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Steeple Grange Light Railway
Wirksworth's First Heritage Railway
Clayton Locomotives
S.G.L.R. No.13 - This loco is a 1¾ ton, 7 hp battery-electric tunnelling locomotive built by the Derbyshire firm of Clayton Equipment. It was built in 1973, carries works number 5965B, and is owned by a consortium of S.G.L.R. members. Its original ownership was Parnell Plant Ltd of Rugby, later known as Miller Buckley Plant Ltd, and from 2001 Morgan Est plc. It was numbered L13. In March 2002 it was sold to Roy Etherington, President of the Industrial Railway Society, who re-sold it to the S.G.L.R. consortium in 2013. Having arrived at S.G.L.R. without batteries, a new set was purchased and installed in May 2021, and the loco is now operational
S.G.L.R. No.14 - This loco was built in 1975, and is a 1¾ ton, 7 hp battery-electric tunnelling locomotive built by the Derbyshire firm of Clayton Equipment. The works number is BO 922B. It is one of two locos ordered by J J Gallagher Ltd of Birmingham and used on sewer tunnelling contracts in the West Midlands for several years. At a later date it belonged to Hunslet Locomotive Hire Ltd of Killamarsh, hirers of narrow-gauge locomotives, and carried a small name plate LADY MARGORIE (yes, the spelling is correct). It was sold to two members of the S.G.L.R. in 2003 and was operational by 2007. In May 2012 it was given the name PETER in memory of Peter Sellers, former Chairman of the S.G.L.R. Society. It is in running order, painted red, and is the regular locomotive on the Steeplehouse Quarry branch line.
S.G.L.R. No.15 - This Clayton 1¾ ton, 7 hp battery-electric tunnelling locomotive is slightly larger than the other Claytons at the S.G.L.R. Its identity is very involved, since according to the late Bob Darvill of the Industrial Railway Society it appears to be an amalgam of two different locos. The frames appear to belong to Clayton works number 5431 of 1967, which was constructed for Anglo-Scottish Plant Ltd of Northamptonshire for a contract in Coventry. Subsequently it belonged to Tarmac Construction Ltd, and was sold via Site Electrical Services of Radcliffe, Lancashire, to Miller Buckley Plant Ltd of Rugby in 1983. They numbered it L17 and hired it during 1987 to P Forker Contractors Ltd for a job in Streetly, Birmingham. Meanwhile, Miller Buckley (previously Parnell Plant Ltd) also owned Clayton works number 5827 of 1970, which carried the number L10. This had originally belonged to contractors A Waddington & Son Ltd, but on a contract which Waddington’s carried out jointly with Miller Buckley it was swapped accidentally for a similar Miller Buckley loco! In the mid-1980s L10 was hired out to P Forker three times for sewer contracts at different locations in the West Midlands. It then appears that at some point L10’s motor, and maybe more parts, finished up in the frames of L17. The rest of L10 was scrapped – and then L17 was renumbered L10. Miller Buckley were bought out by Morgan Est plc in 2001, and the new L10 was sold to Specialist Plant Associates Ltd, of Hinwick, Bedfordshire, in February 2002. It was then bought by an S.G.L.R. member in 2003 who used some parts from it to renovate his other loco, S.G.L.R. No.16. Subsequently S.G.L.R. No.15 passed to another member, who commenced its restoration several years ago and has now (July 2019) almost completed its return to service. It carries a blue livery, and is the oldest-known 1¾ ton Clayton in existence.
S.G.L.R. No.16 - This battery-electric tunnelling locomotive was the second of a pair built by Clayton Equipment in 1973 for Parnell Plant Ltd of Rugby. It is a 1¾ ton, 7 hp model and carries works number BO 109B. Parnell Plant was later known as Miller Buckley Plant Ltd, who during 1979 used both locos in tunnels associated with the Black Country Sewer Contract No 7, at Bescot, near Walsall. Miller Buckley were bought out by Morgan Est in 2001, and the two locos, by now numbered L15 and L16, passed to Specialist Plant Associates Ltd, of Hinwick, Bedfordshire, in February 2002. L16 was bought from S.P.A. in 2003 by an S.G.L.R. Society member, who restored the loco to operational condition, in the process using some parts from S.G.L.R. No.15, also in his ownership. No.16’s renovation was completed by 2006, whereupon it was named PEGGY after the owner’s late mother. The loco now belongs to the S.G.L.R. Society, and is regularly used for shunting and works trains.
No.17 - A 1’6”/2’0” convertible gauge Clayton 1¾ ton battery electric loco, works number 5942B of 1972. First owned by civil engineers John Mowlem & Co Ltd who traded as Welham Plant from a yard at Welham Green, Hertfordshire, carrying stock number JM84. In April 1986 this operation was set up as a subsidiary company, Welham Plant Ltd, moving to new premises at St Neots in Cambridgeshire. The loco arrived at Steeple Grange on 19 November 2020, along with No.18, with the wheels set at 2’0” gauge, and is in the process of being converted to 1’6”. It belongs to the S.G.L.R. Company.
No.18 - A Clayton 1¾ ton battery electric loco, works number BO111C of 1973, new to C V Buchan & Co Ltd of Swynnerton, Staffordshire, a member of the Leonard Fairclough Group. It was built as 2’0” gauge, but may have been a 1’6”/2’0” convertible machine, as it is had been converted to 1’6” gauge by 2004. It arrived at Steeple Grange on 19 November 2020, along with No.17.
It was purchased by the S.G.L.R. Company but has already been sold to an S.G.L.R. member. Having arrived at S.G.L.R. without batteries, a new set was purchased and installed in May 2021, and the loco is now operational
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