The Bristol Railway Archive

Stuck as I appear to be (as if in a time warp) still in the sixties, I am putting a few questions about the traffic conveyed from Avonmouth and district to the North-East.

A Jan 1965 entry in a signalbox train register I have shows a Class 5 fitted freight alongside which is written rather cryptically "S/Beach". Thinking back to those years I seem to recall an occasional flow of traffic from Severn Beach to Haverton Hill (Teesside). Where in Severn Beach did this originate and what was the goods conveyed? I think they might have been trains of rail-tanks which might narrow the choice a bit.

The other flow started mid-sixties from Avonmouth to Immingham and conveyed ammonia, presumably to Norsk-Hydro's fertiliser plant in Immingham Docks. This was almost always Brush Type 4 traction, a Tinsley loco more often than not, and regularly a 'cop' in spotter parlance. The train carried the headcode 4E22 (funny what you remember!) and it passed through Charfield between 7 and 8 p.m. Sometimes it would be looped for the Newcastle mail/sleeper to pass in which case we would cycle like crazy down to the end of the up loop to try our luck at 'cabbing' it! What I would like to know is where did the ammonia originate from? It is a copious by-product of coke manufacture and Imperial Smelting Co. at Avonmouth was a user of coke but did they produce coke in their own coke-ovens at that time and used Immingham as the destination for its waste ammonia liquor? Alternatively, I suppose, the ammonia could have arrived at Avonmouth by sea and transported by rail to Immingham but why when Immingham has a very large docks of its own?

So to recap - two questions - where in Severn Beach did the Haverton Hill traffic originate and did Imperial Smelting have coke ovens? One of you will have the answer, I am sure!

where in Severn Beach did the Haverton Hill traffic originate

The only rail connected freight facility in the 1960s at Severn Beach was the ICI Severnside fertilizer plant, which made pelletized fertilizer out of natural gas, ammonia being the active ingredient I believe.

There was a very tall tower with what looked like a lot of watering can roses at the top, from which the liquid fertilizer poured out and down the tower. The drop solidified it and formed it into pellets - the same principle as a lead shot tower. It was demolished a few years back now.

The freight connection was in the northerly direction, so trains had to work to Severn Beach station itself, then run round and reverse to get access to the ICI sidings. There was a small yard at Severn Beach that supported this operation. The rail infrastructure both at the station and the works was only removed a few years ago, though it had been long out of use.

I am guessing this was the freight flow you were thinking of, though I have no idea whether it would have been finished pellets or noxious liquids that were being shipped. ICI also had a large complex that also made fertilizer at Haverton Hill, so the flow of chemicals from one plant to the other seems to make sense.

While I was sorting out some colour slides to help Andy in Perth (Oz) with his model of Bath Road, I came across some shots I took of a class 47 derailed on the entrance to ICI Severnside. It was a Tinsley loco and had gone up two roads when the shunter took his eye off the ball and pulled the points underneath it. It went so far as to cause one bogie to partially derail, ripping out a load of traction motor cables in the process. This would have been in the early 1980's and was the first breakdown I ever attended. I don't recall exactly when the incident occurred but we had to wait until mid evening before we were granted an occupation to get in there and do the biz.