Steam engine in cheshire

[apk55]

I was out walking in Cheshire with my local walking club and while walking along Willington lane at SJ525651 (south side) spotted in a field an old loco. Any information ?

 

[D Williams]

This will be one of the locomotives from the Strategic Reserve that is stored in a siding off Box Tunnel.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

This will be one of the locomotives from the Strategic Reserve that is stored in a siding off Box Tunnel.

Surely Box Tunnel is in a completely different county? :

 

[John Webb]

The grid reference seems to be alongside Willington Road on maps, not Willington Lane.
Had a look on the Geograph website, but no one seems to have been as eagle-eyed as you!
And had a look on the Google aerial photos as well, but couldn't see it.

I think this may be an ex-Beckton Gas Works loco. These had to go into limited height areas of retort houses and were kept small and without cabs. They were standard gauge. Quite how it's ended up in a field in Cheshire I've no idea!

 

[70014IronDuke]

Definitely from Box. It's got no cab because of corrosion. It was kept under an air shaft, and copped a ton of water every year, which resulted in rapid deterioration of the loco.

Army High Command (in charge of the reserve) were just going to scrap it after one of the annual reviews, but MI5 thought to use it as a decoy, to fool the Soviets that the Box reserve didn't exist, or if it had, had been abandoned. Transported under wraps one night to Cheshire, location chosen because of known KGB/GRU observation of Jodrell Bank by agents living in that county, who would be expected at some time to notice the wreck, draw the right conclusions and report back to Moscow.

 

[Rescars]

Is this imported? The whole thing looks more like continental than British practice to me, especially the brake pump and cylinder casing. Outside valve gear wasn't often used on industrial locos. The buffers partly buried in the shrubbery look rather close together. Is it narrow gauge? Seems an odd thing to come across in a field!

 

[Grumpy Git]

Its covered in 'Christmas' lights.

Looks like a wooden model used in a carnival of light parade?

 

[Gloster]

Is that two sets of buffers, or are the upper ones lights? It does look a bit like some of the products of Nelson, Reid & Co.

(I presume that the photographer examined it to check that it appears to be a genuine relic, rather than some film artefact or the like.)

 

[apk55]

I could not get any closer without climbing over a fence. The picture was taken from the roadside,

 

[Spamcan81]

Its covered in 'Christmas' lights.

Looks like a wooden model used in a carnival of light parade?

I’m with you on thinking it’s a model.

 

[AndyPJG]

I’m with you on thinking it’s a model.

Spare from the 'Titfield Thunderbolt'?

 

[Pigeon]

It does look slightly unreal, it has to be said, although some of that is due to the degradation introduced by taking the picture with a digital camera. What the heck is that square thing just behind where the chimney isn't? I would expect the air pump's compressor cylinder to be finned and not lagged. And what I can see of the motion looks distinctly unusual, to say the least.

I notice it also has a length of manky old polyprop rope hanging off the front; if that is a relic of it being dragged to where it is then it would have to be made of wood or something.

 

[Clarence Yard]

It’s a model. It’s more than likely sitting on a road trailer of some description.

 

[Sun Chariot]

It’s a model. It’s more than likely sitting on a road trailer of some description.

The coupling rods and motion look no more than wooden mockups. Diiltto its chimney, buffers, boiler pipework and pseudo-lights.

Reminds me of the wonderful TGV mockup that wass used for "Mission Impossible 2" filming.
It was plonked in Liverpool Street, adjacent to "GE InterCity" platform 10, in readiness for cameras to roll after all of the scheduled services ceased for the night.

 

[The Crab]

Surely Box Tunnel is in a completely different county? :

Once the Box Strategic Reserve became widely known Security required a dispersal of the stock to more obscure sites.

 

[edwin_m]

Once the Box Strategic Reserve became widely known Security required a dispersal of the stock to more obscure sites.

That was a good example of "thinking out of the Box" .

Seriously though, if someone needs a model of a steam engine I'd have thought they'd go for a more obviously mainstream subject that had the general proportions people would expect of such a thing.

 

[Ploughman]

Is it me or does the "Boiler" appear offset to the left?

 

[Rescars]

That was a good example of "thinking out of the Box" .

Seriously though, if someone needs a model of a steam engine I'd have thought they'd go for a more obviously mainstream subject that had the general proportions people would expect of such a thing.

If it is a model, it does seem strange to go to the trouble of creating outside cylinders and valve gear, fitting a brake pump and putting some detail on the footplate, but not bothering with a chimney, dome or cab.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Nov 2024 ==

Is it me or does the "Boiler" appear offset to the left?

Not sure about an offset, but the whole machine is at a very odd angle, especially if it is the weight of the real thing. An improbable degree of cant on the track!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

As @Sun Chariot has wondered, is this a genuine ex-loco or a full-size model that has been dumped/fly-tipped?

 

[Clarence Yard]

It’s a model. As I said up thread, probably built around some kind of road trailer.