Isebrook Quarry
Perhaps the last place to see narrow gauge wagons being emptied into standard gauge ones in the UK was at Thos. E. Gray's Isebrook Quarry at Burton Latimer. Silica sand is being tipped here for transfer to the nearby works on 10 August 1978, the locomotive being a former Joseph Arnold (Leighton Buzzard) Simplex, MR5881/35. The standard gauge line had been for internal use only since the connection with BR had been cut in 1948. Permission to visit was always refused, but a handy public footpath was available to view proceedings. I'm surprised that the whole operation was not replaced by lorries years before!
The works closed in May 1982 and the site subsequently cleared; MR5881 was preserved.
A colourisation using Google Gemini AI.
Pentax SP1000/50mm
Isebrook Quarry
Perhaps the last place to see narrow gauge wagons being emptied into standard gauge ones in the UK was at Thos. E. Gray's Isebrook Quarry at Burton Latimer. Silica sand is being tipped here for transfer to the nearby works on 10 August 1978, the locomotive being a former Joseph Arnold (Leighton Buzzard) Simplex, MR5881/35. The standard gauge line had been for internal use only since the connection with BR had been cut in 1948. Permission to visit was always refused, but a handy public footpath was available to view proceedings. I'm surprised that the whole operation was not replaced by lorries years before!
The works closed in May 1982 and the site subsequently cleared; MR5881 was preserved.
A colourisation using Google Gemini AI.
Pentax SP1000/50mm