Coal Handling Machines

[Gavin Phillips]

Do you mean the new A1M section at ferrybridge, ?

Yep that's the place!

Certainly no-where to safely pull off the road anywhere although you'd be quid's in if you had your own boat and could get up that river!

It does seem a little odd as to why they'd be running older Terex coal scrapers at that site. Isn't there a more modern same-capacity equivalent out there? Having said that, I certainly wouldn't be complaining if I managed to get pictures of them, working or not!

[BulldozerD11]

I'd say ££££'s are the reason, as the energy co's borowed rather alot of money to buy the power stations and then found they could not sell the electric due to gas being used in all the new stations & the restrictions on emmissions from coal ones. They have been building FGDS plant there for the last few years as was being added to Drax when i went round there. When i whent past in the autum they wher building the stock piles up as demand was down and coal spot prices had droped due to recession (according to areport in the press).

I think one of the power stations was trying out the modern tractor and scraper combinations as a possible alternative to buying new motor scrapers s they cost big £££ and only work internitent shifts. (May have been in Earthmovers mag i saw it mentioned.) The heaps have to be kept tight packed though to stop spontaniouse combustion occuring, and they have several stockpiles to blend the coal from different sources before its fed into the grinders to pulverise it using giant ball bearings and then inject it into the boilers.

Ferrybridge did use a lot of yorkshire and notts coal at one time but imported coal is also shiped by barge from the Humber is cheaper at times. The grey tower building over the back of the coal yard lifts the barges up and tips them out IIRC. and ther is a merry go round train system terminal.

BTW there is an ex cottam scraper in SE Davis's yard at Astwood bank Redittich.

[Hammer man]

I`ve spent some time on & off at the coal terminal at Royal Portbury Dock in Bristol/Avonmouth.We usally have a D8R with coal blade in there,RPD company have their own Liebherr 754?,&Komatsu 155 both with coal blades.They also have 2 Volvo L330E`s with high tip 14 c/m buckets for loading the EWS coal trains.Along with the Stacker/Reclaimers & bucketwheel reclaimers.
You used to be able to drive straight in there,& along the access roads.But the last time i went there for a day last year,it had all changed as there had been a spate of cars being stolen from the docks/storage area.
You can see the red reclaimers & coal mounds from the M5 Avonmouth bridge.

[newjcb123uk]

"Aye well it never stopped me snapping away 007 style"

Yes there are ways round everything - (Sort of) I remember last year when invited to the Ferrari factory we had to put all cameras in a box but were allowed phones and guess what? phones have cameras These are just a couple I took with the phone up to my ear pretending I was taking a call (hence the angles of photos)

[Joes1989]

Is that bottom pic an F430 Scuderia? One of these flew past me on the M1 the other week closely followed by an Enzo!

[newjcb123uk]

Is that bottom pic an F430 Scuderia? One of these flew past me on the M1 the other week closely followed by an Enzo!

The very one Joe - Nice to see an Enzo actually on the road ea?