Ironstone Train Project

The aim of the Ironstone Train Project is to maintain an authentic rake of Iron Ore Tippler wagons, which were once a common site in Northamptonshire.

The county has a long history of ironstone quarrying and these wagons are synonymous with the history of the Northampton to Market Harborough line, which the Northampton and Lamport Railway (NLR) is working to partially restore.

Historically, the line was not only a frequent route for ironstone trains passing through the county, but also had several ironstone quarries along its route, including Pitsford Quarry (closed 1965), where the exchange sidings are preserved as part of the NLR.

THE DREAM is to recreate the scene of mineral wagons being shunted in Pitsford Sidings, as would have been a daily occurrence between 1925 and 1965.

THE OBJECTIVE is to maintain a rake of at least 6 grey ‘Iron Ore Tippler’ wagons (the type most common on our line in the 1950s and 1960s).

The Ironstone Train is used on demonstration goods trains during special events and is also available for photo charters.

The Project also includes the creation of supporting educational and interpretive information to help enrich the public understanding and appreciation of the local area’s rich history of ironstone quarrying.

Lamport exchange sidings 06.04.66 - Bryan Jeyes

Lamport Exchange Sidings on 6th April 1966. photo: Bryan Jeyes

If you have any pictures, stories, artifacts or relevant information relating to ironstone trains, or any of the former quarries, along the old Northampton to Market Harborough line, then please do get in touch via email (webteam@nlr.org.uk).

You can follow the Ironstone Train Project on the NLR’s main Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages.

DONATE via our GoFundMe page here

We really need your help to fully restore and maintain the tippler wagons at the railway. Your support will make a huge difference to this project.

DONATE

You can also DONATE by post. Please send cheques to: Ironstone Train Project,Northampton and Lamport Railway, Pitsford and Brampton Station, Pitsford Road, Chapel Brampton NN6 8BA.

Please remember to include your name and contact details.

1. No.65 in quarry east of Harborough Road (cropped)

Hudswell Clarke No.1631 0-6-0ST ‘No.65’ prepares to pull away from the quarry face at Pitsford with a train of wagons filled with ironstone (early 1960s)

New interpretation board installed at Pitsford Sidings Dec 2021, telling a brief history of the exchange sidings and Pitsford Ironstone Quarry

Pitsford at Pitsford Sidings (date unknown) (cropped)

Avonside No.1917 0-6-0ST ‘Pitsford’ shunting a rake of 7 Iron Ore Tippler wagons at Pitsford Sidings (date unknown). We hope to be able to recreate this scene in the near future.

A huge ‘thank you’ to the following for supporting this project:

Bloor Homes – £500 donation (March 2022)

Brixworth Parish Council – £500 donation (May 2022)

Persimmon Homes – £1,000 donation (July 2022)

Swanscombe No.4 with five of the tipplers in pre-restoration condition at Pitsford Sidings (May 2022)

The first wagon (388612) has its external re-paint completed (May 2022)

Swanscombe No.4 and visiting GWR Prairie No.5553 with the re-painted tipplers during a photo charter (Aug 2022). Photo: Tony Stead

Loaded tipplers! The tippler wagons were utilised to undertake some earth moving on the railway, providing the rare (if not unique in recent times) sight of these historic wagons fully loaded and doing what they were designed for (Aug 2022)

The Wagons

388612
In 2021, the NLR purchased its first BR Iron Ore Tippler from a private owner. The wagon had previously been based at the Somerset and Dorset Heritage Railway at Midsomer Norton. Built at Derby in 1961 to diagram 1/185, it has a carrying capacity of 26 tons.