Obscure railways in Derbys. and Notts
East Midlands oddities
28 February 1976
I’m not certain of the real
purpose of this trip (other than
a good day out, which it
certainly was). I think it was a
couple of subterranean
Rustons...
...at Doe Lea colliery, just
beside junction 27 on the M1 - a
small privately-owned drift mine, where two small 2’
gauge diesels had been used underground at some time
in the past (one of my colleagues “needed” to see
them...). I suspect they’re still there, poor things (locos, not
colleagues). No photos from underground, but the surface
arrangements were worth a snap or two.
Our next call was at Butterley (not, I agree, particularly odd or
obscure), where the Midland Railway project was beginning to
take shape. Nothing was moving, but there were some
interesting items of motive power.
We moved on to the White Peak - to DSF
Refractories at Friden, which operated a
2’ gauge line to transport clay from the
nearby pit into the works. It being
Saturday, nothing was moving (this was
becoming the theme for the
day), but we were able to
photograph the locos, roosting
inside the works.
Spondon power station, on the
east side of Derby, operated an
interesting fleet of locomotives,
all electrically-powered. The
standard gauge locos were of the 4-wheeled steeple-
cabbed variety, with pantograph on the cab roof, and a
set of batteries for use where there were no wires.
There was also a fleet of narrow gauge (2’) battery-
electrics built by Wingrove and Rogers. One, “Honest Frank”,
had gained steam-outline bodywork. (It goes without saying that
nothing moved)
I have a faint memory of seeking (finding?) the track of a
miniature railway. Where, I have no idea. Didn’t take any
photos, so the last few views are of (static) 2’ gauge locomotives
(modern Hunslets and an older, out-of-use
and derailed Ruston) at the Hoveringham
gravel pits at Holme Pierrepoint - a site
better known today as the home of the
National Water Sports Centre.
Photographic notes***
Geoff’s Rail Diaries
