A wagon which once carried coal from a Staffordshire mine has been moved to a new home after being donated to Chasewater Railway.
The Merry-go-Round hopper was handed over by the Fire Service College to the National Wagon Preservation Society, based at the Burntwood heritage railway.
It was one of 11,000 built to carry coal from mines to power stations, but just 20 now exist.
Barry Bull, from Chasewater Railway Museum, said:
“We now have vehicles covering well over a century of coal transport, from simple wooden wagons and the steam locos that pulled them, through to a growing train of these steel hoppers and contemporary diesels.
“Our museum has a wealth of information and artefacts from the local coal industry, to help tell the story of this wagon and the many local families involved.”
Barry Bull, Chasewater Railway
The wagons get their name from the continuous movement of the trains through top-filling chutes at the mines and on to bottom discharge hoppers at the power stations.
But with the closure of coal-fired power stations and the collieries which supplied them, the vehicles were often scrapped.
The newly-donated wagon will join eight others at Chasewater, having been previously used at Littleton Colliery.
Owen Edwards, co-chair of the National Wagon Preservation Group, said:
“This wagon is one of thousands that kept the lights on, as they moved coal from mines to power stations, round the clock for decades.
“They are an important part of our industrial heritage and our national history.
“We are grateful to the Fire Service College for this generous donation, which helps us and our partners at Chasewater Railway to build an impressive train of these wagons.”
Owen Edwards, National Wagon Preservation Group
The Merry-go-Round hoppers were introduced in the 1960s to replace more than 100,000 traditional smaller coal wagons.
Ted O’Brien, from the Fire Service College, said:
“After spending 20 years helping to train firefighters on how to deal with fires or other emergencies at rail incidents, we are delighted to transfer ownership of the wagon to see it find a new home.
“The coal wagon will now carry on as an educational aid, helping to teach future generations about our industrial past, and the Fire Services important role in industrial safety.”
Ted O’Brien, Fire Service College
