration, and a sheeted “Hutnik”,
undergoing repair. Not sure where the others were...
Photography is not allowed on these trips, except at the station and the
loco shed, so those photos will have to suffice;
nevertheless, it’s an excellent and absorbing
outing - well worth a decent donation to
society funds and operating costs. See the
AFRPS website (below) for details of public
tours - fortnightly through the summer.
Link: AFRPS
