'Merry-go-round' iron-ore empties passing Newport Station with two Type 3 Diesels - 14 Aug 1963
Photo reference number: 2397
View eastwards, towards the east, north, and SW generally; ex-GWR South Wales main line. To supply the vast new Steelworks opened by Richard Thomas & Baldwin in 1962 at Llanwern, imported iron ore brought into Newport Docks had to be moved for a short journey through Newport High Street Station in five trains a day, each of 2,700 tons. The image shows a train of empties returning from Llanwern. From the outset, the new Type 3 (later Class 37) Diesels were employed in pairs, but from 2/1976, after a new ore terminal was opened at Port Talbot, the journey was rather longer, and from 1979 Class 56 locomotives were used. The two locomotives here are Nos. D6857 and D6851, both delivered just a month earlier from the English-Electric/Vulcan Foundry: these Type 3 1,750hp Co-Cos having been introduced in 12/60. (See also ST3088 : Down iron ore train entering Newport High Street Station, taken on the same day).
Photo by Ben Brooksbank. Before he died in 2018, Ben uploaded an extensive collection of his work onto the website www.geograph.org.uk to make the photos available for enthusiasts. The Newport images are reproduced here and are freely useable under the Creative Commons license. There is no need to acknowledge the license if sharing the images here because these versions have the license details at the bottom.
For more information about Ben Brooksbank and more of his photos follow the link below.
