West Cannock No 5 colliery lay to the north of Cannock, just off the Rugeley Road. It had been dieselised by the early 70s, although an "Austerity" 0-6-0ST was kept as spare. In June 1973, I heard that the steam loco was in action, so with a couple of hours free I paid a brief visit. I was rewarded by the sight of the well-kept locomotive hauling a train of modern hopper wagons into the colliery from the exchange sidings - and I was grateful for the excess of steam, as the exhaust was more-or-less invisible in the warm June sunshine.
The locomotive in question, No. 8, Hunslet 3776 of 1952, moved to Bickershaw in 1977, where it was repainted in a blue livery and named "Bickershaw". It is still in existence, on the Yorkshire Dales Railway at Embsay, where it now carries the name "Warspite". West Cannock 5, in the meantime, closed in 1982. Links: Like these pages? Tell me! - I might put some more up. |
; "Approaching the pit")
; "No 8 trundles down to the exchange sidings")
; "...and returns with a train of hoppers")
; "No 8 and train head for the colliery")