Out-of-gauge traffic

[Rescars]

Being held up on a recent motorway journey by an outsize load made me wonder how the railways used to handle such traffic. The 1950 General Appendix contains some intriguing details about the conveyance of out-of-gauge loads, including arrangements for obtaining temporary wrong line orders, circumstances in which trains carrying out-of-gauge loads required red headlamps and so on. The signalling instructions include a series of bell codes associated with out-of-gauge traffic involving the closure of adjoining lines, trains able or unable to pass out-of-gauge loads, etc.

Does anyone know about this type of traffic? What typically constituted out-of-gauge loads? How frequently were out-of-gauge loads carried and over what distances? What were the largest out-of-gauge loads which were ever conveyed? To what extent did out-of-gauge traffic considerations impact the design of infrastructure (if at all)? Did common carrier obligations apply or could out-of-gauge traffic be refused?

All information about this much appreciated.

 

[Gloster]

An enormous question. Have a look at British Transport Films’ ‘Measured for Transport’ from 1962 on YouTube for a start. (Sorry, I can’t do a link.)

 

[Morayshire]

Only snippets of info gleaned from reading magazines but it seems to have been a question of "if we can get the load to fit then we'll take it."

Special wagons did exist. For example...
https://collection.sciencemuseumgro...ailways-290-ton-boiler-wagon-set-boiler-wagon

RMWeb thread on gun barrel wagons

There are some useful links and references in that RMWeb thread too

And the youtube video Gloster mentioned is here:

Measured for Transport Youtube

 

[Snow1964]

There used to be some multi-bogie special wagons for carrying transformers etc

Somewhere in a book have seen pictures of a special carrying some steel flue stacks, parts of Fawley refinery, something like 200 foot long suspended across lots of flat spacer wagons. Wrong line Southampton tunnel having reversed long way around Northam Junction

This article has some pictures of special wagons, the description of part of Battersea power station being moved is amazing, Staff with picks and shovels manually slewing track 12inches at Chelsea then moving it back afterwards

The Railway Takes All

Railway Wonders of the World was a weekly magazine published in 1935-1936. This site shares the entire content of this work along with material from other sources.

www.railwaywondersoftheworld.com

 

[Big Jumby 74]

Historically, large military guns (Big Bertha was one such IIRC, First World War?) and possibly also tanks as well, depending on their size.

 

[Bald Rick]

I’ll just leave this here…

(not my photo!)

 

[Falcon1200]

That giraffe had an RT3973 so they knew when to duck, however.......

(RT3973 form shows restrictions for such things as large containers and heavy axle weights, for example)

 

[John Webb]

Rolling stock built for export overseas (and therefore built usually to a larger loading gauge than British stock) was another source of 'out of gauge' loads the railways once carried.

 

[Harvester]

There were also instances of steam locos being out of gauge when running over unauthorised routes. An example being 6858 Woolston Grange on a SO Bournemouth-Leeds train in August 1964. The engine wasn’t replaced at Leicester Central and carried on north to Sheffield Victoria, and on to Huddersfield. It had become out of guage after leaving GC metals and scraped the platform edge at Denny Dale. After removal at Huddersfield it was banished to the shed, and after a long stay sent LE to Crewe at restricted speed as an out of gauge load!

 

[mailbyrail]

I remember in the mid 1970s Doncaster Division claimed the record for carrying the largest load ever carried on British railways. If I remember correctly, it was a cracker for one of the Immingham oil refineries carried from Immingham Dock. The claim was recognised in the Guinness Book of records at the time. The move involved moving signal posts in a couple of instances, wrong line running and a great deal of flexibility, all of which required a great deal of advance planning but was something they were very proud of at the time.

 

[Titfield]

I’ll just leave this here…

(not my photo!)


View attachment 140362

I have one of those somewhere bought for me by my Great Uncle Lewis and Great Aunt Ethel for Christmas 1967. It gave me hours of endless fun attached to my red dock authority shunter I called Tubby.

That giraffe had an RT3973 so they knew when to duck, however.......

(RT3973 form shows restrictions for such things as large containers and heavy axle weights, for example)

Actually a magnet you placed under the track which pulled down the giraffe so it could clear an obstruction.

 

[The Crab]

Rolling stock built for export overseas (and therefore built usually to a larger loading gauge than British stock) was another source of 'out of gauge' loads the railways once carried.

Bill Alcock in his book "A locoman's log 1937-1985" describes part of a journey involving coaches from Metro Cammel (Birmingham) to Liverpool Docks (although I suspect that they went via Birkenhead Docks) on their journey to Brazil. He describes how jacking up and slewing was the order of the day.

