'Spitfire' at Bickershaw Colliery, Leigh ? 1971
Introduction
The photograph on this page of 'Spitfire' at Bickershaw Colliery, Leigh ? 1971 by Alan Murray-Rust as part of the Geograph project.
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'Spitfire' at Bickershaw Colliery, Leigh ? 1971
Image: © Alan Murray-Rust Taken: 28 May 1971
'Spitfire' was among the last steam locomotives built for the National Coal Board, delivered in 1955 by Hunslet Engineering of Leeds (works no.3831). It was one of a small number fitted with the distinctive Giesl Ejector chimney designed to improve the steaming efficiency of the boiler. 'Spitfire' is shunting the sidings at the screens, the older group of which are visible to the right of the train. Here traditionally waste (stone, etc.) would be separated manually and the coal separated into sizes by means of mesh screens. The building to the left is a more modern washery, where separation can be achieved by mechanised processes which rely on the fact that coal is less dense than other rocks.
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Image Location
Latitude
53.494671
Longitude
-2.559633