Bow Creek Wharf. c.1946. S7

Overseer

Western Thunderer
I found photos of one of the Bow Creek trips, May 1998. Not very cheerful weather.
Bow1.jpg
Bow2.jpg
Bow3.jpg

I should have some taken at lower tide on another trip, but maybe I was too busy steering as the channel gets narrow in places and it is better to avoid submerged cars and other junk.
 

Osgood

Western Thunderer
Other than recent trips on the Clippers (a great way to move about the city), my only river experience was an early 80's run from Westminster to Greenwich on board a ferry with a very unofficial but entertaining commentary.

When we got to the start of Docklands the tannoy again burst into life:
"Ladies and genlemen, on the south bank now you will see some of the docks and warehouses what has been bought by the arabs and is now being turned into luxury houses an flats - they have done more damage in 3 months than what Jerry did during the whole war".

How would small yards like Bow Creek have been run? Were they owned and operated by the railway company linking them to the outside world?
Or were they private operations?
 

Eastsidepilot

Western Thunderer
My Bow Creek project is based on the Pepper warehouses complex, originally owned by the East India Dock Co. this in turn ended up in the hands of the GER, then the LNER which is my proposed era, c 1946. It was never run by the PLA so the loco's were railway co. owned.

Bow Creek, as was the Pepper warehouses ( Blackwall Goods Depot) did, will be operated by a Y4 0-4-0t and the little " Coffee Pot" 0-4-0t. See post #54.

If you come forward a decade and a bit then a 0-4-0 diesel can be used depends on the severity of the curves, might get away with an 03 0-6-0.
 
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simond

Western Thunderer
Bit of a challenge to model that & make it work (usefully)

How did the real thing work? I knew of their existence, but I don't think I've ever seen a photo of a (railway, as against marine) capstan before. I guess they're electric?

I'm also surprised to see that the wire is shackled to the drum. I rather assumed they were friction drive, as most (I'd have said "all") capstans - this is in effect a winch. Was this also typical?

Best
Simon
 

Osgood

Western Thunderer
Back in the day, many docks had a hydraulic (water) accumulator providing 'ring main' power around the site to operate cranes / lifts / capstans / wagon tipplers. A tall water tower was often the giveaway. Not sure about Blackwall Goods depot….
 

Peter Insole

Western Thunderer
Great pic of Blackwall Goods.

Having advised that straw was used as packing material I was starting to doubt myself when I couldn't find a single pic as evidence! Now here is proof at last, with some of it clearly jammed around the bottom and corner of the door on the leading wagon!

Thanks Col.

Pete.
 

geoff_nicholls

Western Thunderer
The Limehouse Basin Accumulator Tower, on Commerical Road near the junction with Mill Place, still exists, and has been renovated. I think they have open days.
 

simond

Western Thunderer
Osgood, Geoff,

Thanks for that - I'm a Birkenhead boy and was aware of the use of water power both there & in Liverpool docks. I guess it's logical that it was used in docks dahn saaf too, though I guess the capstans were also commonplace in other places too, where water pressure was less convenient.

Best
Simon
 

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
It wasn't just docks that used hydraulic mains for power. Best Beloved recounts a tale from his time as an apprentice in the railway works at Wolverton. Some of the heavier presses used hydraulic power, and the mains ran under the ground throughout the works complex. While on their lunch break one day, a main apparently fractured. Luckily, no-one was seriously injured, but the burst happened under some of the roads in the workshops making wagons. All kinds of debris rained down over quite a large area for some time, several wagons were damaged beyond repair, and a wagon, that had been sited right over the fracture, was allegedly completely vapourised.

A wonder of Victorian ingenuity and engineering.
 

Eastsidepilot

Western Thunderer
Bit of a challenge to model that & make it work (usefully)

How did the real thing work? I knew of their existence, but I don't think I've ever seen a photo of a (railway, as against marine) capstan before. I guess they're electric?

I'm also surprised to see that the wire is shackled to the drum. I rather assumed they were friction drive, as most (I'd have said "all") capstans - this is in effect a winch. Was this also typical?

Best
Simon
Simon,
Making it work in model form is possible, but with a certain amount " the hand of god" involved which is not always welcome at exhibition, ok we do it with 3 link couplings but I'm not sure about capstan shunting.

I'm not sure if it was hydraulic or electric at Blackwall, the picture is B.R. period so could be electric perhaps ?

More research needed :).

Col.
 
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