 

[Dr_Paul]

I’ll just leave this here…

(not my photo!)


View attachment 140362

From the article mentioned above on outsize loads (linked here, my emphasis): 'When a complete menagerie is moved—as often happens—the elephants require special attention, but the most difficult zoological specimen from the transport point of view is the giraffe, whose long neck is a continual source of anxiety.'

The Triang Giraffe wagon always made me laugh, but how were giraffes actually transported by rail?

 

[Gloster]

Were the giraffes in circuses full-grown ones or youngsters? Giraffes reach a height of eighteen feet for males and sixteen for females at the age of four, so they are going to be bashing their heads even when quite young. My guess is that they were trained from an early age to enter the largest size of wagons and lie down; they generally sleep lying down. The SR Scenery Vans (‘Elephant vans’) had an internal height of nearly 8’ and many other types were probably around 7’6”.

 

[Big Jumby 74]

going to be bashing their heads

Supply them with hard hats....

 

[thaitransit]

Supply them with hard hats....

Routes with overhead electrification must have been very difficult for the giraffes! Routes that allow for double stack containers not a problem for the Giraffes though.

 

[Ploughman]

Pre curved Track panels made up in a yard, such as used to exist at Healey Mills.
These panels would be classed as OOG and had to have special notices issued.
Specific route to be taken.
Restrictions on passing traffic or places of wider 6ft where an OOG load could wait to pass another train.
Last one I was involved with was in early 2000's for a movement of some pre curved panels from Doncaster to Crimple curve on the Leeds - Harrogate line.

 

[Ashley Hill]

An enormous question. Have a look at British Transport Films’ ‘Measured for Transport’ from 1962 on YouTube for a start. (Sorry, I can’t do a link.)

One link….

 

[Bald Rick]

One link….

That is magnificent. Not a hard hat or even pair of gloves in sight!

And a loco running behind as a ‘mobile buffer’… Ops Standards would have a fit if that was proposed today!

 

[ChiefPlanner]

There was a small cadre of "experts" in the BR Regional Offices who dealt with OOG loads - long standing individuals who did little else ,(timing , routes etc) - but they controlled a small and critical team of Regional Inspectors who went out , assessed loads and generally accompanied the traffic if won to rail. They could be very busy at times , and apart from massive "bits" for say the Power Industry , they worked closely with the Civils for bridge sections , and especially for the MOD for special loads.

Sectorisation was a problem for these guys (they were all made , and heavily "black-macked" if you know the term , don't ask !) , as by the 1980's they were all on the retirement basis and some training was done to pass their skills onto what were called "Trains Inspectors" , who did more general stuff including safety audits.

Tremendous , practical characters with an amazing skill set. Been there at all hours , moved incredible things with total confidence and supremely confident with what they did. This thread has reminded me of some of the characters - mostly now gone - but people you could really admire. A pleasure and an honour to have known some of them.

 

[Bald Rick]

There was a small cadre of "experts" in the BR Regional Offices who dealt with OOG loads - long standing individuals who did little else ,(timing , routes etc) - but they controlled a small and critical team of Regional Inspectors who went out , assessed loads and generally accompanied the traffic if won to rail. They could be very busy at times , and apart from massive "bits" for say the Power Industry , they worked closely with the Civils for bridge sections , and especially for the MOD for special loads.

Sectorisation was a problem for these guys (they were all made , and heavily "black-macked" if you know the term , don't ask !) , as by the 1980's they were all on the retirement basis and some training was done to pass their skills onto what were called "Trains Inspectors" , who did more general stuff including safety audits.

Tremendous , practical characters with an amazing skill set. Been there at all hours , moved incredible things with total confidence and supremely confident with what they did. This thread has reminded me of some of the characters - mostly now gone - but people you could really admire. A pleasure and an honour to have known some of them.

watch the video linked above, Guv, and you’ll see several dozen ‘black Macs’ ! Albeit it’s a warm autumn day so some of them have their summer beige version on.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

watch the video linked above, Guv, and you’ll see several dozen ‘black Macs’ ! Albeit it’s a warm autumn day so some of them have their summer beige version on.

I will , and thanks ......

Time spent with these characters as a trainee (and with their compatriots in signalling , traction etc) - leaves a lifetime legacy of education etc......

 

[Bald Rick]

I will , and thanks ......

Time spent with these characters as a trainee (and with their compatriots in signalling , traction etc) - leaves a lifetime legacy of education etc......

Being (only slightly) younger than your good self I arrived on the scene towards the very end of the Black Mac period, and therefore have had less education in that respect. A very different railway now in many respects of course - where (for example) a derailment is very much a major incident rather than a phone call.

