Three wagon multi-pack, NER 4T Chaldron

Pack K: Ex-S.C.C National Coal Board - Three early period Darlington built Chaldrons, as present at Stargate Colliery in February 1950.

Containing three wagons, numbered:

• 16
• 22
• 28

At Stargate Colliery, the lines from Emma and Greenside Collieries converged, with the Emma branch being worked by a stationary engine based at Stargate, which itself was joined to the ex-NER lines near Heathfield, halfway between Stella and Addidson, by a self-acting incline. The stationary engine at Stargate was replaced in 1948 by locomotive working and this practice continued until 1961, when the whole system closed down, the Chaldrons having been in continuous use since the mid-19th century.
Used to supply coal for the boilers at Stargate and Emma, the Chaldrons were also used as service vehicles, with waste and building materials being transported to and from the collieries, while others were used as runner vehicles on the incline between the two collieries. This enabled wagons to be moved into the headshunt at Emma above the screens, as well as to bring empty wagons up from the bottom of the incline. As a result of their longevity in service, it was not uncommon to see both NCB and S.C.Co. legends mixed together in rakes of Chaldrons, an incongruous sight among the more modern wagons being used.

Specification List:

• Die-cast metal chassis with plastic body. Weight of 9g unloaded.
• Operates over minimum radius curves (371mm, 1st radius set-track)
• Five different body designs, covering a time period from 1840 to 1978.
• Three styles of wheel design; split spoke, star spoke and wave spoke, to a blackened 00 gauge RP25-88 profile.
• Three styles of braking arrangement and brake handles, with different block types and the more complicated Londonderry clasp type brake.
• Three arrangements of ‘bang-boards’.
• Additional, removable ‘greedy boards’ (horizontal board extensions to the body) to the Shildon Works built Chaldron, giving an increased coal loading.
• Scale width wire handrails, metal pin jaw coupling and wire/etch handbrake levers.
• Eroded metal/plastic detail parts, including grab handles, door securing pins, chassis chain points and safety chains in metal.
• Wagons connected via an all new link fine chain with Neodymium magnetic heads, connected at the wagon via prototypical cotter pin coupling.
• Two extra NEM fitted magnetic couplings supplied with wagon packs to allow for fitting to locomotives and/or additional rolling stock.
• Artwork features authentic colliery markings and numbers, accurate to time period modelled and based on actual photographic evidence where possible.
• Additional research assistance provided by Beamish Living Museum, Bowes Railway and the North Eastern Railway Association.