Railway concrete works

[Western 52]

I'm aware of the GWR/WR concrete works at Taunton, which made various concrete components for the railway and for road bridges, etc. Were there other railway concrete works on the other regions? Do any still exist?

 

[Gloster]

The Southern had theirs at Exmouth Junction and the LNER’s was at York. I think that the LMS had one at Newton Heath.

 

[Big Jumby 74]

William Marriott, Engineer and loco superintendent of the M&GN made much use of concrete for various trackside structures etc, although little left these days as most of the M&GN was closed by 1959. The concrete (work) shop was behind the locomotive works at Melton Constable. His name lives on as in 'Marriott's Way', a walk/cycle route that follows the old track bed NW out of Norwich (City) station as was.

 

[Sultan1056]

I'm aware of the GWR/WR concrete works at Taunton, which made various concrete components for the railway and for road bridges, etc. Were there other railway concrete works on the other regions? Do any still exist?

There is/was a sleeper production facility at Tallington, north of Peterborough.

The Southern had theirs at Exmouth Junction and the LNER’s was at York.

The concrete works opposite the Railway Museum was closed many years ago.

 

[Magdalia]

Concrete railway sleepers were first made at Tallington next to the East Coast Main Line, but not under railway ownership.

 

[Western 52]

Many thanks for the replies! It seems companies often made their own concrete products rather than using external suppliers, although I suppose they would have also sourced externally for things they couldn't do themselves. Presumably the railway concrete works would have all had their own sidings? I do remember wagons loaded with products at Taunton in the 1970s.

 

[Sultan1056]

Concrete railway sleepers were first made at Tallington next to the East Coast Main Line, but not under railway ownership.

Thanks, I wasn’t sure if the facility had ever been under the ownership of LNER/BR.

 

[Elecman]

The Southern had theirs at Exmouth Junction and the LNER’s was at York. I think that the LMS had one at Newton Heath.

Yes there was the Concrete works at Newton Heath

 

[Mcr Warrior]

What were the arrangements for constructing the Glenfinnan viaduct in Scotland in the late 1890s? Presumably all the material used was brought in (by rail, or maybe by boat?) from elsewhere?

 

[Buzby]

What were the arrangements for constructing the Glenfinnan viaduct

AIUI it was not pre-formed sections, but poured as a liquid into shuttered columns on site which then cured.

 

[AndrewE]

AIUI it was not pre-formed sections, but poured as a liquid into shuttered columns on site which then cured.

and was mass concrete rather than steel-reinforced, which came later, and would save a lot of the expense of concrete and make structures lighter overall. Wikipedia has a bit about the detail (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenfinnan_Viaduct)
It also implies that concrete was adopted because the local stone was too hard to quarry and dress.

 

[Snow1964]

The Southern Railway made all sorts of things at Exmouth junction

Fence posts and panels
prefabricated footbridges
lampposts
bridge sections
platform edges and extensions
lineside huts and buildings

I think the flyovers at places like Lewisham and Wimbledon also used prefabricated concrete panels, although in some cases parapets had brick faces added.

Some of the best examples for multiple concrete items are the rebuilt stations where lines were widened. Seaton Junction has (had) lots of concrete parts including a public path footbridge which was very long and spanned whole site

 

[swt_passenger]

The Southern Railway made all sorts of things at Exmouth junction

Fence posts and panels
prefabricated footbridges
lampposts
bridge sections
platform edges and extensions
lineside huts and buildings

I think the flyovers at places like Lewisham and Wimbledon also used prefabricated concrete panels, although in some cases parapets had brick faces added.

Some of the best examples for multiple concrete items are the rebuilt stations where lines were widened. Seaton Junction has (had) lots of concrete parts including a public path footbridge which was very long and spanned whole site

However, when the failing concrete footbridge had to be replaced at Woolston, the planning application details revealed that the Exmouth Junction prefabricated components were of very poor quality, apparently they incorporated ballast straight off local beaches in the concrete, storing up future corrosion problems.

 

[Taunton]

There's a substantial web page on the Taunton concrete works which made just about everything, including some of the civil engineering structures which not only overwhelmed their little in-house shunter but also the Taunton 08 sometimes sent to assist, and required mainline locos

Taunton Concrete Works

The Taunton Concrete Works was a large user of the railways. Until privatisation the concrete works produced a wide range of products for use on the railways. Fence Posts, Platelayers Huts, Bridge...

83b.weebly.com

 

[Ploughman]

There is/was a sleeper production facility at Tallington, north of Peterborough.

The concrete works opposite the Railway Museum was closed many years ago.

About 1986 give or take a year or so.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

What were the arrangements for constructing the Glenfinnan viaduct in Scotland in the late 1890s? Presumably all the material used was brought in (by rail, or maybe by boat?) from elsewhere?

AIUI it was not pre-formed sections, but poured as a liquid into shuttered columns on site which then cured.

and was mass concrete rather than steel-reinforced, which came later, and would save a lot of the expense of concrete and make structures lighter overall.

So, just to ask again, where was the concrete material used at Glenfinnan Viaduct brought in from, and how?

 

[Gloster]

So, just to ask again, where was the concrete material used at Glenfinnan Viaduct brought in from, and how?

At a guess, by sea to the head of Loch Eli or Loch Ailort and then cart or packhorse; or it could have come by rail to Fort William or the old Banavie and been transhipped. If the line was sufficiently complete they might have brought it in by rail, but I suspect that the viaduct was part complete before the rails reached it.

 

[AndrewE]

At a guess, by sea to the head of Loch Eli or Loch Ailort and then cart or packhorse; or it could have come by rail to Fort William or the old Banavie and been transhipped. If the line was sufficiently complete they might have brought it in by rail, but I suspect that the viaduct was part complete before the rails reached it.