Nevertheless you will enjoy the brief scene in the video where a kettle is following the loaded train at about 100 yards distance and clearly unable to stop in the event that the main train came to sudden grief!

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Being (only slightly) younger than your good self I arrived on the scene towards the very end of the Black Mac period, and therefore have had less education in that respect. A very different railway now in many respects of course - where (for example) a derailment is very much a major incident rather than a phone call.

Nevertheless you will enjoy the brief scene in the video where a kettle is following the loaded train at about 100 yards distance and clearly unable to stop in the event that the main train came to sudden grief!

Quite priceless , and the object of using no doubt a steam loco as a moving buffer stop was that it was expendable (cost less than a new diesel) in the event of a real time run away in their direction. The non - existent written safety case would have ensured a firm verbal briefing to the train crew as to readiness to jump .......

Still , being Wales - nice to see some appropriate harp music.

Black Macks - worthy of a written appraisal as this sub-genre of railway supervision and management. True experts in all the obvious things and technical things like rules and regulations , loading standards etc , traction knowledge etc - but there was a it seemed an unquantifiable almost, human factors skill set in knowing where to apply discipline etc , and where to use the soft skills to correct and motivate staff in their jobs.

Difficult to pin things down , - but on reflection after all these years - they were impressive characters in the round . Again one always goes back to the great railwayman Gerry Fiennes who wrote somewhere he would put his life in the hands of a top regional railway inspector in any tricky scenario. In my experience they also had decent commercial and customer handling skills , not just "operations and engineering" in the broader sense.

 

[6Gman]

Pre curved Track panels made up in a yard, such as used to exist at Healey Mills.
These panels would be classed as OOG and had to have special notices issued.
Specific route to be taken.
Restrictions on passing traffic or places of wider 6ft where an OOG load could wait to pass another train.
Last one I was involved with was in early 2000's for a movement of some pre curved panels from Doncaster to Crimple curve on the Leeds - Harrogate line.

In my days in Freight Short Term Planning (late 70s, early 80s) the bulk of out of gauge movements were track panels, continuous welded rails and the like.

Another example of interest were movements of industrial locos between sites (generally colliery to colliery) which - for reasons I never quite understood given such locomotives had been used by the railway for many decades - were classed as out of gauge.

 

[Bald Rick]

Difficult to pin things down , - but on reflection after all these years - they were impressive characters in the round . Again one always goes back to the great railwayman Gerry Fiennes who wrote somewhere he would put his life in the hands of a top regional railway inspector in any tricky scenario. In my experience they also had decent commercial and customer handling skills , not just "operations and engineering" in the broader sense.

Agreed. It is one of my gravest concerns for the future of the railway that there are now very few people who have that breadth of experience in operations, customer handing and commercial (economics) across all levels of the railway let alone the top. We are now approaching the time where the last BR graduates from the management training scheme are approaching retirement, as are those who didnt come through the scheme but joined via YTS / open recruitment in the late 80s early 90s and have made their way through the ranks.

 

[6Gman]

One link….

As 6GMan I thoroughly endorse this film !

My father (ASLEF Branch Secretary at Llandudno Junction at the time) would no doubt have been involved given that no Junction men would have signed the diesel loco. Where would the nearest Class 20s (English Electric Type 1 in 1962) have been based? Derby men with Llandudno Junction route conductor?

And did anyone really think that in the event of a breakaway that 4F could have stopped its progress?

 

[The Crab]

Was that a 2-6-4T at BF? Would that be there on a pick-up goods?

 

[Rescars]

An enormous question. Have a look at British Transport Films’ ‘Measured for Transport’ from 1962 on YouTube for a start. (Sorry, I can’t do a link.)

Thank you all - and thank you Gloster for pointing out my OP was almost out-of-gauge itself!

What interesting information you have all provided. A window on a fascinating world, almost unknown to those of us who were involved solely with passenger traffic. How interesting that the loading gauge was sometimes a consideration in the original design of the load (as the film tells us). I wonder how many other (more regular) loads were designed expressly to conform to the loading gauge.

The recent thread about buffer stops missed the option of using a 4F as a catcher! Presumably the train was fully fitted, so stopping a breakaway would not have been reliant on the 4F's brake power alone.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Just mulling over some recollections of OOG loads - it was an in joke amongst railway staff to refer to an overweight person as a "2-6-3" bell code.

One of the major customers for the Cardiff Division was the long gone Fairfield - Mabey works at Chepstow , bridge builders of long repute and the home of many a GWR turf bridge. Last time I went past it was unsurprisingly being redeveloped for rather expensive looking housing.