Sandy Sidings
British Industrial Sand operated sand pits at Holmethorpe near Redhill, with some of the output despatched by rail. The exchange sidings were connected to BR north of Redhill station, but had to pass under the London to Brighton direct “Quarry” line, sharing space with a road under a narrow bridge.
On the date of this visit in August 1983, the working loco was this Bagnall-Drewry 0-4-0DM 2159 of 1941. This was to a common design supplied to the MOD by various manufacturers and an almost identical loco built by Andrew Barclay (332 of 1938) was spare in the shed.
This loco was originally used at the Longmoor Military Railway numbered WD 32 and appeared on the front cover of the book "Railways to Victory" loaded on a tank transporter and being dragged by a caterpillar tractor unit across "Juno" Beach in Normandy soon after D-Day.
After returning to UK, it was sent to the Middle East in 1952 and after working in Suez came back to MOD Bicester. Sold to RESCO Railways of Woolwich in 1979 it was then sold on to British Industrial Sand where it worked until being scrapped on site in 1986.
By the end of the decade all remaining traffic was taken out by road and the sidings lifted. Since then the sand pits have reverted to a nature park, housing built on the site of the plant, and the former exchange sidings are now part of a busy Industrial Estate.
Sandy Sidings
British Industrial Sand operated sand pits at Holmethorpe near Redhill, with some of the output despatched by rail. The exchange sidings were connected to BR north of Redhill station, but had to pass under the London to Brighton direct “Quarry” line, sharing space with a road under a narrow bridge.
On the date of this visit in August 1983, the working loco was this Bagnall-Drewry 0-4-0DM 2159 of 1941. This was to a common design supplied to the MOD by various manufacturers and an almost identical loco built by Andrew Barclay (332 of 1938) was spare in the shed.
This loco was originally used at the Longmoor Military Railway numbered WD 32 and appeared on the front cover of the book "Railways to Victory" loaded on a tank transporter and being dragged by a caterpillar tractor unit across "Juno" Beach in Normandy soon after D-Day.
After returning to UK, it was sent to the Middle East in 1952 and after working in Suez came back to MOD Bicester. Sold to RESCO Railways of Woolwich in 1979 it was then sold on to British Industrial Sand where it worked until being scrapped on site in 1986.
By the end of the decade all remaining traffic was taken out by road and the sidings lifted. Since then the sand pits have reverted to a nature park, housing built on the site of the plant, and the former exchange sidings are now part of a busy Industrial Estate.