The cement powder presumably by sea, but it is surrounded by hard rock. Wikipedia says ity was too hard to make conventional dressed stone masonry, but they would have had stone from tunnels or cuttings, plus they could quarry nearby.
When I have time I'll look at the old Scottish maps for nearby excavations...

p.s. https://maps.nls.uk/view/75983862 shows "MALLAIG EXTENSION (Under Construction)" with track of some sort at the eastern side (of presumably a road bridge) and just the boundary mapped on the west after a couple of embankments.

 

[Buzby]

According to reports, the viaduct was completed some 3 years before the first rail services commence. Of the components required, water was plentiful on site with only sand gravel, wood (for the formers) and of course powdered cement (probably Portland). Fort William being the main supply point for the project, whilst Banavie is slightly closer I can’t find any reference to its use.

 

[Merle Haggard]

The S.R. concrete p-way huts are interesting. They have the roof corners clipped so that they could be carried on a lowfit within gauge, and I've seen photos of them being unloaded with an S.R. rail mounted hand crane*.
Intriguing to me that every one you see about - and there are plenty, probably because they're pretty indestructible - was carried by rail all the way from Devon and unloaded on site by a hand crane - sometimes in the middle of a section. Perhaps they set out with a train of them, and dropped them off along a route.

*some may remember the Triang Railways model of this crane.

 

[Gloster]

The S.R. concrete p-way huts are interesting. They have the roof corners clipped so that they could be carried on a lowfit within gauge, and I've seen photos of them being unloaded with an S.R. rail mounted hand crane*.
Intriguing to me that every one you see about - and there are plenty, probably because they're pretty indestructible - was carried by rail all the way from Devon and unloaded on site by a hand crane - sometimes in the middle of a section. Perhaps they set out with a train of them, and dropped them off along a route.

*some may remember the Triang Railways model of this crane.

The SR modified some Diagram 1773 12’ wheelbase four-plank ballast wagons around 1946 to carry an accommodation hut and the small square tool hut. The wagons had their sides removed and the huts were secured by vertical rods running from the floor of the wagon to securing points on the roof of the huts. The angle of the accommodation hut‘s roof meant that even on a wagon with a normal height floor it was within gauge.

Source: An Illustrated History of Southern Wagons, Volume 4 (Bixley et al., OPC, 2004).

 

[Rail Ranger]

The Cheshire Lines Committee made a large number of concrete items at its Warrington Works (on the north side of the line east of Warrington Central). This included signal posts, level crossing gate posts, stiles for foot crossings, footbridges (there was a long one over the yard at Skelton Junction until 1972) and station nameboards. The works closed in 1936.

 

[Western 52]

I'm surprised how many concrete works have been identified so far! Sounds like an idea for a book...

 

[yorksrob]

However, when the failing concrete footbridge had to be replaced at Woolston, the planning application details revealed that the Exmouth Junction prefabricated components were of very poor quality, apparently they incorporated ballast straight off local beaches in the concrete, storing up future corrosion problems.

Lots of their components are still around though.

 

[Gloster]

So, just to ask again, where was the concrete material used at Glenfinnan Viaduct brought in from, and how?

A bit of rooting through books fails to provide an answer. However, Thomas’ West Highland Railway did say that a pier was built at Locheilhead and there was presumably already one at Lochailort.

EDIT: The 1899 (survey) 6” map shows a pier at Inverailort that wasn’t there in the 1873 survey. The village may have developed a bit in the meantime as the church at Lochailort was consecrated in 1874.

 

[stuving]

A bit of rooting through books fails to provide an answer. However, Thomas’ West Highland Railway did say that a pier was built at Locheilhead and there was presumably already one at Lochailort.

EDIT: The 1899 (survey) 6” map shows a pier at Inverailort that wasn’t there in the 1873 survey. The village may have developed a bit in the meantime as the church at Lochailort was consecrated in 1874.

From the Northern Chronicle and General Advertiser for the North of Scotland, 19 September 1900, in an article about the Mallaig Railway subtitled "some interesting facts and figures":

The Glenfinnan viaduct is reached next in the article.

 

[Buzby]

Since the track alignment runs relatively close to the Loch Eli and Loch Ailort it would make sense for these jetties to be used for the construction of the permanent way, I really doubt they had any meaningful significance for the subject of this thread.

The railhead at Ft William was already established and as the structure only took a little over a year to construct (and in advance of the extension to Mallaig itself), perhaps we’re in danger of over thinking it?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

A bit of rooting through books fails to provide an answer.

Thanks for looking. Inverailort is about ten miles from Glenfinnan and, of course, has sea access, so what you suggest is entirely plausible. Loch Eil Head is possibly even closer. Or bulk materials used to build the viaduct could have been brought in by rail via Fort William.

 

[stuving]

There are OS 6" maps of 1899 in NLS, which catch the railway built roughly to Glenfinnan. Those show a simple pier at Kinlocheil, which was not there in 1872. There's a dearth of later maps, but the pier is shown on 1" maps in 1928, but disappears in the revisions not long after. Since building was done from east to west, that would be a viable supply point for the works inland of there.

 

[Ploughman]

There's a substantial web page on the Taunton concrete works which made just about everything, including some of the civil engineering structures which not only overwhelmed their little in-house shunter but also the Taunton 08 sometimes sent to assist, and required mainline locos

Taunton Concrete Works

The Taunton Concrete Works was a large user of the railways. Until privatisation the concrete works produced a wide range of products for use on the railways. Fence Posts, Platelayers Huts, Bridge...

83b.weebly.com

A booklet was produced by Wild Swan in 1987 titled Southern Nouveau an Essay in Concrete.ISBN 0 906867 47 9